Title: A Study on Prevalence of severity of Depressive disorders in female spouses of Alcohol Dependence Patients

Authors: Dr Aravindh. M, Dr Asok Kumar. M, Dr Gandhibabu. R

 DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v9i1.40

Abstract

Background: Alcoholism is the major drug abuse in India that affects spouses of the men with Alcohol dependence disorders had a higher rate of sexual problems, mental health problems and also physical health problems. These women also had suicidal thoughts, attempted suicide, minority and had short marriage life. Hence, a study with 200 female spouses of alcoholic husbands attending Rajah Muthiah Medical College and Hospital were assessed.

Results: Among the female spouses 25% participants had moderate depression and 24% had severe depression. Among the participants with no, mild, moderate and severe depression, 3.4%, 23.3%, 36% and 70.8% had suicidal ideation. Presence of depression was found to be associated with that of suicidal ideation with p value less than 0.05.

Conclusion: In this study, the prevalence of depression among Spouses of Alcohol patients was high. This may have its own impact on the treatment outcome and prognosis of patients with mental illness and might even lead to suicide of the spouse. Depression among female spouses was associated with low perceived social support and the patient’s psychiatric symptoms.

Keywords: Suicidal ideation, abuse, mental illness.

References

  1. Global Status Report on Alcohol. Geneva: 2004. [Last accessed on 2010 September 20]. World Health Organization (WHO) http://www.who.int/substance abuse/publications/ globalstatusreportalcohol2004_alcconsumpt.pdf.
  2. Gururaj G, Girish N, Benegal V. New Delhi: Regional Office for South-East Asia; 2006. Burden and Socio-Economic Impact of Alcohol-Bangalore Study.
  3. Ray R. The Extent, Pattern and Trends of Drug Abuse in India: National Survey. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. 2004
  4. Palaniappan H, James AGW, Annamalai A. Correlation between severity of alcohol dependence with age of onset and family history among urban alcoholics: a cross-sectional study. J. Evolution Med. Dent. Sci. 2016;5 (52):3452-3457, DOI: 10.14260/jemds/2016/796.
  5. Callinan S, Rankin G, Room R, Stanesby O, Rao G, Waleewong O, Greenfield TK, Hope A, Laslett AM. Harms from a partner's drinking: an international study on adverse effects and reduced quality of life for women. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2019;45(2):170-178. doi: 10.1080/00952990.2018.1540632. Epub 2018 Nov 29. PMID: 30495983; PMCID: PMC6478171.
  6. Sharma, N., Sharma, S., Ghai, S., Basu, D., Kumari, D., Singh, D., & Kaur, G. (2016). Living with an alcoholic partner: Problems faced and coping strategies used by wives of alcoholic clients. Industrial psychiatry journal, 25(1), 65–71. https://doi.org/10.4103/0972-6748.196053
  7. Kaur D, Ajinkya S. Psychological impact of adult alcoholism on spouses and children. Med J Dr Patil Univ. 2014; 7:124.
  8. Pradeep R Johnson, Carl Britto, Kevin Jude Sudevan, Ashish Bosco, Priya Sreedaran and Mysore V Ashok. Resilience in Wives of persons with Alcoholism:An Indian exploration. Indian J Psychiatry, 2018 Jan-Mar;60(1):84-89. PMID: 29736068
  9. Noori, R., Jafari, F., Moazen, B., Khoddami Vishteh, H. R., Farhoudian, A., Narenjiha, H., & Rafiey, H. (2015). Evaluation of anxiety and depression among female spouses of Iranian male drug dependents. International journal of high-risk behaviors & addiction, 4(1), e21624.
  10. Nemeth JM, Bonomi AE, Lee MA, Ludwin JM. Sexual infidelity as trigger for intimate partner violence. J Womens Health. 2012;2: 942–9. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Govindappa L, Pnkajakshi B. A community study on wives of alcoholics. [Last retrieved on 2015 Mar 30]; DPS. 2014 17:323–27.
