THE PROBLEM OF CO-DEPENDENCE AMONG HIV-INFECTED DRUG-ADDICTED FAMILY MEMBERS

This paper is dedicated to the study of clinical-psychopathological manifestations of co-dependence in the families of HIV-infected injecting drug users and to finding out the structure of these manifestations and how often they happen, as well as the evaluation of the role of hereditary factors in the formation of co-dependence among those who are married to HIV-infected injecting drug users. It has been established that the specificity of genealogies of patients with co-dependence is confirmed by the following factors: high frequency of mental and behavioral disorders caused by alcohol abuse, as well as mental and behavioral disorders caused by opiate abuse, assortative mating of co-dependent persons, accumulation of chemical dependencies and other dependencies like pathological gambling, personality disorders and affective disorders, comorbidity of pathologies in families of co-dependent persons and their spouses. It has also been established that in accordance with ICD-10 criteria the following clinical signs of co-dependence were manifested: mental and behavioral disorders caused by alcohol abuse (9.7%), mental and behavioral disorders caused by opiate abuse (15.0%), depressive episodes (14.1%), recurrent depressive disorders (34.5%), somatoform disorders (13.3%), hysterical personality disorders (32.7%). It was proved that the comorbidity of pathology is the key feature of clinical manifestations of co-dependence of persons who are married to HIV-infected injecting drug users. And it was determined that hereditary factors, the phenomenon of assortative mating and HIV-infection of a spouse as a main chronic stressful factor are involved in the formation of the clinical manifestations of co-dependency.