Drug Abuse and Psychopathology

Abstract

The report by Mc Lellan et al. in this issue of the Journal raises intriguing questions about the relation between various forms of drug abuse and psychopathology and suggests some specific areas that the clinician might explore when obtaining a history from a patient who abuses drugs.Why, for example, should a sizable subgroup of drug users prefer psychostimulants almost exclusively? Possibly some of these persons are "medicating" themselves for depressive illness. The clinician could be alerted to this possibility by a history of "vegetative" signs of depression — hypersomnia, early-morning wakening, anorexia, diurnal variation of mood, and psychomotor retardation. . . .