Antidepressants in the Treatment of Alcohol and Drug Dependence

Overview

This article deals with possibilities and boundaries of treatment of addictive disorders (i.e. alco-holism and drug addiction) with antidepressants; it is a survey of current psychiatric literatureon this subject.Antidepressants are not drugs of choice in the case of pure alcohol or drug dependence, butco-existence of alcohol dependence or drug addiction with affective disorder is an indication fortreatment by antidepressants. We should prefer selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors to tricyc-lic antidepressants because of minimal risk in case of relapse of alcoholism with alcohol drinking.Treatment of the —withdrawal depressionia with antidepressants is discussed. Direct influence ofthe selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors to alcohol intake is also discussed. It is now a topic ofmuch researches. Long-term treatment by antidepressants or thymoprophylactics is usefull onlyin cases of primary affective disorders.

Key words:
affective disorders, alcoholism, antidepressants, depression, selective serotonin reup-take inhibitors, tricyclic antidepressant, substance abuse dependence.