Relationships in alcoholism and depression : will it be a global health burden?

Abstract

Introduction Depression can lead to long term health burden; while alcohol is now also one of the global burdens of diseases. This review is trying to investigate how healthy population can be at risk when the trends of alcohol consumption are increasing.

Methods and Results This review studied 11 journals out of 1096 literature in PubMed / Medline / PsyInfo for alcohol and depression association via prospective cohort or longitudinal study. Results varied in outcomes measured and no conclusion on developed causality with alcohol and depression.

Discussions Some significant associations may be observed at heavy use of alcohol or binge drinking groups. Young adolescents association was not as significant as adult studies results. Some stratification on gender difference is also non-conclusive. Population on heavy drinking and dependency are at risk of developing depression.

Conclusions Future perspectives in research like the need of developing high quality research and more on population approach studies focusing on alcohol and depression should be carried. Prevention of alcohol-related problems especially in young people or population as a whole should include policies reducing overall alcohol consumption, or reducing the rates of high-risk drinking.