The case with stress-induced alcohol dependence

Abstract

Background: It is complicated to diagnose and treat cases with a combined diagnosis, where a case with a mental disorder, and dependent on alcohol and drugs. Aim: To make a differential diagnosis and plan the treatment for stress-related disorders combined with alcohol consumption. Objectives: To confirm the clinical diagnosis of mental disorder, which is caused by stress, to determine the level of alcohol consumption, and to detect the relationship between stress-related disorder and alcohol dependence. Materials and methods: Permission to use all information for research purposes was obtained from the patient. Case report: The patient is 40 years old, woman. She is hospitalized for the 4th time at the National Center of Mental Health. In the period from 2018 to November 2022, she was hospitalized 4 times with the diagnosis of stress-related adjustment disorder, paranoid schizophrenia, alcohol-induced delirium, and mixed anxiety-depressive syndrome. Since the beginning of the symptoms, she has been given analysis such as electrocardiogram, MRI of the brain, ultrasound of the internal organs, thyroid, and breast ultrasound, but no changes have been detected. In the psychiatric hospital were used low doses of sedatives, hypnotics, and antipsychotic drugs improved physical condition and decreased symptoms. Because each hospitalization had a different clinical diagnosis, it was selected for clinical discussion by psychiatrists for the purpose of differential diagnosis and treatment planning. According to the anamnesis obtained from the patient and the patient’s mother, the husband is a domestic abuser, and the woman was receiving aid from a trauma hospital and violence center due to being beaten by her husband and undergoing surgery. When she tells about her husband’s unstable in the family, he believes that she going crazy and following him, and her husband is interested in putting his wife in a psychiatric hospital. The patient became addicted to alcohol after consuming alcoholic beverages in the last 4-5 years under the guise of improving her mood when she was worried about her life, had trouble sleeping, or suffered from violence. Conclusion: Domestic violence is a form of strong stressor, and cases of inadequate stress relief contribute to the development of alcohol dependence. Family and individual psychotherapy and alcohol addiction treatment are essential for therapists.