Abstract:

Alcohol and substance addiction is a growing problem all over the world. Also, studies on understanding the causes of addiction as well as the treatment continue. Alcohol and substance addiction have genetic, environmental and psychological causes. The leading psychological cause is anxiety disorders. There are only a few studies in the literature regarding the body images, self-esteem and social anxiety levels in individuals diagnosed with alcohol and substance abuse. The rates obtained from these studies vary. This research is designed to determine the ratio in Turkish society. Thirty-five individuals hospitalized in NPİstanbul Brain Hospital with the diagnosis of alcohol and substance addiction and thirty-five healthy subjects without any addiction were compared in terms of body image, self-esteem and social anxiety levels. Self-esteem and social anxiety levels were found to be statistically significantly high in the alcohol and substance addiction group. There was no statistically significant difference between the addiction and control groups in terms of body image level. These results support that low self-esteem and high social anxiety may be among the factors predisposing to alcohol and substance addiction.

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