Daily HealthBeat Tip

Drug abusers and their other troubles.

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

As if drug abuse didn't mess up their minds enough, scientists say that's only part of the mental problems many abusers face. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health looked at people with a condition called anti-social personality disorder.

Dr. Wilson Compton of the National Institute on Drug Abuse says these folks don't follow rules, are likely to be sensation-seekers -- and are sometimes remorseless. And drug abusers are more likely to have anti-social personality disorder. He calls it a strong relationship.

Compton wants to head off trouble:

"For prevention, we may want to look at children who exhibit the early signs of this kind of personality feature, which could occur way before they start using drugs." (nine seconds).

And he'd get them into treatment.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: August 23, 2005

The White House | USA.gov | HHS Archive | No FEAR Act