Substance use among male forensic patients

Abstract

There is a widespread use of substances abuse which might cause violence, suicide, interpersonal conflicts, lawsuits, psychiatric commitment, and even crimes. Psychiatrists are under increasing pressure to develop strategies to address the problem of coexisting criminal behaviour, addiction, and mental illness. The aim of this study was to examine the association between demographic profile, psychiatric symptomatology and substance use in forensic psychiatric inpatients, and to consider the treatment needs and opportunities for intervention among the same sample.

Methodology

A retrospective study was done on patients admitted to the department for Forensic Psychiatry at the Razi Hospital from 1996 to 2016, initially jailed for detention and drug consumption and judged irresponsible by reason of insanity. Data were collected by record review.

Results

Thirty-two patients were included in the study. Mean age was 27.81 years. Thirty-six percent of the participants were illiterate and 45% were single. More than half of the subjects (54%) had personal psychiatric history and 27, 27% had family history of psychiatric problems. About one third (31.81%) of participants had judicial background: 33% were arrested for public drunkenness, 44% were arrested for violence, and 22% were arrested for theft. Concerning the diagnosis, 45% were suffering from schizophrenia, 22.77% were diagnosed with personality disorder and 27.27% of them would not have any mental trouble. About 50% of the patients did not follow up with treatment.

Conclusion

Addictive disorders are authentic psychopathological disorders. Effective treatment is hindered by the paucity of research on clinical application of treatment models for addictive disorders in this population.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.