Not self-medication

~ Jason Schwartz
Another study finds that depression tends to follow alcohol problems rather than cause alcohol problems. My guess is that the popularity of self-medication theories won’t suffer at all. Why is that?

Conclusions – The findings suggest that the associations between AAD and MD were best explained by a causal model in which problems with alcohol led to increased risk of MD as opposed to a self-medication model in which MD led to increased risk of AAD.

This is a longitudinal study. I look forward to seeing more about the responses to treatment for alcoholism and depression.

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Published by Jason Schwartz

I have been an addiction professional and social worker since 1994. I started blogging in 2005 as the Clinical Director at Dawn Farm. I no longer work at Dawn Farm and am now the Director of Behavioral Medicine at a community hospital, and a lecturer at Eastern Michigan University’s School of Social Work. Views expressed here are my own. Keep in mind that the field, the contexts in which the field operates, and my views have changed over time.