  12. Moraes CL, Marques ES, Reichenheim ME, Ferreira MF, Salles-Costa R. Intimate partner violence, common mental disorders and household food insecurity: an analysis using path analysis. Public Health Nutr. 2016 Nov;19(16):2965-2974. doi: 10.1017/S1368980016001178. Epub 2016 May 23. PMID: 27211890.
  13. Lindsey M.Rodriguez,Ph.D. and Clayton Neighbors,Ph.D. An Interdependent look at Perceptions of Spousal Drinking Problems and Marital Outcomes. Alcohol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2016 Sep 1. published online 2015 May 28. Doi:10.1016/j. alcohol.2015.05.002. PMID:26091752.
  14. Juibari, T. A., Behrouz, B., Attaie, M., Farnia, V., Golshani, S., Moradi, M., & Alikhani, M. (2018). Characteristics and Correlates of Psychiatric Problems in Wives of Men with Substance-related Disorders, Kermanshah, Iran. Oman medical journal, 33(6), 512–519. https://doi.org/10.5001/omj.2018.93
  15. Noori R, Rafiey H, Azizabadi-Farahani M, Khoddami-Vishteh HR, Mirabi P, Farhadi MH, Narenjiha H. Risk factors of suicidal ideation and attempt in women with drug user spouses. J Chin Med Assoc. 2013 Nov;76(11):648-52. doi: 10.1016/j.jcma.2013.07.003. Epub 2013 Aug 12. Erratum in: J Chin Med Assoc. 2013 Dec;76(12):727. PMID: 23938148.
  16. Ponnudurai, R., Uma, T. S., Rajarathinam, S., & Krishnan, V. S. (2001). Determinants of suicidal attempts of wives of substance abusers. Indian journal of psychiatry, 43(3), 230–234.
  17. Gupta, A., Priya, B., Williams, J., Sharma, M., Gupta, R., Jha, D. K., Ebrahim, S., & Dhillon, P. K. (2015). Intra-household evaluations of alcohol abuse in men with depression and suicide in women: A cross-sectional community-based study in Chennai, India. BMC public health, 15, 636. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-1864-5
  18. Patel V, Ramasundarahettige C, Vijayakumar L, Thakur JS, Gajalakshmi V, Gururaj G, et al. Suicide mortality in India: a nationally representative survey. Lancet. 2012;379(9834):2343–51. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60606-0.
  19. Patel V, Kirkwood BR, Pednekar S, et al. Gender disadvantage and reproductive health risk factors for common mental disorders in women: a community survey in India. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2006;63: 404–13. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.63.4.404.
  20. Kumar S, Jeyaseelan L, Suresh S, Ahuja RC. Domestic violence and its mental health correlates in Indian women. Br J Psychiatry. 2005; 187:62–7. doi: 10.1192/bjp.187.1.62.
  21. Ólafsdóttir J, Hrafnsdóttir S, Orjasniemi T. Depression, anxiety, and stress from substance-use disorder among family members in Iceland. Nordisk Alkohol Nark. 2018 Jun;35(3):165-178. doi: 10.1177/1455072518766129. Epub 2018 May 29. PMID: 32934525; PMCID: PMC7434153.
  22. Rognmo, K., Torvik, F. A., Røysamb, E., & Tambs, K. (2013). Alcohol use and spousal mental distress in a population sample: the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study. BMC public health, 13, 319. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-319
  23. Tempier R, Boyer R, Lambert J, Mosier K, Duncan CR. Psychological distress among female spouses of male at risk drinkers. Alcohol. 2006; 40:41–49. doi: 10.1016/j.alcohol.2006.09.032. [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
  24. Halford WK, Bouma R, Kelly A, et al. (1999) Individual psychopathology and marital distress. Behav Modif 23:179–216.
  25. Weissman MM. (1987) Advances in psychiatric epidemiology: rates and risks for major depression. Am J Public Health 77:445–51.

Corresponding Author

Dr Aravindh. M

Postgraduate, Department of Psychiatry, Rajah Muthiah Medical College and Hospital, Annamalai University, Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu