Hostname: page-component-55f67697df-q9hcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-10T22:48:25.427Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Influence of Psychological Factors on the Opiate Withdrawal Syndrome

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Grania T. Phillips ,
Michael Gossop  and
Brendan Bradley
Grania T. Phillips
Affiliation:
Drug Dependence Clinical Research and Treatment Unit, The Bethlem Royal Hospital and The Maudsley Hospital, Monks Orchard Road, Beckenham, Kent, BR3 3BX
Michael Gossop*
Affiliation:
Drug Dependence Clinical Research and Treatment Unit, The Bethlem Royal Hospital and The Maudsley Hospital, Monks Orchard Road, Beckenham, Kent, BR3 3BX
Brendan Bradley
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF
*
∗Correspondence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Psychological and drug-related variables and their effect on the severity of withdrawal symptoms were examined in a group of addicts being withdrawn from opiates on an in-patient drug dependence unit. Two psychological factors—neuroticism and the degree of distress expected by the patient—were related to subsequent severity of symptoms. Both are anxiety-related, and may serve to amplify withdrawal symptoms. Surprisingly, drug dose was unrelated to symptom severity.

Type
Brief Reports
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 149 , Issue 2 , August 1986 , pp. 235 - 238
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 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.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Blumberg, H. H. (1981) Characteristics of people coming to treatment In Drug Problems in Britain (eds Edwards, G. & Busch, C.). London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Eiser, J. R. & Gossop, M. R. (1979) ‘Hooked’ or ‘sick’: addicts' perceptions of their addiction. Addictive Behaviors, 4, 185–191.Google Scholar
Eysenck, H. J. & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1975) Manual of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. London: Hodder & Stoughton.Google Scholar
Eysenck, H. J. & Rachman, S. (1965) The Causes and Cure of Neurosis. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Goodman, L. & Gilman, A. (eds) (1980) The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics. New York, London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Gossop, M. R. (1981) Theories of Neurosis. Berlin, Heidelberg, New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Gossop, M. R., Bradley, B., Strang, J., & Connell, P. H. (1984) A comparison of the clinical effectiveness of electrostimulation and a graduated oral methadone withdrawal schedule in the management of the opiate withdrawal syndrome. British Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 203–208.Google Scholar
Johns, A. R. & Gossop, M. R. (1985) Prescribing methadone for the opiate addict: a problem of dosage conversion. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 16, 61–66.Google Scholar
Johnson, J. E. (1973) Effects of accurate information about sensations on the sensory and distress components of pain. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 27, 261–275.Google Scholar
Kleber, H. D. (1981) Detoxification from narcotics In Substance Abuse (eds Lowinson, J. & Ruiz, P.). Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins.Google Scholar
Leventhal, H., Brown, D., Shacham, S. & Engquist, G. (1979) Effects of preparatory information about sensations, threat of pain and attention on cold pressor distress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 688–714.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCafferty, L., & Gossop, M. (1981) Changes in the dose levels of opiates used by addicts admitted for withdrawal between 1969–1979. British Journal of Addiction, 76, 91–95.Google Scholar
Martindale, W. (1982) The Extra Pharmacopoeia, (ed. Reynolds, J.). London: Pharmaceutical Press.Google Scholar
Melamed, B. G. (1977) Psychological preparation for hospitalisation In Contributions to Medical Psychology, 1, (ed. Rachman, S.). Oxford: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
O'Brien, C. P. (1976) Experimental analysis of conditioning factors in human narcotic addiction. Pharmacological Reviews, 27, 533–543.Google Scholar
O'Brien, C. P., Testa, T., O'Brien, T. J., Brady, J. P., & Wells, B. (1977) Conditioned narcotic withdrawal in humans. Science, 195, 1000–1002.Google Scholar
Pavlov, I. P. (1927) Conditioned Reflexes: An Investigation of the Physiological Activity of the Cerebral Cortex. London: Oxford University Press. 1960.Google Scholar
Siegel, S. (1979) The role of conditioning in drug tolerance and addiction In Psychopathology in Animals (ed. Keehn, J. D.). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Stitzer, M., Bigelow, G., & Liebson, I. (1982) Comparison of three out-patient methadone detoxification procedures In Problems of Drug Dependence. NIDA Monograph no. 41. Rockville, Maryland: US Dept. of Health and Human Services.Google Scholar
Wikler, A. (1948) Recent progress in research on the neurophysiologic basis of morphine addiction. American Journal of Psychiatry, 105, 329–338.Google Scholar
Wikler, A. (1980) Opioid Dependence: Mechanisms and Treatment. New York: Plenum.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.