Abstract
One hundred American Indian patients with a Psychoactive Substance Use Disorder (PSUD) were studied with special reference to associated psychiatric disorders. This clinical sample was divided into three groups: PSUD only, PSUD plus an Organic Mental Disorder (OMD), and PSUD plus any other psychiatric disorder. OMD diagnoses included primarily Delirium Tremens and Alcoholic Hallucinosis; cases of Alcohol Amnestic Disorder, Alcohol Dementia, and trauma-induced OMD were also encountered. Other psychiatric disorders included primarily Major Depression and Anxiety Disorder, with smaller numbers of Schizophrenia, Conduct, Sexual, and other Disorders. Demographic and clinical characteristics were compared among these three groups. Those with PSUD + OMD tended to be older, male, and have more DSM-III Axis 3 disorders (American Psychiatric Association 1980) as compared to other patients; those with PSUD + other diagnoses tended to be single and younger. Education and occupational status were not related to the three diagnostic groups. The data were also subjected to MANOVA analysis. Even when corrected for sex, types of substance being abused, Axis 3 health status, and other factors, the three diagnostic groups still bore a significant relationship to age. Those with PSUD + Other psychiatric diagnoses besides OMD tended to be youngest. Those with PSUD-only were intermediate by age, while those with PSUD + OMD tended to be the oldest.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychiatric Association 1987 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd Edition Revised. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Press.
Beauvais, F., E. R. Oetting, and R. W. Edwards 1985 Trends in the use of inhalants among American Indian adolescents. White Cloud Journal 3: 3.
Claymore, B. J. 1988 A public health approach to suicide attempts on a Sioux reservation. American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research 1: 19–24.
DeBruyn, L. M., K. Hymbaugh, and N. Valdez 1988 Helping communities address suicide and violence: the special initiatives team of the Indian Health Service. American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research 1: 56–65.
Donovan, D. M., D. R. Kivlahan, R. D. Walker, and R. Umlauf 1985 Derivation and validation of neuropsychological clusters among men alcoholics. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 46: 205–211.
Foulks, E. F., and S. Katz 1973 The mental health of American Indian and Alaska Natives. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 49: 91–96.
Jones-Saumty, D., L. Hochhaus, R. Dru, and A. Zeiner 1983 Psychological factors of familial alcoholism in American Indians and Caucasians. Journal of Clinical Psychology 39: 783–790.
Jones-Saumty, D. J., and A. R. Zeiner 1985 Sociocultural and psychological factors related to alcoholism among American Indians and Caucasians. Arukoru Kenkyu-to Yakubutsu Ison 20: 367–374.
Kaufman, A. 1973 Gasoline sniffing among children in a Pueblo Indian village. Pediatrics 51: 1060–1064.
Kivlahan, D. R., R. D. Walker, D. M. Donovan, and H. D. Mischke 1985 Detoxification recidivism among urban American Indian alcoholics. American Journal of Psychiatry 142: 1467–1470.
Kaufman, A., Brickner, P.W., Varner, R., Washburn, W. 1972 Tranquilizer control, J. Amer. Med. Assoc. 221: 1504–1506.
Lang, G. 1979 Survival strategies of Chippewa drinkers in Minnesota, Central Issues in Anthropology 1: 19–40.
Kroll, J., K. Carey, D. Hagedorn, P. F. Dog, and E. Benavides 1986 A survey of homeless adults in urban emergency shelters. Hospital and Community Psychiatry 37: 283–286.
Liban, C.B., and R. G. Smart 1982 Drinking and drug use among Ontario Indian students. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 9: 161–171.
Loretto, G., F. Beauvais, and E. Oetting 1988 The primary cost of drug abuse: what Indian youth pay for drugs. American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research 2: 21–32.
May, P. A., K. J. Hymbaugh, J. M. Aase, and J. M. Samet 1983 Epidemiology of fetal alcohol syndrome among American Indians of the Southwest. Social Biology 30: 374–387.
Padilla, E. R., A. M. Padilla, A. Morales, E. L. Olmedo, and R. Ramirez 1979 Inhalant, marijuana, and alcohol abuse among barrio children and adolescents. International Journal of the Addictions 14: 945–964.
Pelz, M., H. Merskey, C. Brant, P. G. Patterson, and G. F. Hesseltine 1981Clinical data from a psychiatric service to a group of native people. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 26: 345–348.
Rozynko, V., and L. C. Ferguson 1978 Admission characteristics of Indian and white alcoholic patients in a rural mental hospital. International Journal of the Addictions 13: 591–604.
Rozynko, V. V., and K. B. Stein 1974 Social and psychological factors associated with length of stay in a drug treated facility. International Journal of the Addictions 9: 879–883.
Schottstaedt, M. F., and J. W. Bjork 1977 Inhalant abuse in an Indian boarding school. American Journal of Psychiatry 134: 1290–1293.
Westermeyer, J., and E. Peake 1983 A ten-year follow-up of alcoholic Native Americans in Minnesota. American Journal of Psychiatry 140: 189–194.
Westermeyer, J. 1972 Options regarding alcohol usage among the Chippewa, Amer. J. Orthopsychiatry 42: 398–402.
Westermeyer, J. 1974 Chippewa and majority alcoholism in the Twin Cities: A comparison, J. Nervous Mental Dis. 155: 322–327.
Westermeyer, J. 1976 Erosion of Indian mental health in cities, Minnesota Medicine 59: 431–433.
Westermeyer, J. 1979 The “apple” syndrome: The effects of racial-ethnic discontinuity. J. Operational Psychiatry 10: 134–140.
Westermeyer, J., and Neider, J. 1984 Depressive symptoms among native American alcoholics at the time of a ten year follow up, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 8: 429–434.
Westermeyer, J., Lang, G. 1975 Ethnic differences in use of alcoholism facilities, International J. Addictions 10: 513–520.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Westermeyer, J., Neider, J. & Westermeyer, M. Substance use and other psychiatric disorders among 100 American Indian patients. Cult Med Psych 16, 519–529 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00053591
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00053591