prevalent mental disorders in substance abusers

abstract comorbidity of mental disorders and substance abuse has significant effect in treatment of persons with substance dependency. this research is aimed to determine the frequency of mental disorders in substance abusers. in cross-sectional descriptive design, 643 people were selected using convenience random sampling among patients with substance dependency that were undergoing treatment in addiction treatment centers of semnan state in 1389 and completed the demographical questionnaire and the mmpi short form (71 items) scale. the data was analyzed by chi square and cochran's q test. findings showed that 89% of persons with substance dependency at least have one elevated clinical scale. in terms of highest elevation, common elevated clinical scales are schizophrenia (47%), hypochondrias (19%) and psychasthenia (10%). also, according to 65>t scores, common elevated clinical scales for persons with substance dependency are schizophrenia (74%), psychasthenia (56%) and hypochondrias (41%) . moreover, in terms of 2 or 3 point codes, common elevated clinical scales related to code 167 with derivations (18%) and code 467 with derivations (16%). it is concluded that mental disorders have important role in onset, maintenance and relapse of substance abuse and careful attention should be paid to clinical patterns accompanied with substance abuse in prevention and tailoring effective treatment.