Compulsivity and obsessionality in opioid addiction

Seventy-one individuals with opioid dependence undergoing ambulatory treatment participated in a personal interview assessing the importance of their opioid-use rituals, the severity of compulsivity and obsessionality in relation to their drug use, and the number of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms. The level of compulsivity and obsessionality in opioid dependence was comparable to that found in OCD and alcohol addiction. The importance of rituals was inversely related to the number of opioid lapses during rehabilitation treatment and positively correlated with the number of non-drug-related OCD symptoms. Based on established norms for OCD symptoms, we estimated that 11.4% of our sample would meet diagnostic criteria for OCD, a rate which is over 4 times higher than the rate of OCD in the general population.