Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-04T09:34:16.407Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Factors Associated with Relapse Among Opiate Addicts in an Out-patient Detoxification Programme

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Sujata Unnithan ,
Michael Gossop  and
John Strang
Sujata Unnithan
Affiliation:
Drug Dependence Clinical Research and Treatment Unit, The Bethlem Royal and The Maudsley Hospital, Beckenham BR3 3BX
Michael Gossop*
Affiliation:
Drug Dependence Clinical Research and Treatment Unit, The Bethlem Royal and The Maudsley Hospital, Beckenham BR3 3BX
John Strang
Affiliation:
Drug Dependence Clinical Research and Treatment Unit, The Bethlem Royal and The Maudsley Hospital, Beckenham BR3 3BX
*
∗Correspondence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Relapse is a central problem in the treatment of addictive behaviour, and a specific problem in the out-patient treatment of the opiate withdrawal syndrome. This study investigated factors associated with relapse among 42 opiate addicts receiving out-patient detoxification treatment at a London drug-dependence clinic. All subjects completed a questionnaire about their social, psychological, and environmental circumstances in the week before interview, and were interviewed within the first two weeks of the programme. Forty per cent had lapsed to illicit heroin abuse within the previous week. Interpersonal factors and drug-related cues were associated with lapse to opiate use. Most subjects encountered a range of high-risk situations, such as regularly meeting other drug users and being offered drugs, and persistent negative mood states.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 161 , Issue 5 , November 1992 , pp. 654 - 657
Copyright
Copyright © 1992 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bradley, B. P., Phillips, G., Green, L., et al (1989) Circumstances surrounding the initial lapse to opiate use following detoxification. British Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 354–359.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chaney, E. F., Roszell, D. K. & Cummings, C. (1982) Relapse in opiate addicts–a behavioral analysis. Addictive Behaviors, 7, 291–297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cummings, C., Gordon, J. R. & Marlatt, G. A. (1980) Relapse: strategies of prevention and prediction. In The Addictive Behaviours: Treatment of Alcoholism, Drug Abuse, Smoking and Obesity (ed. W. R. Miller), pp. 291–315. Oxford: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Gossop, M., (ed.) (1989) Relapse and Addictive Behaviour. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Gossop, M. (ed.), Johns, A. & Green, L. (1986) Opiate withdrawal: inpatient versus outpatient programmes and preferred versus random assignment to treatment. British Medical Journal, 293, 103–104.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gossop, M. (ed.), Griffiths, P. & Strang, J. (1988) Chasing the dragon: characteristics of heroin chasers. British Journal of Addiction, 83, 1159–1162.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gossop, M. (ed.), Green, L., Phillips, G., et al (1989) Lapse, relapse and survival among opiate addicts after treatment. A prospective follow up study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 348–353.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gossop, M. (ed.), & Strang, J. (1991) A comparison of the withdrawal responses of heroin and methadone addicts during detoxification. British Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 697–699.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heather, N. & Stallard, A. (1989) Does the Marlatt model underestimate the importance of conditioned craving in the relapse process? In Relapse and Addictive Behaviour (ed. Gossop, M.). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hunt, W. A., Barnett, L. W. & Branch, L. G. (1971) Relapse rates in addition programs. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 27, 455–456.3.0.CO;2-R>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Litman, G. K., Eiser, J. R. & Taylor, C. (1979) Dependence, relapse and extinction. A theoretical critique and a behavioural examination. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 35, 192–199.3.0.CO;2-R>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marlatt, G. A. & Gordon, J. R. (1985) Relapse Prevention, pp. 77–123. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Meyer, R. E. (1989) How to understand the relationship between psychopathology and addictive disorders: another example of the chicken and the egg. In Psychopathology and Addictive Behaviour (ed. R. E. Meyer). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Shiffman, S. (1989) Conceptual issues in the study of relapse. In Relapse and Addictive Behaviour (ed. M. Gossop). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Strang, J. & Gossop, M. (1990) Comparison of linear versus inverse exponential methadone reduction curves in the detoxification of opiate addicts. Addictive Behaviours, 15, 541–547.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Westermeyer, J. (1989) Nontreatment factors affecting treatment outcome in substance abuse. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 15, 13–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.