Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T22:03:54.545Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Self-detoxification by Opiate Addicts

A Preliminary Investigation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

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

Abstract

A study of 50 opiate addicts attending a London service for treatment of drug dependence found that 47 subjects had previously made at least one attempt at self-detoxification. These subjects reported 212 previous attempts. Although 30 subjects reported having managed to complete at least one attempt, the success rate per episode was low (24%). One of the most commonly reported methods, used by 28 subjects, involved an abrupt cessation of opiates (‘cold turkey’). Of the drugs used in their attempts at self-detoxification, benzodiazepines were reported by 24 subjects and opiates by 20. Practical strategies such as distraction and avoidance were also used. Self-help detoxification materials for opiate addicts might be useful.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 159 , Issue 2 , August 1991 , pp. 208 - 212
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 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

Davis, A., Faust, R. & Ordenlicht, M. (1984) Self-help smoking cessation and maintenance programs: a comparative study with 12 months follow-up by the American Lung Association. American Journal of Public Health, 74, 1212–1217.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DiClemente, C. C. & Prochaska, J. (1982) Self-change and therapy change of smoking behaviour: a comparison of processes of change in cessation and maintenance. Addictive Behaviors, 7, 133–142.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gossop, M. (1989) The detoxification of high dose heroin addicts in Pakistan. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 24, 143–150.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gossop, M., 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., Green, L., Phillips, G., et al (1989a) 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., Griffiths, P., Bradley, B., et al (1989b) Opiate withdrawal symptoms in response to 10-day and 21-day methadone withdrawal programmes. British Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 360–363.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Green, L. & Gossop, M. (1988) Effects of information on the opiate withdrawal syndrome. British Journal of Addiction, 83, 305–309.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hunt, W., Harnett, L. & Branch, L. (1971) Relapse rates in addiction programmes. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 27, 455–456.3.0.CO;2-R>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marlatt, A. & Gordon, J. (1985) Relapse Prevention. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Orford, J. (1986) Excessive Appetites: A Psychological View of Addictions. Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
Pederson, L. & Lepcoe, N. (1976) A psychological and behavioral comparison of ex-smokers and smokers. Journal of Chronic Diseases, 29, 431–434.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ray, M. B. (1964) The cycle of abstinence and relapse among heroin addicts. In The Other Side: Perspectives on Deviance (ed. Becker, H.). New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Robertson, I. & Heather, N. (1985) So You Want to Cut Down Your Drinking? A Self-help Guide to Sensible Drinking. Edinburgh: Scottish Health Education Group.Google Scholar
Saunders, W. & Kershaw, P. (1979) Spontaneous remission from alcoholism – a community study. British Journal of Addiction, 74, 251–256.Google ScholarPubMed
Schachter, S. (1982) Recidivism and self-cure of smoking and obesity. American Psychologist, 37, 436–444.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schasre, R. (1966) Cessation patterns among neophyte heroin users. International Journal of the Addictions, 1, 23–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stall, R. (1983) Spontaneous remission from problem drinking in the bluegrass region of Kentucky. Journal of Drug Issues, 13, 191–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stall, R. & Biernacki, P. (1986) Spontaneous remission from the problematic use of substances: an inductive model derived from a comparative analysis of the alcohol, opiate, tobacco, and food/obesity literatures. International Journal of the Addictions, 21, 1–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stimson, G. V., Alldritt, L., Dolan, K., et al (1988) Syringe exchange schemes for drug users in England and Scotland. British Medical Journal, 296, 1717–1719.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tuchfeld, B. (1981) Spontaneous remission in alcoholics: empirical observations and theoretical implications. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 42, 626–641.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
US Surgeon General (1988) The Health Consequences of Smoking: Nicotine Addiction. Rockville: US Dept of Health and Human Services.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.