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Alcohol Withdrawal States and the Need for Treatment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Robert Olbrich
Robert Olbrich*
Affiliation:
Fachbereich Psychologie/Soziologie, Universität Konstanz, and Staff Psychiatrist, Psychiatrisches Landeskrankenhaus Reichenau, Feursteinstr. 55, D–7750 Konstanz, W.–Germany
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Summary

In an attempt to evaluate the clinical significance of alcohol withdrawal, the rate of symptoms and incidence of treatment were determined in 84 female alcoholics following abrupt withdrawal. Results indicated that abstinence symptoms of an emergency type (delirium tremens, convulsions) only rarely occur and require active treatment, whereas those physical and emotional disturbances frequently seen in alcohol withdrawal need very little medical help. This finding is in contradistinction to current clinical opinion.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 134 , Issue 5 , May 1979 , pp. 466 - 469
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1979 

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