Problem Drinking and Drug Abuse

Abstract

The abuse of alcohol, and the abuse of other drugs, have many features in common. There are serious consequences for the physical and mental health of the individual, and for the family and the rest of society as well. Often, people with these problems are classified under ‘personality disorders’, for understandable reasons; and it has been noted that people with severe neurotic disorders are more prone to drug or alcohol dependence than the average person (Sims, 1978). However, the evidence for a predisposing personality type is weak, the hypothesised causes of the maladaptive behaviour are diverse, and so are the responses to treatment. Social condemnation of addiction, and the association with antisocial behaviour — either as a means of obtaining supplies, or as a consequence of intoxication — combine to make provision of care and treatment, as opposed to control and punishment, an exceptionally difficult enterprise. Both groups have a raised risk of suicide (Stengel, 1973), and this is only one indicator of the immense amount of distress that is endured, sometimes behind a facade of ‘lack of insight’ or ‘lack of motivation’.