Psychiatric comorbidity and gender differences of persons incarcerated for methamphetamine abuse in Taiwan

Abstract

Methamphetamine (MAP) abuse has been common in Taiwan for the past decade. The purpose of the present study was to investigate MAP abuse in Taiwan, with specific attention to psychiatric comorbidity and gender differences. A total of 325 MAP abuse subjects (180 male, 145 female) from a detention center in Taipei were assessed with the Diagnostic Interview for Genetic Studies.The following were studied: drug use behavior, treatment-seeking behavior, lifetime prevalence of mood disorders, MAP psychosis, alcohol use disorders, pathological gambling and antisocial personality. The MAP-abuse subjects in Taiwan had high psychiatric morbidity and low access to mental health services. There also exist certain differences in the prevalence of psychiatric illnesses and treatment-seeking behavior between male and female subjects. Compared with their male counterparts, more female subjects reported experience of mental disturbance and experience of psychiatric treatment. The female subjects more commonly reported suicidal behaviors than the male subjects.

Recidivism among male subjects incarcerated for illicit drug use in Taiwan

“…Around 60% of methamphetamine users and 76% of heroin users in the present study had criminal records other than drug crimes. These rates of criminal records were generally higher than those reported in previous studies 16,17 in Taiwan. Lin et al 17 reported that 45.2% of incarcerated male methamphetamine users had criminal records other than illicit drug use.…”

“…These rates of criminal records were generally higher than those reported in previous studies 16,17 in Taiwan. Lin et al 17 reported that 45.2% of incarcerated male methamphetamine users had criminal records other than illicit drug use. Their study used subjects' reports as the only information resources, and might underestimate crime rates due to prevarication.…”

“…Drug users in Taiwan typically have high morbidity of physical and mental illnesses, 15,16 but have little access to mental health services. 16,17 For example, of 325 methamphetamine abusers at a detention center in Taipei, only 8.9% had seen a mental health professional and only 3.1% had been admitted to a psychiatric facility, despite 36.6% reporting that they experienced mental disturbances and 24.3% reporting that they experienced occupational impairment. 16 The majority of these drug abusers did not reveal their use to professionals.…”

Suicidal Ideation and Correlates in Taiwanese Adolescent Methamphetamine Users

“…MAMP users place the powder of MAMP in empty light bulbs or glass bottles and heat these containers to inhale the smoke. As MAMP is a stimulant that acts on the central nervous system, misuse can have serious physical, psychological, and social consequences (Weaver and Schnoll, 1999), including MAMP psychosis (Lin et al, 2004). Until now, little is known about the prevalence of suicidal ideation and its correlates in adolescent MAMP use.…”

Stimulant use disorders and psychosis: prevalence, correlates and impacts

“…Taiwanese adults in detention with amphetamine abuse found less than 1% also used cannabis (Lin et al, 2004). In a Japanese cohort, less than half of injecting stimulant users had a lifetime history of cannabis use (Matsumoto et al, 2002).…”