Abstract
The present clinical case study draws on initial experience with outpatient addiction treatment of adolescents provided by the outpatient addiction treatment clinic for children and adolescents which was recently opened at the Department of Addictology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, and General University Hospital in Prague. The case described in this paper concerns a 14-year-old female patient in treatment for dependence on methamphetamine with comorbid eating disorders.
She is in the long-term care of the first author of this paper at the above facility. The information for the case study was obtained from interviews, records, and the psychological assessment of the patient.
Her name was changed for confidentiality reasons. Our clinical practice indicates that this type of comorbidity is relatively common, especially among adolescent females.
It presents a significant complication for therapeutic work. This group of patients uses stimulants for their psychoactive effects, as well as in order to reduce appetite and lose weight.
It is a major clinical issue which should be addressed sensitively in both diagnostic and therapeutic terms. It requires good liaison between multiple professions, as it poses greater demands on sharing information and adopting an integrated approach.
In addition, this group of patients often requires specific treatment strategies combining multiple approaches and methods, including pharmacotherapy. Our paper seeks to describe the context of the case, which well represents the multifaceted nature of comorbidities, as well as pointing out the complexity of the treatment process with respect to the patient's broader family, social circumstances, and history.