Is Alcoholism a Mental Illness? Yes, Here’s Why

Such syndromes largely correspond to the sets of diagnostic criteria used for classifying mental disorders throughout the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Substance abuse Fourth Edition (DSM–IV) (American Psychiatric Association APA 1994) and its successor, the DSM–IV Text Revision (DSM–IV–TR) (APA 2000). Among people with AUD, depressive disorders are one of the most common co-occurring psychiatric conditions. In Alcohol Use Disorder and Depressive Disorders, McHugh and Weiss discuss the prevalence, course, and treatment of co-occurring AUD and depressive disorders. They also examine disproportionately affected populations, developmental pathways to co-occurrence, and the challenges of diagnosis because of overlapping symptoms.

Alcohol Use Disorder and Depressive Disorders

Establishing a timeline of the patient’s comorbid conditions (Anthenelli and Schuckit 1993; Anthenelli 1997), using collateral information from outside informants and the data obtained from the review of the medical records, may be helpful in determining the chronological course of the disorders. In this context the clinician should focus on the age at which the patient first met the criteria for alcohol abuse or dependence rather than on the age when the patient first imbibed or became intoxicated. This strategy provides more specific information about the onset of problematic drinking that https://maqalplus.com/get-the-facts-about-underage-drinking-national/ typically presages the onset of alcoholism (Schuckit et al. 1995). If the clinician cannot determine exactly the time point when the patient met the criteria for abuse or dependence, this information can be approximated by determining when the patient developed alcohol-related problems that interfered with his or her life in a major way and affected the ability to function.

Alcohol and adolescent brains

In fact, around 37% of people who have an alcohol use disorder at some point during their lives will also be diagnosed with major depression. Around 19% of people with an alcohol use disorder also experience an anxiety disorder. Numerous studies have shown that AOD-use disorders typically are underdiagnosed in acute-care psychiatric settings (Drake et al. 1993a). Several factors account for the high rates of nondetection, including mental health clinicians’ inattention to AOD abuse; patients’ denial, minimization, or inability to perceive the relationships between AOD use and their medical and social problems; and the lack of reliable and valid detection methods for this population. Failure to detect AOD abuse in psychiatric settings can result in mis-diagnosis; overtreatment of psychiatric syndromes with medications; neglect of appropriate interventions, such as detoxification, AOD education, and AOD abuse counseling; and inappropriate treatment planning.

• With regard to the studies included in this review, the majority of studies used large sample sizes representative of the general population and standardized criteria to assess alcohol use and CMD, particularly those reporting the prevalence of AUD.
• These authors suggest that combining pharmacologic interventions with other therapeutic modalities may address both issues more effectively.
• When patients have sleep-related concerns such as insomnia, early morning awakening, or fatigue, it is wise to screen them for heavy alcohol use and assess for AUD as needed.
• Science is changing to represent the causal direction of comorbid symptoms of psychopathology as a network,134 rather than straightforward correlations or associations.

Systematic Alcohol Screening in Adult Primary Care

Additionally, U.S. adults with AUD had higher odds of eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa (Udo and Grilo, 2019). Research shows that anxiety disorders and alcohol addiction commonly occur together. Alcohol abuse and mental health problems (like anxiety) may occur together because the same genetic and environmental risk factors that contribute to alcohol misuse also contribute to anxiety. On the other hand, people may use alcohol to cope with anxiety because it is temporarily relaxing.

Alcoholism as a Mental Illness: The Science and Stigma

Conversely, individuals with AUD are at a higher risk of developing mental health issues, partly due to the impact of alcohol on brain chemistry and partly due to the social, professional and personal problems that often accompany addiction. Studies show that alcohol disrupts the balance of neurotransmitters in the brain, leading to mood swings, depression and anxiety. The more a person drinks, the more likely they are to experience these symptoms, and over time, their brain’s reward system can become rewired, making it difficult to feel pleasure without alcohol. It is very important to get treatment for such disorders if they are contributing to the problem. According to the DSM criteria, persistent alcohol use resulting in social, vocational, psychological, or physical problems should be considered abuse or dependence.

Despite the patient’s denial of alcoholism, this interview with a is alcohol use disorder a mental illness collateral informant corroborated the clinician’s suspicion that the man had long-standing problems with alcohol that dated back to his mid-20s. Moreover, a review of the patient’s medical records showed a previous hospitalization for suicidal ideation and depression 2 years earlier, after the patient’s mother had died. While establishing this chronological history, it is important for the clinician to probe for any periods of stable abstinence that a patient may have had, noting how this period of sobriety affected the patient’s psychiatric problems. Using a somewhat conservative approach, such a probe should focus on periods of abstinence lasting at least 3 months because some mood, psychovegetative (e.g., altered energy levels and sleep disturbance), perceptual, and behavioral symptoms and signs related to AOD use can persist for some time.

Mental Health Issues: Alcohol Use Disorder and Common Co-occurring Conditions

In earlier versions of the DSM, alcoholism was categorized as a subset of personality disorders. Alcohol addiction is a complex disease with psychological, biological and social components, and like other chronic illnesses, addiction often involves cycles of relapse and remission. Some people can drink alcohol—and even over-indulge on occasion—without it becoming an issue.