A Study to Assess Hostility, Violence and Suicidal Behaviour in Persons Suffering from Alcohol Dependence Syndrome
Author(s): Karthikeyan R and S Nambi*
Abstract
Alcoholism is among the most common psychiatric disorders in our country. Alcohol is a potent drug that causes both acute and chronic changes in almost all neurochemical systems. Thus, alcohol abuse can produce serious temporary psychological symptom including depression, anxiety and psychoses. It is descriptive study, 50 persons suffering from alcohol dependence syndrome along with their relatives were recruited from inpatient department of Psychiatry at Sree Balaji Medical College, Chennai. Inclusion criteria Patients aged 18 to 60 years Diagnosis of alcohol dependence Syndrome as per ICD 10 diagnostic criteria clinically stable for an interview. Exclusion criteria: Patients’ having comorbid substance dependence /mood / psychotic disorders Persons with cognitive deficits/organic mental disorder Patients with delirium tremens during their inpatient stay. Prevalence of suicidal intent, the results showed 64% to have no suicidal intent or ideation. 36% have positive scores for suicidal intent of which 18% has low intent, 14% medium intent and 4% has high intent to commit suicide. Prevalence of violence, In the study group 48% has history of intimate physical violence, 38% has history of intimate emotional violence, 28% has history of intimate sexual violence and 10% has history of non-intimate violence.48% of the study group has low risk of committing violence in the near future.14% has medium risk and 6% has high risk to commit or repeat their act of violence. Conclusion The prevalence of suicidal behaviour is higher among persons suffering from alcohol dependence syndrome .Earlier the age of alcohol abuse higher the intent of suicidal behaviour. Persons who consumes high quantity of alcohol found to have high intent of suicidal behaviour. In this study there is no correlation between duration and quantity of alcohol abuse with domestic violence.