International Journal of Collaborative Research on Internal Medicine & Public Health

Substance use disorder patients’ attitude towards treatment with psychotherapy and self-help groups

Introduction: Substance use disorders are considered as Mental and behavioral disorders therefore people with addictions should receive help that is oriented towards personal growth and enhancement of functioning. Such help cannot be provided using only medications, therefore psychotherapeutic interference is necessary. Objectives: The Aim – to find out the point of view of substance use disorders patients regarding number of visits, duration of treatment and efficacy of self-help groups, individual and group psychotherapy.

Methods: Quantitative research method using research authors’ designed questionnaire was used in this study. The questionnaire was pilot tested in order to be validated. It consists of 24 questions and it consists from two parts – socio-demographic data collection and basic information collection.

Results: 587 substance use disorders patients were interviewed, 66.4% male, 33.6% female, mean age – 39.6 (SD±11.3). 26.2% (154) respondents have attended self-help groups, 18.5% (109) – individual psychotherapy, 7.0% (41) – group psychotherapy. From those who attended self-help groups 52 respondents (33.7%) report remission for one year or more. From those who attended individual psychotherapy – 27 (24.8%) respondents, but from those who attended group psychotherapy 15 (36.6%) report remission for one year or more.

Conclusions: Respondents choose self-help groups more often than group psychotherapy. Half of the SUD patients stop psychotherapy in the first half a year of the treatment. Group psychotherapy provides remission that lasts for more than 5 years for most of the respondents comparing to individual psychotherapy and self-help groups.

Author(s):

Velga Sudraba , Inga Millere , Elmars Rancans

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