Preferential Drug Abuse: Defenses and Behavioral Correlates

Response styles and defensive patterns of 30 polydrug abusers, 30 sedative-hypnotic abusers, and 30 hospitalized medical control subjects were assessed. These subjects were drug-free and matched for sex, WAIS IQ, and socioeconomic status. The Rorschach was administered to all subjects. A frustration-producing task (insolvable anagrams) was administered to half of the subjects in each group. Solvable anagrams were administered to the remaining subjects. All subjects were then asked to select one of two stories for each of eight TAT cards and complete a Profile of Mood States Questionnaire. The Rorschach data indicate that polydrug abusers are less well organized, less able to delay gratification, and more restless and distractible when compared to the sedative-hypnotic and control groups. The behavioral data lend support to the pharmacodynamic theory of drug abuse in that each drug abuser group responded to the frustration produced by the inability to solve anagrams in a way consistent with the effects of the abused drugs. Implications of these data for treatment planning are discussed.