title: Reasons behind Greek problem drug users’ decisions  to quit using drugs and engage in treatment of their  own volition: sense of self and the Greek filotimo.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to explore Greek problem drug users’ perceptions of the reasons that led them to quit using drugs and engage in treatment of their own volition.
  
  
  METHODS
  Qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two state drug agencies in Thessaloniki, Greece.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 40 adult problem drug-using men and women participated in the study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were asked to reflect on their decisions to wean themselves from drugs and enter treatment. Findings Participants reported that their decisions centred on the re-conceptualization of the drug-using community and their membership in it, the desire to restore aspects of identities thatwere deemed to be spoiled, and finally memories of their drug-free selves. The importance of the distinctively Greek notion of filotimo in this discussion is highlighted.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Primarily in relation to filotimo (a concept that represents a complex array of virtues that regulates behaviour towards one’s family), the desire to restore one’s spoiled identity plays a pivotal role in Greek problem drug users’ decisions to cease drug use and engage in treatment.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fotopoulou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005195:Family Relations / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012649:Self Concept; D012933:Social Identification; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D014836:Volition; D055815:Young Adult