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Depressive disorders and intravenous drug use in chemsex context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2024

J. Curto Ramos*
Affiliation:
1Department of Psychiatry, Clinical Psychology and Mental Health, La Paz University Hospital 2Apoyo Positivo
A. Rodríguez Laguna
Affiliation:
2Apoyo Positivo
P. Barrio
Affiliation:
2Apoyo Positivo
L. Ibarguchi
Affiliation:
2Apoyo Positivo
A. García
Affiliation:
2Apoyo Positivo
I. Azqueta
Affiliation:
2Apoyo Positivo
H. Dolengevich Segal
Affiliation:
3Dual Disorders Program. Department of Psychiatry, Henares University Hospital, Madrid, Spain
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Several studies have called atention to the mental health disorders associated with chemsex -the intentional use of drugs before or during sexual intercourse GBMSM (gay, bisexual and men who have sex with men) population-. Sexualized intravenous drug use is also known as slam or slamsex. There are few studies that analyze the mental health differences between intravenous drug users compared to non-intravenous drug users in chemsex context.

Objectives

We aim to describe the mental health outcomes including current and past depressive disorders diagnosis in a sample of users with sexualized drug use (chemsex) attended by the non-governmental organization Apoyo Positivo in the program “Sex, Drugs and You” and to compare the differences of current and previous diagnosis of depressive disorders between intravenous drug users compared to non-intravenous drug users.

Methods

A cross-sectional descriptive analysis of a sample of users attended by the non-govenrmental organization Apoyo Positivo in the program “Sex, Drugs and You” between 2016-2019 was performed.

Results

We included 217 participants. Current or past diagnosis of depression was found in 137 participants. Depressive disorders were significantly higher in the intravenous drug use group compared to the non-intravenous drug use group (p<0.05).

Conclusions

Our study reports high levels of depression in chemsex users. The participants in our sample who engaged in intravenous drug use presented a higher frequency of depressive disorders than non intravenous drug use participants. Further studies analyzing the relationship between chemsex, slamsex and depresssion are needed. A multidisciplinary team is necessary to address chemsex and provide care and mental health treatment to chemsex users.

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

Type
Abstract
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of European Psychiatric Association
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