Patients presenting substance-induced disorders, schizoaffective disorder, mental retardation, dependence or abuse of drugs, and/or alcohol in the past 6 months, history of seizures, consumption of benzodiazepines within the past 6 months, or an IQ (intelligence quotient) below 80 were not included in the clinical sample.
A study published in 2010 looked at harms to users, such as mortality, damage to physical and mental health, dependence, and loss of resources and relationships, as well as harms to society, such as injury of others, crime, environmental damage, family adversities, international damage, economic cost and effects on the community.
In three of four clusters, users were affected by more than one mental or dependence disorder.
They may be referred to as 'Young low-income earners with multiple mental and dependence disorders'.
It reinforces the relevance of developing targeted programs for subgroups of individuals with mental and/or dependence disorders.
The study found considerable heterogeneity among socio-demographic characteristics, number of disorders, and number of health-care services used by individuals with mental or dependence disorders.
Conversely, Cluster 4, which encompassed only 1.1 mental or dependence disorders per subject, was not as greatly impacted by psychological distress as other clusters.
Analysis yielded four user clusters: people who experienced mainly anxiety disorder; depressive disorder; alcohol and/or drug disorder; and multiple mental and dependence disorder.
In addition, some authors have suggested that users with multiple mental and dependence disorders feel a greater impetus to seek treatment [ 64, 74].
