Relationship between Anxiety and Addiction to a Depressant Drug

Abstract

A systematic random sample of 267 patients who were involved in outpatient detoxification was surveyed. Their records were evaluated, and the demographics, psychiatric diagnoses, and type(s) of substance of abuse of each patient were recorded. The results indicated that there was a significant relationship between an anxiety disorder and whether the patient was addicted to an opioid. A followup was conducted on 79 patients who were addicted to an opioid, and had an anxiety diagnosis. Of this group, 54 (70%) responded, of which only 22 (40%) said that they were receiving some type of treatment for their disorder. All of these patients reported that they were sober and that their anxiety disorder significantly decreased.

Psychological, social, and motivational factors in the drug user care-seekers

“…Marital status was effective in self-esteem, depression, and anxiety (psychological performance); so that the unmarried individuals had a better psychological performance. This finding is consistent with other studies like (9,14). Risk-taking attitude and social adaptability in the married individual was higher than the others; which is consistent with Gyawali and Sarkar (2016) (23).…”

“…In general, gender was effective in psychological performance of drug users so that female drug addicts, being more sensitive than men, were more vulnerable to psychological damages. This finding was more consistent with other studies (9,21). However, the effect of gender on social performance of the drug users was not significant.…”

“…The results showed that job was effective in the participants' self-esteem, depression, and anxiety (psychological performance) and risk-taking attitudes (social performance). This is consistent with other studies (3,9). Many studies have shown that having a decent job is an effective factor in enabling the careseekers (21) and it can improve their physical and psychological performance (3,5,13,21).…”

“…Studies on abusive use of drug have shown that there is a direct relationship between abusive use of drugs and mental health (8). Developing drug dependence hinders fulfillment of social, spiritual, and emotional roles of the user at social and family levels; which causes problems for the society and family (9). Psychosocial performance is a key factor in the treatment and rehabilitation of drug user care-seeker (10)(11)(12).…”

Social Stress, Economic Hardship, and Psychological Distress as Predictors of Sustained Abstinence from Substance Use After Treatment

“…Depression and anxiety have been well-associated with addiction and relapse (Ahmadi & Ahmadi, 2005;Brown et al, 1998;Buckner, Timpano, Zvolensky, Sachs-Eriksson, & Schmidt, 2008;Cornelius et al, 2004;Greenfield et al, 1998;Hasin et al, 2002;Scorzelli & Chaudhry, 2009;Tate et al, 2004;Tate et al, 2008;Tuchman, 2010;Wakins et al, 2004), and the two psychological distress variables were significant in the current analysis prior to the addition of perceived stress and economic hardship; participants reporting significant depression between baseline and follow-up were 50% less likely to maintain abstinence and participants reporting significant anxiety were 37% less likely to maintain abstinence. Notably, although serious anxiety was no longer significant after the addition of perceived stress to the model, depression maintained significance, suggesting that the experience of depression contributes to the recovery process above and beyond the experience of stress.…”