Psychiatric Assessment for a Sample of Wives of Opioid Addiction

Abstract

BackgroundSubstance addiction affects the functioning of the family, the community, and the relatives of substance abusers, as they experience considerable burden of care. The presence of a substance-dependent family member increases conflicts and causes stress to every member of the family.The aim of the study was to assess psychiatric disorders among wives of opioid abusers and find out the relation between such disorders and the factors related to husband’s addiction.ProcedureA total of 97 wives of opioid addicts were included in a study at El-Maamoura Hospital for mental health. SCID I was performed for all wives. Full drug screening and the addiction severity index were performed for husbands. The socioeconomic test scale was answered by any of the spouses.ResultsThis study was conducted on 97 wives of opioid addicts. Approximately 49.5% experienced recent psychiatric disorders, as 18.5% of the wives had a dysthymic disorder, 13.4% had major depressive disorders, 6.1% had anxiety disorders, and 10.2% had hypochondriasis. Among the wives of opioid addicts, a significant relation between having a psychiatric disorder and a family history and a highly significant relation between having a psychiatric disorder and the addiction severity of their husbands were recorded by the regression analysis.ConclusionsOpioid dependence of a male patient was associated with wife’s mental health; the majority of them experienced psychiatric disorders, ranging from a dysthymic disorder, major depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, to hypochondriasis. Among the wives of opioid addicts, there was a significant relation between having a psychiatric disorder and a family history and the addiction severity of their husbands.