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Heroin Addiction and Related Clinical Problems: 2017, 19, N2 (pages: 43 - 48)

Ten Years of Psychological Research on Heroin Addiction and Related Problems at the New Bulgarian University: An Overview

Todorov O., Psederska E., and Milcheva A.

Summary: Background: Heroin abuse and dependence constitute a significant public health problem that Bulgarian society now has to face. There has been a sizeable increase in the number of heroin-dependent individuals during the last few decades, which raises the issue of the importance of early identification, prevention and effective treatment programmes for this type of addiction. Methods: In the following review we wish to share some empirical findings related to the psychological factors that play a role in heroin dependence. The data presented here have been accumulated over the last ten years through various empirical studies conducted by graduating psychology students and their academic supervisors from the clinical psychology unit at the New Bulgarian University. Results: These studies generally fall into one of the three following categories: assessing environmental factors related to the outbreak and maintenance of drug abuse and addiction; the personality (temperament and character traits) of users; and characteristic psychological states and diagnostic profiles. Conclusions: The reviewed studies hopefully might be used as a further support in assessing the topical issue of psychological factors in the vast field of heroin addiction studies.