Ska jag bli av med min medicin för att jag visar symptom på den sjukdom jag en gång fått medicinen för? - Röster från personer i läkemedelsassisterad behandling vid opiatberoende

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study is to explore the system of maintenance treatment for opiate addiction from a patient’s perspective. Six semi structured interviews were performed with persons who are or have been engaged in maintenance treatment. The majority of them had experienced discharge from the program. Our results show that discharge may result in harsh consequences; relapse in heroin use or other illegal drug abuse, increased criminality and increased mental illness. We discuss how the patient’s relationship to the healthcare staff affects the action of discharge, as a consequence of the disciplinary system. We also analyze the patients experience of everyday pick-ups of medicine, urine samples, discharge and ”spärrtid” (three-month exclusion) as possible sanctions given in hope that it will make patients behave more according to standards. Nevertheless our results show that the system sometimes gives the opposite effect than wanted. The conclusions of our study show that the disciplinary system may increase the patient’s experience of being stigmatized.