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Objective: The relationship of depression and drug addiction : the subject of numerous scientific studies. A special problem is dysthymia - slightly expressed subclinical depression and anxiety neurotic components; these conditions more often than other types of depressive pathology observed in drug addiction.
Method: As part of the study about the interactions of depressive disorders and addiction, we investigated the clinical efficacy of antidepressants in treatment of depression after abstinence and postabstinent states in patients with opiate addiction. Patients were admitted with a state of withdrawal syndrome. The examined patients had depressive state of mild or moderate severity according to the criteria of the International Classification of Diseases-10.
Results: Affective disorders are found in abstinent and postabstinent states. In 13 patients with a background of the existing withdrawal symptoms, an antidepressant medication was administered on the first day of stay in hospital(group 1). Six people received the drug later, within 6-14 days( group 2). A comparison group of patients treated with antidepressant from the first days of therapy, and patients treated within the first 6-14 days by only sedative and detoxification therapy, showed the best dynamics and affective status and more effective reduction of pathological attraction in the first group. Side effects that would cause to a need to cancel the prescribed medicines were not observed. Effects of antidepressants manifested in the reduction of depression more than 50 % (responders), have been observed in 13 patients with drug addiction.
Conclusion: The obtained data confirm the clinical correlation between affective disorders and addictive disorders.