In an effort to inquiry the "self-medication hypothesis" in heroin-dependent patients suffering from chronic psychosis and bipolar disorder, a naturalistic comparative cohort study was designed with the aim of comparing, according to the presence of dual diagnosis, the clinical characteristics of heroin-dependent patients presenting for their first agonist opioid treatment. The main finding was that addictive (heroin) illness was more severe in bipolar 1 patients and less severe in chronic psychotic patients when compared with heroin-dependent patients without dual diagnoses. In the case of chronic psychotic patients, these differences do not allow us to exclude a therapeutic heroin use, at least at the beginning of their toxicomanic career, with limited progression of their addictive disease. This occurrence seems to be excluded for bipolar 1 heroin-dependent patients, who come to their first agonist opioid treatment with a more severe addictive disease.

Differentiating between the course of illness in bipolar 1 and chronic-psychotic heroin-dependent patients at their first agonist Opioid treatment

MAREMMANI, ANGELO GIOVANNI ICRO;BACCIARDI, SILVIA;ROVAI, LUCA;MASSIMETTI, ENRICO;GAZZARRINI, DENISE;DELL'OSSO, LILIANA;MAREMMANI, ICRO
2015-01-01

Abstract

In an effort to inquiry the "self-medication hypothesis" in heroin-dependent patients suffering from chronic psychosis and bipolar disorder, a naturalistic comparative cohort study was designed with the aim of comparing, according to the presence of dual diagnosis, the clinical characteristics of heroin-dependent patients presenting for their first agonist opioid treatment. The main finding was that addictive (heroin) illness was more severe in bipolar 1 patients and less severe in chronic psychotic patients when compared with heroin-dependent patients without dual diagnoses. In the case of chronic psychotic patients, these differences do not allow us to exclude a therapeutic heroin use, at least at the beginning of their toxicomanic career, with limited progression of their addictive disease. This occurrence seems to be excluded for bipolar 1 heroin-dependent patients, who come to their first agonist opioid treatment with a more severe addictive disease.
2015
Maremmani, ANGELO GIOVANNI ICRO; Rugani, Fabio; Bacciardi, Silvia; Rovai, Luca; Massimetti, Enrico; Gazzarrini, Denise; Dell'Osso, Liliana; Maremmani,...espandi
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11568/800489
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