Assessment of anxiety in drug-dependent adults institutionalized in rehabilitation centers

Abstract

The consumption of psychoactive substances has been a controversial issue for public health worldwide due to its negative effects, which go beyond the physical health of the individual and affect other areas of his or her life, such as social, family, academic and work. Consequently, as consumption increases, psychological disorders of various kinds begin to manifest themselves; among the most prevalent is anxiety. These problems are more noticeable in patients who are going through the process of recovery from their addiction, since the situation in which they find themselves makes them vulnerable. Therefore, the objective of this research is to describe the levels of anxiety present in adult drug addicts institutionalized in rehabilitation centers. For this purpose, search engines in PubMed and Scopus were used, using Boolean operators and descriptors in Spanish and English; in addition, the PRISMA method was used for the identification and selection of information. The most significant findings include sex-related differences, where women present a higher prevalence of anxiety compared to men. In addition, the most frequent psychiatric comorbidities in these patients include depression, ADHD, antisocial disorder and psychotic disorder. Finally, new non-pharmacological approaches to treat anxiety have been found to show promising results, such as electroacupuncture, martial arts and physical exercise.