Clinical and psychological features of patients with early breakdowns of therapeutic remission of alcohol addiction

Abstract

Objective. To establish basic mechanisms of early relapses in therapeutic remission in alcohol addiction (AD).

Materials and methods. A comprehensive (clinical, experimental and psychological, and statistical) comparative study was conducted in 81 patients with AD at the stage of therapeutic remission (including 39 patients in high-quality remission (HQR) and 42 patients with relapses in therapeutic remission up to 6 months of abstinence from alcohol) aged from 27 to 55 (40.2±7.2) years old. 

Results. It was established that according to all biopsychosocial risk factors for AD relapse, patients with early relapses in therapeutic remission differed from those in high-quality remission only in psychological characteristics: decreased level of disease awareness (0.78±0.67 vs. 0.04± 0.21 points, p<0.01); noncompliance (2.64±0.56 vs. 0.46±0.85, p<0.01); experiences of boredom (1.25±1.12 vs. 0.13±0.63 points, p<0.01), and a positive attitude to alcohol-related situations (1,58±0,94 vs. 0.72± 0.75 points, p<0.01).

Conclusion. Patients with early relapses of therapeutic remission from AD compared to HQR ones, in the absence of clinical signs of the disease in both groups, were characterized by persistent alcohol addiction at the personal level, which was manifested by their low understanding of the disease, experiences of boredom without alcohol, and occurrence of a primary positive emotional reaction when exposed to conditioned reflex signals associated with alcohol.