Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T07:10:04.989Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Diagnosis of Depression in Alcohol Dependence: Changes in Prevalence with Drinking Status

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Kate M. Davidson
Kate M. Davidson*
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Psychology, Stobhill General Hospital, 133 Balornock Road, Glasgow G21 3UW
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Depression and alcohol dependence are frequently found to co-exist but the relationship between these disorders requires further elucidation. This study tested several hypotheses related to the relevance of whether the diagnosis of depression was made before admission or after detoxification in the current episode for those with alcohol dependence.

Method

The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS) was administered to obtain Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) on 82 randomly selected alcohol dependent in-patients. Alcohol-related (Severity of Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire (SADQ), alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems), socio-demographic variables and treatment for depression were assessed.

Results

For the episode of drinking which led to admission, a diagnosis of major depression was found in the majority of patients (67%). Once detoxification from alcohol took place, only the minority (13%) met criteria for major depression.

Conclusions

It is suggested that depression is largely associated with the episode of drinking which led to admission in patients who are dependent on alcohol and may be due to the effect of chronic alcohol intoxication. Socio-demographic and alcohol-related characteristics appear to bear little relation to the presence of depression. Clinicians exercise appropriate judgement in not prescribing antidepressant treatments to patients whose depression may remit with abstinence from alcohol.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 166 , Issue 2 , February 1995 , pp. 199 - 204
Copyright
Copyright © 1995 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brown, S. A. & Schuckit, M. A. (1988) Changes in depression among abstinent alcoholics. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 49, 412–417.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cadoret, R. & Winokur, G. (1974) Depression in alcoholism. Annals of The New York Academy of Sciences, 233, 34–39.Google Scholar
Coryell, W., Keller, M., Endicott, J., et al (1989) Bipolar II illness: course and outcome over a five-year period. Psychological Medicine, 19, 129–141.Google Scholar
Dackis, C. A., Gold, M. S., Pottash, A. L. C., et al (1986) Evaluating depression in alcoholics. Psychiatry Research, 17, 105–109.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davidson, K. M. & Ritson, E. B. (1993) The relationship between alcohol dependence and depression. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 28, 147–156.Google Scholar
Endicott, J. & Spitzer, R. L. (1978) A diagnostic interview: the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 35, 837–844.Google Scholar
Halikas, J. A., Herzog, M. A., Mirassou, M. M., et al (1981) Psychiatric diagnosis among female alcoholics. In Currents in Alcoholism. Volume 8 (ed. Galanter, G.), pp. 281–291. New York: Grune & Stratton.Google Scholar
Hasin, D. S. & Grant, B. F. (1987) Diagnosing depressive disorders in patients with alcohol and drug problems: a comparison of the SADS-L and the DIS. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 21, 301–311.Google Scholar
Hasin, D. S., Grant, B. F. & Endicott, J. (1988) Severity of alcohol dependence and social/occupational problems: relationship to clinical and familial history. Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research, 12, 660–664.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Herz, L. R., Volicer, L., D'Angelo, N., et al (1990) Additional psychiatric illness by diagnostic interview schedule in male alcoholics. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 30, 72–79.Google Scholar
Hesselbrock, M. N., Meyer, R. E. & Keener, J. J. (1985) Psychopathology in hospitalised alcoholics. Archives of General Psychiatry, 42, 1050–1055.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Sullivan, K., Daly, M., Carroll, B., et al (1979) Alcoholism and affective disorder among patients in a Dublin hospital. Journal of Studies on Alcoholism, 40, 1014–1022.Google Scholar
O'Sullivan, K., Whillans, P., Daly, M., et al (1983) A comparison of alcoholics with and without coexisting affective disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 143, 133–138.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Sullivan, K., Rynne, C., Miller, J., et al (1988) A follow-up study on alcoholics with and without co-existing affective disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 813–819.Google Scholar
Powell, B. J., Penick, E. C., Othmer, E., et al (1982) Prevalence of additional psychiatric syndromes among male alcoholics. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 43, 404–407.Google Scholar
Ritson, E. B. (1990) The Edinburgh Alcohol Problems Clinic. British Journal of Addiction, 85, 25–29.Google Scholar
Schuckit, M. (1983) Alcoholic patients with secondary depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 711–714.Google ScholarPubMed
Spitzer, R. L., Endicott, J. & Robins, E. (1978) Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) for a Selected Group of Functional Disorders, 3rd edition. New York State: Psychiatric Institute, Biometrics Research.Google Scholar
Stockwell, T., Hodgson, R., Edwards, G., et al (1979) The development of a questionnaire to measure severity of alcohol dependence. British Journal of Addiction, 74, 79–87.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.