AUTHOR=Maremmani Angelo Giovanni Icro , Rovai Luca , Rugani Fabio , Pacini Matteo , Lamanna Francesco , Bacciardi Silvia , Perugi Giulio , Deltito Joseph , Dell'Osso Liliana , Maremmani Icro TITLE=Correlations Between Awareness of Illness (Insight) and History of Addiction in Heroin-Addicted Patients JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry VOLUME=3 YEAR=2012 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2012.00061 DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2012.00061 ISSN=1664-0640 ABSTRACT=

In a group of 1066 heroin addicts, who were seeking treatment for opioid agonist treatment, we looked for differences in historical, demographic, and clinical characteristics, between patients with different levels of awareness of illness (insight). The results showed that, in the cohort studied, a majority of subjects lacked insight into their heroin-use behavior. Compared with the impaired-insight group, those who possessed insight into their illness showed significantly greater awareness of past social, somatic, and psychopathological impairments, and had a greater number of past treatment-seeking events for heroin addiction. In contrast with other psychiatric illnesses, the presence of awareness appears to be related to the passing of time and to the worsening of the illness. Methodologies to improve the insight of patients should, therefore, be targeted more directly on patients early in their history of heroin dependence, because the risk of lack of insight is greatest during this period.