[Adolescents who have tried illicit drugs and experienced psychiatric symptoms seldom seek professional help. A pilot study of 18-year old high school students in an urban district].

In recent years the use of illicit drugs has increased among adolescents in Sweden. Prolonged use of illicit drugs causes different psychiatric symptoms, but usage of short duration has also been reported to induce similar symptoms. It is less known how these psychiatric symptoms caused by occasional intake of illicit drugs are managed. The present study examined to which extent students in senior high school (third grade) have experienced psychiatric symptoms due to intake of illicit drugs, and to which extent they sought support in their nearby environment or professional help for these problems. The result shows that out of 104 18-year old students, 25 percent had tested illicit drugs, with no significant gender difference. 38 percent of the users reported psychiatric symptoms. In most of these cases either amphetamine or ecstasy had been used. The most common negative feelings reported were worry/anxiety, low spiritedness/depression, and feelings of unreality. The majority had not sought help for their problems among friends or adults. No one sought professional help. The frequency of adolescents that have tried drugs is on a level with other national surveys. Therefore it is most likely that the results regarding students who had experienced drug related psychiatric symptoms, and how they handled this experience, are representative for other eighteen-year-olds as well. It is of great concern that schools, medical services and social services have the knowledge that one fourth of the adolescents are trying illicit drugs, and almost four out of ten experience drug related psychiatric symptoms but most of them do not seek support or treatment for these symptoms.