Commentary: Role of the Endogenous Opiate System in Psychiatric Disorders Other Than Addiction

Two case reports explore opiate use in relation to 2 different psychiatric disorders. In the first case report, the authors reported the finding that opiate abuse appeared to mitigate premorbid Tourette syndrome in a small series of patients with opiate addiction and that this benefit was maintained with medically supervised opiate agonist therapy. In the second case report, the authors noted a significant correlation between prescription opiate use and delusions of infestation in a large psychodermatology clinic (as well as a separate, stronger correlation with stimulant use). These reports highlight the importance of the opiate system in a range of psychiatric disorders, suggesting that there is much more to learn about the role of the endogenous opiate system in brain functioning, and its potential as a target for therapeutic intervention in psychiatric disorders other than addiction.