Abstract
Alcohol is used as a means of alleviating subjective symptoms of depression. Clinical practice suggests, however, that depression very often develops as a result of alcohol use.
Severe forms of depression occur among 27% of alcohol users in treatment, while 40% of these patients experience minor depressive disorders. In addition to psychotherapy, psychopharmacotherapy is also used to treat depression.
A wide range of pharmaceuticals are available, and some of them have been shown to be effective in treating the comorbidity of depression and alcohol use. The effects of these therapies are not immediate; they typically take several weeks.
This case study is based on the experience of the outpatient addiction treatment clinic at the Department of Addictology of the First Faculty of Medicine of Charles University and the General University Hospital in Prague. It addresses a specific case of a 51-year-old client in treatment for alcohol dependency with comorbid depression.
The aims of this paper are to describe the context of the case, as well as pointing out the inconsistency with which different addictological services approach comorbidities and pharmacotherapy. This is a major clinical issue which presents a great demand for interdisciplinary liaison and calls for the development of integrated procedures to be applied to clients with such conditions.