Self-compassion, relational needs and well-being among drug addicts

Število oseb po svetu, ki uporabljajo različne droge, narašča, s čimer se povečuje tudi problematika odvisnosti od drog. V magistrskem delu smo raziskovali, kakšne so značilnosti sočutja do sebe, relacijskih potreb in blagostanja pri osebah, ki so odvisne od drog in se zdravijo zaradi odvisnosti v terapevtskih skupnostih in komunah po Sloveniji. V raziskavi je skupno sodelovalo 134 udeležencev, ki smo jih razdelili v dve skupini. Prvo skupino sestavlja 67 oseb, ki se zdravijo zaradi odvisnosti od drog v eni izmed sodelujočih institucij. Drugo skupino predstavlja 67 oseb iz splošne populacije. Rezultati raziskave so pokazali, da se med skupinama sicer kaže trend razlik v sočutju do sebe, vendar razlike niso statistično pomembne. Pomembne razlike pa so se pokazale na eni izmed podlestvic sočutja do sebe, in sicer pri izolaciji. Udeleženci iz skupine odvisnih od drog se počutijo bolj izolirane v svojih izkušnjah v primerjavi s splošno populacijo. Na podlagi rezultatov smo ugotovili še, da imajo osebe, ki so odvisne od drog, manj zadovoljene relacijske potrebe v primerjavi s splošno populacijo. Zanimalo nas je, ali znotraj skupine udeležencev odvisnih od drog obstajajo razlike v sočutju do sebe glede na to, ali so udeleženci vključeni v psihoterapevtsko obravnavo. Rezultati niso pokazali statistično pomembnih razlik. Prav tako smo ugotovili, da se dolžina zdravljenja in število recidivov ne povezujeta s sočutjem do sebe. Zadnja pomembna ugotovitev raziskave se nanaša na povezanost vseh merjenih konstruktov: rezultati so pokazali, da sočutje do sebe in zadovoljenost relacijskih potreb napovedujeta blagostanje. Izsledki raziskave prispevajo k boljšemu razumevanju notranjega sveta, potreb in doživljanja obravnavane populacije, celotno delo pa predstavlja uporabno vrednost predvsem za nadaljnje delo v ustanovah, ki se ukvarjajo z zdravljenjem odvisnosti od drog.The number of people in the world using different types of substances is increasingtherefore, the problem of addiction to substances is increasing as well. The characteristics of selfcompassion, relational needs and well-being among drug addicts, who are treated in therapeutic communities and communes in Slovenia, are explored in the master’s degree. One hundred and thirty-four people involved in the research were divided in two groups. Sixtyseven people, who are being treated for substance use disorder in one of the institutions, participated in the first group. Sixty-seven people from general population participated in the second group. The results has shown that there is a trend of differences in self-compassion between the two groups, but the differences are not statistically significant. Significant differences have been indicated on one of the self-compassion subscales, namely in isolation. Participants who are addicted to drugs feel more isolated in their experiences compared to the general population. On the grounds of the results, it has also been established that people who are addicted to drugs, do not have relational needs fulfilled as much as general population. We were interested in whether there are differences between the participants in the group with drug addictions if they are included in psychotherapeutic treatment. The results did not show statistically significant differences. It has also been found out that the length of treatment and the number of relapses do not associate with self-compassion. The last important finding is related to all measured constructs: the results have shown that selfcompassion and the fulfilment of relational needs predict well-being. The results of the research contribute to better understanding of the inner world, needs and experiencing of the researched population. The whole work presents usable value, especially for further work in institutions that deal with substance use treatment