Violence in substance use disorders: how are they related?

Is there a relationship between substance use disorders and a tendency to violence?

Substance use disorders can have a number of very different repercussions, in some cases even violent tendencies.

In these lines we will explore in more detail the possible relationship between some of these drug use pathologies and hostile or even violent behaviors, trying to identify the causes and situations of these pathologies.trying to identify the causes and the situations in which this type of behavior is more likely to take place.

Cases of violence in substance use disorders.

Substance use disorders are one of the many types of psychopathological disorders covered by the main diagnostic manuals of psychology, such as the DSM-V or ICD-10. This range may include the abuse of elements such as alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceuticals or other drugs, usually of an illegal nature in terms of their commercialization. This consumption becomes a disorder when it generates such a dependence that its consumption escapes the individual's control and becomes a necessity. and becomes a necessity.

When suffering from this pathology, it is very common to experience a series of associated symptoms, which can be of a very diverse nature, but the one that interests us in this case is that of violence in substance use disorders. These violent behaviors are significantly more prevalent in these individuals than in the general population..

In fact, studies indicate that a person addicted to any substance will be between 4 and 10 times more likely to maintain violent attitudes than those who do not abuse any of these products. The difference, therefore, is extremely worrying and allows us to establish violence in substance use disorders as one of the most important causes of these antisocial behaviors.

Moreover, these studies show that it is not a specific substance that leads to violent behavior, but rather the fact of suffering from the addiction, since the symptomatology of the substance use disorder is not the same as that of the substance itself.The symptomatology is shared by those who consume substances as diverse as opiates, sedative drugs, hallucinogenic mushrooms, stimulant drugs such as cocaine and also cannabis. There are more types, but these are the ones that occupy the bulk of individuals with violent behaviors.

The context of violence

The most recent meta-analysis on violence in substance use disorders brings together data from 18 different studies that have been published over the last three decades and accumulates data from almost 600,000 people with these pathologies and their aggressive behaviors. This work allows very interesting conclusions to be drawn, some of them about the contexts in which this violence is usually exercised.

Although several of the studies focus on the amount of violent behavior that substance abusers exercise in the intrafamily context, i.e., in the category of gender violence or violence within the couple, the reality is that no difference was observed with respect to the other contexts, so the conclusion is that violence in substance use disorders is generalized in any situation, not only that which occurs in the family home. in the family home.

It is possible that these cases stand out more since, as a matter of probability, the partner is the person with whom the individual in question tends to spend the most time and is therefore more likely to be the target of such violent attitudes. But this does not mean that substance abusers tend to be more aggressive in the family context than in other contexts, but rather that they will be more aggressive in all of them.

Likewise, another important difference in the results is observed between the cohort studies and the case-control studies. In the cohort studies, i.e., those in which cases are observed and analyzed as they occur, it was concluded that there was a lower prevalence of these violent behaviors compared to those in which the case of people with substance addictions was compared to a control group of individuals without such pathology.

Implications of this relationship

Leaving aside the divergences between the different perspectives provided by the types of studies analyzed, what is clear is that there is a generalized conclusion that there is indeed a problem of violence in substance use disorders. there is a generalized conclusion, and that is that there is in fact a problem of violence in substance use disorders.. Once we have this problem on the table, we must take advantage of it to find a solution that addresses the two situations we want to solve.

On the one hand there is the fact that we have individuals who are abusing harmful substances and are therefore experiencing a progressive deterioration at the physical, psychological and social level, which will be more or less accentuated depending on the level of consumption and the characteristics of the person, their protection and risk factors, the type of substance consumed, etc.

On the other hand, there is violence, which is just one of the many consequences that substance abuse is causing, with the exception that, unlike most symptoms, it directly affects third parties, who are the ones who receive such aggressive behavior, either verbally or physically.

This does not mean that they are the only victims of violence, because even the aggressors themselves can also suffer from violence. even the aggressors themselves can also suffer the consequences of violence, either byThis does not mean that they are the only victims of violence, because even the aggressors themselves can also suffer the consequences, whether it be finding themselves in dangerous situations that they have generated, such as arguments or fights, or even at the judicial level, being subject to complaints, arrests, sanctions and even prison sentences if the conduct has been particularly serious and the courts so rule.

Once we are aware of the profound scope of the problem, we should understand that the importance of dedicating more resources through specialized personnel and programs to help people addicted to substances to heal this pathology, because once resolved, all the symptoms and repercussions would be eliminated, including the violent behaviors that we have already seen affect both the person who exercises and especially the person who receives them.Once resolved, all the symptoms and repercussions would be eliminated, including violent behavior, which we have already seen affects both the person who commits it and especially those who receive it.

The importance of prevention

If we saw that in order to solve cases of violence in substance use disorders it was essential to invest in adequate treatment to achieve improvements and cures for these diseases, it is even more important to work for the prevention of violence in substance use disorders. even more important is to work for the prevention of these situations and to dedicate all public resources and to dedicate all the necessary public resources in that direction.

The logic of the matter is clear and unappealable, even at an economic level, because if we add up the costs of detoxification programs, the possible medical costs for the after-effects suffered, the emotional and social costs for the sick person and for all those around them who have suffered from violence, the amount we obtain is much higher than the cost of awareness campaigns so that this addiction never takes place.

Obviously, this is something that is already being worked on and there are important foundations that are constantly reminding the most vulnerable population, generally adolescents and young people, of the risks of drug addiction.and other drugs, and how a false sense of control, peer pressure and the search for strong emotions, among many other factors, can have terrible repercussions.

The key has to be constancy in these campaigns and adaptation to the language and form of communication of the youngest, as we know that it is rapidly changing and therefore the message that reached them yesterday and therefore was effective, does not have to be effective today and they can ignore it completely, throwing away the whole prevention program and all the work and resources behind it.

A few years ago the most usual thing was to carry out these campaigns mainly through television commercials. However, today the paradigm has changed, and young people hardly connect with these media, while they communicate constantly through their cell phones. It will therefore be essential to take advantage of the entry point of social networks, applications in which teenagers are true experts.

A well-orchestrated campaign, with appropriate and spontaneous language, through a TikTok video or an Instagram photo, is likely to be immensely more powerful than a TV spot, radio spot or other message launched through a more traditional media. It will be vitally important, therefore, for experts to make use of that possibility and thus work toward preventing violence in substance use disorders.

Bibliographical references:

• Hopenhayn, M. (2002). Drugs and violence: ghosts of the new Latin American metropolis. Polis. Latin American Journal.
• Vaiz, R.G., Nakano, A.M.S. (2004). Intrafamilial violence, drug use in the couple, from the perspective of the battered woman. Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem.
• Zhong, S., Yu, R., Fazel, S. (2020). Drug Use Disorders and Violence: Associations With Individual Drug Categories. Epidemiologic Reviews.