Psychosocial aspects of patients with substance misuse problems attending a psychiatric hospital in Erbil Iraq

Abstract EN

Background: Substance use that results in addiction can lead to chronic disease that is often associated with other psychiatric disorders.

Anxiety, depression and stress are among the more common psychiatric disorders experienced by people with addictions.

Aim: The current study compared socio-demographic characteristics, severity of stress, anxiety, depression and social relationship levels in patients who reported experiences of addiction and those who did not.

Participants were admitted to Hawler Psychiatric Hospital, in Erbil, which is situated in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Method: Using a descriptive design, the study assessed participants from 2 July 2017 to 26 September 2018.

N=100 patients were selected from the hospital’s inpatient and outpatient clinics.

Data were collected via a three-part questionnaire that assessed socio-demographic information, social and academic background and psychological symptoms.

The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) was used to measure psychological symptoms.

Results: Of the 100 participants, 42% reported moderate symptom levels for depression; 17% reported severe symptom levels; and, 14% described extremely severe symptom levels for depression.

In terms of relationships, 68% reported having poor social relationships; 30% described having good social relationships and 2% reported having experienced bad social relationship.

There was highly significant association with depression, anxiety, and stress while there was no significant association between level of education and social relationship.

A significant association was found between economic status and psychological aspects, and no significant association between economic status and social relationship for patients who reporting dependency on drugs.