Affective disorders in alcoholism.

Abstract

SUMMARY The author examined affeotive disorders and other related symptoms (atypical chronic depressive state, suicide and self-destructive behavior) in 141 male alcoholics to evaluate the relationship between alcoholism and affective disorders. The results were: five cases (3.5%) with primary affective disorder (2 with circular type, 1 with depressed type and 2 with involutional melancholia), nine with atypical chronic depression (4 with depressive neurosis and 5 with depressive paranoid reaction), one with successful suicide and three with prominent self-destructive behavior on excessive drinking. The incidence of primary affective disorder in alcoholism approximates to 2 to 4 percent in Japan, and is a little lower than that of U.S.A or of Europe. A characteristic of the clinic for alcoholism was the frequent presentation of atypical or chronic depression. This was usually diagnosed as depressive neurosis or depressive personality disorder, and some developed to a transient paranoid state with excessive drinking. The rate of suicide in alcoholism seems to be lower in Japan than in Western countries: approximately a few percent in a few years in this country and 7 to 8 percent in Western countries. Those cases with prominent self-destructive behavior were young alcoholics. They had underlying personality disorders and complicated life histories.