Understanding How Semantic Structures of Individuals With Drug Addiction Transform As a Key to Effective Psychotherapy

Abstract

Objectives: Semantic structures, sense-bearing elements, and values of a personality have been widely recognized as important factors in the treatment of patients with drug addiction. This research aims to enhance our understanding of transformations that occur in the system of values of drug-dependent patients, and to identify the values that need to be corrected during drug addiction psychotherapy. Methods: The values of 220 male patients with drug addiction aged between 20 and 60 years were studied by analyzing their verbal reactions and emotions expressed during conversations and by neurolinguistic programming. Results: The results of the statistical analysis showed that patients with drug addiction have basic values (learned during the normal life experience) that give way to values associated with the drug addiction experience, which is, however, simply gained and not lived through. Their system of values centers on drugs and drug intoxication. In this research, drug addiction was viewed from the perspective of the semantic (sense-based) approach, which made it possible to develop some recommendations for effective psychotherapy of individuals with drug addiction based on their semantic structures. Conclusion: The psychotherapy of patients with drug addiction becomes effective when they are provided with a key value, that is, a value of their life experience, that is strong enough to replace the values of their drug-related experience.