Depressive Disorders in Alcohol use

Abstract

Background:

The relationship between alcohol usage, depressive psychopathological board represent a reality in psychiatric practice. The neurobiochemical layers of the two psychic pathologies are inter-correlated.

The dopaminergic deficice, especially on the compensation path, for regulating the GABA-ergic and GLUTAMATE-ergic pathways, the serotoninergic and noradrenergic dysfunctions being present in both disorders.

The amygdalae's anatomical circuit with the compensation paths (ventral segment and accumbens nuclei) represents the neurobiological substratum of comorbidity.

Objective and methods:

A retrospective, observational, open study was carried out in the period 2005 - 2007 on a lot of 200 male patients aged between 19 and 65 years, admitted in the clinic with the diagnosis “addiction disorder”, established according to the DSM IV-R criteria.

Results:

An depressive board associated with addiction disorder was observed in 140 patients from the studied lot.

Conclusions:

The alcohol use is induced by an depressive pathology, as the patients use alcohol as an anxiolytic and sedative.

The depressive disorder overlapped on the symptomatology induced by alcohol use is frequently characterized by psychomotor restlessness and suicidal ideation.

The depressive pathology is developed from the beginning of the addiction disorder or at a very short time after establishing a diagnosis, especially in the young patients.