The impact of addictions and their consequences has become a mental health and beyond that a public health problem throughout the world and developing countries are no exception. It is even more worrying because it is exacerbated by the increase in poverty, youth unemployment and the attraction of the consumption habits of rich countries. It therefore seemed appropriate to carry out this preliminary study to take stock of the situation in hospitals before extending our analysis to the general population and suggesting ways of dealing with the problem of the interaction between addiction and psychiatric pathology. The results of this study highlight this intertwining of addiction and mental pathology based on recent neurobiological knowledge that classifies addictions as a mental pathology and not as a lifestyle choice or vice. Moreover, the notion of a dual pathology suggests the imperative need for multidisciplinary management of addictions, which are everyone’s business, given that their neurobiological and environmental underpinnings are common to many of us, and that the desire and difficulty of abstinence and its maintenance are deeply human.

Keywords: Addiction, Psychoactive substances, Psychiatric disorders and withdrawal