Alcoholism and Depression: A Positive Correlation?

Devan Schenck

Abnormal Psychology

Research paper

16 December 2014

Alcoholism and Depression: A Positive Correlation?

        Depression is one of the most frequently diagnosed mental illnesses around. Whether it be in literature, movies, or society in general we see people whom feel at useless and unhappy with themselves drinking their problems away. In society there is a stigma that it is okay to go out on the weekends and get belligerently drunk because it will take away all of the stress from the week. Alcohol is seen as an escape from what many believe to be their terrible reality. Alcoholism is also a very frequent problem especially in the United States of America. There is a stigma that alcoholics drink because they are unable to control themselves, which is slightly true; however, it is a serious mental illness. For decades there has been research on the causes of both of these mental illnesses and the things that cause them. The question at large is whether or not depression in the end causes alcoholism. There have been many connections made between the two, enough to prove a positive correlation between the two illnesses.

        Genetics are the term used to describe the study of heredity and the process by which parents hand down certain genes to their offspring. There are many illnesses and diseases that are caused by heredity. A parent may be a carrier of a gene responsible for an illness known to have previously occurred in their family, such as heart disease. This gene may be activated in their child depending upon the way the chromosomes match up. If the child receives the activated gene then they will suffer from the disease, which is believed to explain why depression and alcoholism are common throughout families.

Although there are not any set in stone research experiments that can explain a direct similarity there is a proven relationship between the two of them. Each illness contains many symptoms that are like one another. Each illness causes the patient to experience little self worth, and feel sad or gloomy for much of the time. There are many experiments that can explain many little pieces that connect these illnesses even further. Today there is still room for much more research, but to begin we may view many of the connections between these two diseases.

Alcoholism is the addiction to chronic consumption of alcoholic beverage and the mental and physical dependency upon the substance. Statistically is is found that:

7.6 million people, or one in every 12 adults, suffer from alcohol abuse or dependence along with several million more who engage in risky, binge drinking patterns that could lead to alcohol problems.  More than half of all adults have a family history of alcoholism or problem drinking, and more than 7 million children live in a household where at least one parent is dependent on or has abused alcohol (NCADD.org).