Epidemiological studies show that alcoholics have a high life-time prevalen
ce of psychiatric illnesses, particularly of anxiety, depressive and schizo
phrenic disorders. But the complex relationships between elevated alcohol c
onsumption and psychiatric symptomatology frequently lead to problems in fi
nding diagnosis and thereafter in planning therapeutic strategies. Methods:
In this article the results of the studies concerning the medical treatmen
t of psychiatric comorbidity of alcoholics are critically reviewed. Results
: According to the available results a therapy with antidepressive drugs in
dicated in alcoholics with depression lasting over 14 days. Anxiety disorde
rs seem to have little influence on the course of alcoholism. Thus, an anxi
olytic medication has to be considered carefully in view of the addiction p
otency of tranquilizers. There is a paucity of data concerning drug treatme
nt of schizophrenics with alcohol abuse. Thus far only a few studies have s
hown an effect of a drug treatment of the psychiatric comorbidity on the dr
inking behavior. Conclusion: There is a lack of studies on specific treatme
nt strategies of psychiatric comorbid alcoholics, particularly of schizophr
enics with alcohol abuse.