Alcohol abuse in the psychiatric hospital population

A survey was conducted to assess the presence of alcohol consumption and its associated effects in the nonsubstance abuse population of a VA neuropsychiatric hospital. The findings indicated that patients with alcoholism-related psychiatric diagnoses were more likely to be illegally consuming alcohol than those without these diagnoses. On the other hand, the effects of drinking appeared to be attributable to patients' drinking patterns rather than to their alcoholism histories. Finally, the incidence of alcoholism problems approximated that of the nonpsychiatric population, suggesting that there is no unique, etiological basis for alcoholism in other psychiatric conditions.