Since the existence of the human being, the search for medicinal plants and the desire to consume substances for healing or even recreational purposes has been present; it can even be a great reason why today a wide variety of psychotropic substances are known and consumed.
This habit is part of the beliefs and ideas of each era about health and disease, for example, in the early twentieth century, the addict was considered a despicable and lazy being, lacking the will to control his impulses.
- It was Khantzian.
- A psychoanalyst who frequented drug addicts at Harvard University.
- Who began to wonder what purpose or purpose propelled addicts to use these substances.
- This author developed the theory of self-medication.
- According to which the main cause of consumption of such substances is a person’s inability to tolerate negative situations.
Today, addiction to psychotropic substances is a major public health problem: it has a great impact on society and great social, judicial and political implications, so every day great efforts are made to understand the causes and consequences of this terrible disorder.
Khantzian observed, studying his patients, that they had all consumed at least three different psychotropic substances before developing the addiction or addiction by which they would be treated, hence the author wondered why they chose one drug over another. a surprising conclusion: depending on the baseline psychiatric disorder each patient had, he chose one or the other drug to maximize his psychopathological symptoms.
For example, a shy businessman used alcohol to increase sales, just as a teenage boy with assault problems ended up consuming heroin to better control his impulses, all intuitively trying one drug after another, until they found the one that was most effective for them. Obviously, this substance abuse ended up causing an even bigger problem, addiction.
Currently, to diagnose Substance Use Disorder, according to DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), we must meet at least two of the following criteria within 12 months:
As we have explained above, according to this theory, patients who develop disorders by psychotropic substance use do so because they suffer from psychopathological disorders that, directly or indirectly, lead them to consume these substances as a form of self-treatment.
This hypothesis is based on the discovery of opiate receptors in the CNS (central nervous system):
If this hypothesis was initially raised for opiates and psychostimulants, it can also be applied in the case of alcohol. There is evidence for and against the theory of self-medication. Partial evidence was found in schizophrenic patients and people with personality disorders.
In addition to Khanzrian’s theory, other hypotheses have historically also been considered; in fact, today the debate continues. What is quite clear is that not all patients are the same and that everyone needs individualized diagnosis and treatment, although this theory has found some scientific evidence, does not mean that all dependent patients necessarily have a previous pathology.