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Psychiatric comorbidity and gender differences of persons incarcerated for methamphetamine abuse in Taiwan
Author(s) -
LIN SHIHKU,
BALL DAVID,
HSIAO CHENGCHENG,
CHIANG YUANLIN,
REE SHAOCHUN,
CHEN CHIHKEN
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
psychiatry and clinical neurosciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1440-1819
pISSN - 1323-1316
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1819.2003.01218.x
Subject(s) - psychiatry , comorbidity , substance abuse , clinical psychology , psychology , alcohol abuse , mood , mood disorders , mental health , personality disorders , methamphetamine , psychosis , psychiatric comorbidity , antisocial personality disorder , poison control , medicine , injury prevention , personality , medical emergency , anxiety , social psychology
Methamphetamine (MAP) abuse has been common in Taiwan for the past decade. The purpose of the present study was to investigate MAP abuse in Taiwan, with specific attention to psychiatric comorbidity and gender differences. A total of 325 MAP abuse subjects (180 male, 145 female) from a detention center in Taipei were assessed with the Diagnostic Interview for Genetic Studies. The following were studied: drug use behavior, treatment‐seeking behavior, lifetime prevalence of mood disorders, MAP psychosis, alcohol use disorders, pathological gambling and antisocial personality. The MAP‐abuse subjects in Taiwan had high psychiatric morbidity and low access to mental health services. There also exist certain differences in the prevalence of psychiatric illnesses and treatment‐seeking behavior between male and female subjects. Compared with their male counterparts, more female subjects reported experience of mental disturbance and experience of psychiatric treatment. The female subjects more commonly reported suicidal behaviors than the male subjects.