| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2016 | Volume
: 32
| Issue : 4 | Page : 325-331 |
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Self-medication hypothesis in substance-abusing psychotic patients: Can it help some subjects?
Susanta Kumar Padhy1, Siddharth Sarkar1, Debasish Basu2, Parmanand Kulhara1
1 Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
2 Department of Drug De-Addiction and Treatment Centre, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Susanta Kumar Padhy
Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh - 160 012
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0971-9962.193652
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Background and Objectives: The evidence for gself.medication hypothesish (SMH) in patients with dual diagnosis psychosis has been conflicting, though largely not supported, recently. But, still can SMH be a beneficial one in some patients with dual diagnosis remains a question. Methods: The study was conducted at Drug De.addiction and Treatment Centre, Department of Psychiatry, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, a Tertiary Care Hospital in India. This cross.sectional comparative study had psychotic patients with substance use disorder as cases and those without substance use disorder as controls. Demographic details, clinical information, and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) scores were ascertained for cases and controls. Cases were additionally administered modified Stated Reasons Scale and modified Perceived Effects Scale. Results: Case and controls were comparable on demographic details and duration of psychotic illness, but cases had significantly lower scores on BPRS. The reasons reported for substance abuse in cases were more often nonhedonistic than hedonistic. Perceived effects of major substances of abuse (alcohol, cannabis, and opioids) were different. Alcohol use was associated with perceived decrease in loneliness and cannabis was associated with perceived increase in suspiciousness and delusions. Considerable match was found between reasons for taking the substances and the effects perceived. Interpretation and Conclusions: Incorporating reasons for taking substance and their perceived effects in the treatment regimen would certainly help a subset of such difficult.to.treat patients. India being a low.resource country with a scarcity of experts and specialized dual diagnosis clinics, these findings may have an important implication in the clinical practice. |
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