Although there are no scientific proofs that depression would cause alcoholism, the two disorders are commonly met together in the same patient. 30 ? 50 percents of all alcoholics are suffering from major depression.



What one should know about alcoholism and depression:

* People are predisposed to alcoholism and depression if they have family history of either of them.

* Depression may relapse if alcoholism appears

* Prompt medical attention is of vital importance for people suffering from major depression which become alcoholics because of the risk of suicide.

* Recovering alcoholics with history of depression must be closely monitored because in the first step of the withdrawal the symptoms are the worse.

* The symptoms of depression decrease a lot 3-4 weeks in recovered alcoholics.

* The rate of suicide is very high for alcoholic depressed persons

There is a study that linked both alcoholism and depression to a gene. The gene is related to a cellular receptor that is involved in a number of important brain functions such as attention, memory and cognition. It is believed that normal variations in this gene might protect the individual or increase the risk of depression and alcoholism. The next step is to identify the variants of the gene that make the differences.

The researchers have got closer to discover how the brain is affected by alcohol and how the brain is affected in the case of depression. It is a known fact now that some of the systems that are involved in low mood, anxiety, poor sleep and reduced appetite symptoms that belong to depression are affected by alcohol too and this is one possible explanation of the alcohol caused depression