Fifty-one percent of methamphetamine users were diagnosed with a lifetime or current psychotic disorder, according to a prospective study of 198 needle and syringe program participants who had used methamphetamine during the past month.
Eighty percent of the patients’ psychotic disorders were substance induced. The remaining 20% were primary psychotic disorders.
Of the study’s participants with psychotic disorders, 49 had current substance-induced psychotic disorders and 13 had current primary psychotic disorders. Although the severity of symptoms were similar in patients with both of these types of current psychotic disorders, the patients with primary psychotic disorders were more likely to have received psychiatric treatment within the past month.
“Results indicating that almost a third of [methamphetamine] users accessing [needle and syringe programs] had a current psychiatric disorder are alarming, as these services are not adequately equipped to manage individuals with acute psychotic disorders,” Leanne Hides, Ph.D., and her colleagues reported. Needle and syringe programs should screen for psychotic symptoms in methamphetamine users and work closely with addiction and mental health services to ensure that patients get appropriate clinical care and treatment, they wrote.
Find the full version of the study in Psychiatry Research ( http://www.psy-journal.com/article/S0165-1781%2814%2901004-X/fulltext 7 ).
