[Withdrawal treatment of drug dependent patients with the aim of achieving abstinence].

The treatment of patients who are dependent on drugs is undergoing a conceptual change, and in this connection more attention is being paid to a qualified withdrawal and weaning. More than 200 withdrawals are being performed annually in the U2 section of the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Basel. The authors report on the composition of the patient groups, their withdrawal symptoms and the therapy offered. In respect of the continually too frequent discontinuations of therapy attention is drawn to the need for a really efficient pharmacotherapy.