Prevalence of Mood and Anxiety Disorders in Opioid Addicts.

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Substance use disorders and mood and anxiety disorders are widespread among the general population. Methods: This study assessed the rate of current mood disorders and anxiety disorders in outdoor opioid addicts. The data were collected from five hundred opioiddependent patients who were seeking treatment from outdoor dept. of civil hospital, Gurdaspur. The Research version of structured clinical interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders was used. Results: The majority (23%) were self employed and 20% were unemployed. 25% had education till the level of high school, 15% were illiterate. 326(65.2%) subjects were diagnosed as having mood disorders, of those 274 (29%) had substance induced depression, 41 (8.2%) had major depression, 5 (1%) had dysthymia, 5 (1%) bipolar mood disorder type I, and 2 (0.4%) were diagnosed as having bipolar mood disorder type II. 138 (27.6%) subjects were diagnosed as having substance-induced anxiety disorders, and 88 (17.6%) as having generalized anxiety disorder. Of the participants 218 (43.6%) reported more than 5 years use of opioid abuse. Conclusions: Due to high rates of mood disorders in opioid-dependent subjects, psychiatric treatment services should be open and accessible to the patients, especially those who voluntarily seek help and treatment to reduce the rate of mood disorders and reduce relapse of substance abuse also.