SUBSTANCE USE AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY IN THE PSYCHIATRIC CARE UNIT OF THE SOCIAL AFFAIRS SERVICE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SALAMANCA

Introduction: University stage imply some changes and challenges that turn it into a crucial and tricky period for mental health and substance use. Material and methods: We present a study based on a sample of 49 people of the university community, 37 women and 12 men, evaluated in a seven months period. The assessment consisted in an interview carried out by a psychiatrist. A database was designed, providing the clinical information obtained from the interview and entry sheets during the first visit. Following descriptive and analytic studies were performed using the hypothesis contrast “Chi-Square” test. The reference statistical significance level was α = 0.05. Aims: To study the impact of substance use in the mental health of our sample in order to implement new prevention and treatment strategies. Results: 53,1% of the sample abuse substances: 30,8% men and 69,2% women (p 0,277). Alcohol is the most used substance in the sample (80,8%), followed by tobacco (57,7%) and cannabis (30,8%). Concerning psychopathology, insomnia (53,8%) is the most frequent symptom (p 0,260); thoughts of death were present in 46,2% of the substance users (p 0,419); while self-harm (p 0,365) and suicidal attempts (p 0,113) were described by the 19,2% of that group of the sample. Eating disorders and psychosis were observed in 23,1% (p 0,560) and 11,5% (p 0,743) respectively. Conclusions: Substance use is a very prevalent practice in our sample. We have observed some clinical symptoms are frequent in this part of the sample and we should pay special attention to their prevention and early treatment, as well as that of the substance use. This way we could minimize and tackle Mental Health problems in our sample.