[The physician, the drug abuser and drug abuse]

Drug abusers have a low tolerance for unpleasant and painful emotions and experience a need for chemical relief through use of narcotics, tranquilizers and analgesics. Physicians may show a tendency to comply with their request for such drugs, partly because they give way under pressure (threats, violence) and partly because of their own unconscious need for acceptance and appreciation from the patients. The use of prescribed drugs may inspire an illusion that drug therapy is a "solution" and withdraw attention from other therapies. The prescription of medicaments may represent an extension of already existing abuse. Physicians must be aware of these problems of prescription and of the problems connected to patients' use of threats and violence.