Determining the Dominant Primary Maladaptive Schemas of Men Abusing Drugs who are Under Methadone-maintenance Treatment

Ntroduction: addiction is a physical, mental, and social illness that several individual, environmental, and social factors play important role in it. It is also considered as a main factor that paves the grounds for society’s failure. Addiction is a sever, destructive, and progressive illness that not only results in the drug-abusers’ death, but also destruct addict and his/her family. Methods and materials: the present study is a cross-sectional descriptive-analytical research. The authors attempt to determine the dominant primary maladaptive schema of drug-abusers who are under methadone-maintenance treatment. In order to this, 200 patients have been selected as sample members from who have referred to clinical centers in the city of Shiraz. The sampling method was convenience sampling. Young’s questionnaire of schema (short-form) has been employed for collecting the research data. Findings: three dominant primary schemas have been observed among sample members. These include extremist defection-seeking, sacrifice, and instability. Conclusion: with regard to the results of our study that there are several dominant primary maladaptive schemas of men abusing drugs who are under methadone-maintenance treatment. It seems that the use of schema therapy can be effective among such patients.