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Commentary on the Comorbidity of Alcohol Use Disorder and Depression among Patients Attending a Tertiary Hospital in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria
Chidozie Donald Chukwujekwu*Department of Neuropsychiatry, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
- *Corresponding Author:
- Chidozie Donald Chukwujekwu
Department of Neuropsychiatry
University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital
Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
Tel: 08035928593
E-mail: chidozie.chukwujekwu@uniport.edu.ng
Received date: February 10, 2017; Accepted date: April 10, 2017; Published date: April 17, 2017
Citation: Chukwujekwu CD (2017) Commentary on the Comorbidity of Alcohol Use Disorder and Depression among Patients Attending a Tertiary Hospital in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. J Addict Res Ther 8:319. doi:10.4172/2155-6105.1000319
Copyright: © 2017 Chukwujekwu CD. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
A commentary on “The co-morbidity of Alcohol Use Disorder and depression among patients attending a tertiary hospital in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria” is the objective of this exercise. The study demonstrated a higher rate of alcohol use disorders (AUD) among those who presented with depressive symptoms. Furthermore, about half of the subjects who met the criteria for AUD in the study also met the criteria for depression while only a quarter of those who didn’t satisfy the criteria for AUD were also found to be depressed. This underscores the concept of comorbidity which is well documented as a challenging phenomenon for therapists. The coexistence of two chronic illnesses in the same individual constitutes double jeopardy because of their synergistic deleterious consequences on the body. Even though many plausible theories have been propounded to explain the concept of co-morbidity of AUD and Depression, none has sufficiently explained the common risk factor for and/or the exact cause of this challenge. Nevertheless, the need for a routine comprehensive clinical assessment of any patient with co-existing disorders in clinical settings is recommended.
