Drug abuse Assessment Questionnaire

Why: to determine if acute or chronic.

Why: including prescribed drugs, over the counter drugs, illegal drugs or social drugs.

Why: many people who abuse drugs use multiple different drugs.

Why: if so estimate specific weekly consumption and maximum consumption at one sitting in the last month?

Why: if so estimate daily number of cigarettes smoked?

Why: If so have you ever shared needles? - establish the risk of HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C infection.

Why: e.g. marijuana may cause short term memory loss or paranoid episodes; amphetamines may cause psychosis, aggressive or disinhibited behavior or weight loss; LSD may cause unpredictable behavior, suicidal tendencies, vomiting and brain damage; glue sniffing may cause aggressive and violent behavior, lung, brain or liver damage; phencyclidine (angel dust) may cause suicidal tendencies, mental disorder, self injury tendencies and hallucinations; heroin may cause loss of appetite, convulsions, overdose or mental deterioration; cocaine may cause aggressive or overactive behavior, heart arrhythmias, seizures, mental disorders, respiratory problems.

Why: e.g. alienation from family, loss of employment, loss of assets, criminal activity.

Why: helps determine dependence on the drug.

Why: helps assess motivation to change habit.

Why: e.g. heroin withdrawal symptoms include anxiety and panic, irritability, chills, shivering, excessive sweating, "goose flesh", loss of appetite, nausea, runny eyes, tiredness, muscle aches, abdominal pains and diarrhea.

Why: A high proportion of individuals with mental illness are known to abuse alcohol or other drugs. e.g. according to prevalence figures from a major US study (Regier et al. 1990) 47% of people with schizophrenia and 56% of people with bipolar disorder also have a problem with substance abuse. Symptoms of mental illness may be precipitated or exacerbated by alcohol and drug abuse.

Why: e.g. parental problems, early death, separation, divorce, alcohol or drug abuse, sexual abuse, mental illness, lack of affection.

Why: e.g. sadness, crying spells, lack of interest in activities, poor energy, poor concentration and attention span, poor sleep, reduced libido, poor self esteem and sometimes suicidal thoughts. - May be associated or caused by drug or alcohol abuse.

Why: e.g. episodes of depression (often psychotic in intensity) and at other times episodes of psychotic excitement (mania or hypomania). Symptoms of psychotic excitement may include elevation of mood, increased activity, grandiose ideas, irritability, disinhibition (which affects social, sexual and financial behavior), rapid speech and racing thought, delusions (persecutory or grandiose) and sometimes hallucinations - 56 % of people with bipolar affective disorder also have a problem with substance abuse (11 times the population risk for alcohol and other drugs).

Why: e.g. hallucinations, delusions, disordered thought, reduced contact with reality, poverty of speech, slowness of thought and movement, emotional flatness and lack of insight. 47% of people with schizophrenia also have a problem with substance abuse (3 times the population risk for alcohol and 6 times that for other drugs).

Why: e.g. nervousness, shakiness, tremor, restlessness, irritability, insomnia, poor concentration, heart palpitations, racing heart, sweating, dizziness, diarrhea, lump in throat and frequency of urination. - May be associated or caused by drug or alcohol abuse.

Why: e.g. sudden, unexpected, short-lived episodes of intense anxiety. Panic disorder may present with detachment. - May be associated or caused by drug or alcohol abuse.

Why: e.g. recurrent episodes of binge eating; preoccupation with food and weight changes; consumption of high calorie, easily digested food during the binge; termination of the binge by abdominal pain, sleep or vomiting; inconspicuous eating during a binge; repeated attempts to lose weight by frequent vomiting, fasting or use of laxatives or diuretics; frequent fluctuations of more than 4.5kg; awareness of abnormal eating pattern and fear of not being able to stop voluntarily; depressed mood after binge. May have a previous history of anorexia nervosa. - may be associated with laxative drug abuse.

Why: e.g. refusal to maintain normal body weight, loss of more than 25% of original body weight, intense fear of becoming fat, preoccupation with calorie counting, avoidance of all carbohydrate, fainting. - may be associated with laxative drug abuse.