Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the extent to which individuals who suffer from opioid dependency report controlling emotions of anger, anxiety, and depressed mood.

Method: Recruitment was achieved through an outpatient drug treatment clinic in Birmingham, UK, and data were collected through a semistructured interview. One hundred and twenty participants with opioid-dependence syndrome were interviewed and 100 controls of nondrug-using family members and friends were included in the study.

Result: The mean age of the opioid group was 33.3 years, SD=8.8. The majority of the participants were white British (80.8%), unemployed (69.2%), and male (75%). There is a significant difference between the 2 groups in total control of emotional expression scores and all the 3 subscales. The control group had high ability in controlling their emotion and the patient group had very low ability in controlling their emotion (expression of affect) (P=0.000). Suppression of anger mean was clearly very low in the opioid-dependent group indicating a high level of expression of hostility.