THE COURSE AND OUTCOME OF DRUG-ADDICTION ACCORDING TO LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP-STUDY

The paper reports 20-year follow-up results (from 1976-1977 to 1996-19 97) of 175 patients with drug addiction that began at the young age. T he patients with opiate addiction prevailed. Structural-dynamic altera tions of the main clinic symptome complexes, the validity of the facto rs that are essential for the reduction of pathological drive are anal yzed. There was a tendency to progressive decrease of narcotics admini stration as the severity of somatic pathology increased. Episodes of n arcotics administration were permanent by the end of the second decade of the disease in less than 20% of the patients from the primary coho rt; alcohol and psychotropic drug (hyphotics, tranquilizers) dependenc e has developed in about 1/3 of the patients. The most influence on th e regress of pathologic drive had the factors related with both the du ration of the isolation from narcotics and the development of schizoph renic process; therapeutic regress was observed much rarer. High letha lity of the patients with drug addiction was found: more than 46% duri ng 20 years of the disease.