Mental well-being in subjects with long-term excessive alcohol consumption: an experimental study

Eriksson, Matts; Berggren, Ulf; Fahlke, Claudia; Hård, Ernest; Balldin, Jan

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Volume 27, Issue 2 , Pages 99-105, June 2002

Mental well-being in subjects with long-term excessive alcohol consumption:☆

an experimental study

Matts Eriksson
- Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Section of Psychiatry, Göteborg University, Sahlgrenska University Hospital/Mölndal, SE-431 80 Mölndal, Sweden
Ulf Berggren
- Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Section of Psychiatry, Göteborg University, Sahlgrenska University Hospital/Mölndal, SE-431 80 Mölndal, Sweden
Claudia Fahlke
- Department of Psychology, Göteborg University, P.O. Box 500, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +46-31-773-42-89; fax: +46-31-773-46-28.(C. Fahlke)
Ernest Hård
- Department of Psychology, Göteborg University, P.O. Box 500, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden
Jan Balldin
- Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Section of Psychiatry, Göteborg University, Sahlgrenska University Hospital/Mölndal, SE-431 80 Mölndal, Sweden

Received 14 March 2001; received in revised form 19 October 2001; accepted 5 March 2002.

Abstract

Daily self-reports on six dimensions of mental well-being, with the use of the Swedish Mood Adjective Check List (sMACL), were investigated in 61 socially stable and physically and mentally healthy subjects with long-term excessive alcohol consumption (113 ± 42 g of pure alcohol daily) during a 7-week study. At the start of the study, all subjects had low levels of mental well-being compared with those for a norm group, most markedly among those who did not complete the study period (n = 20). At the end of the investigation, subjects who completed the study (n = 41) had levels of mental well-being similar to those of a norm group. Subjects who reduced their alcohol consumption by 60% did not differ in levels of mental well-being compared with subjects without reduction in intake. No differences in levels of mental well-being were observed in subjects treated with citalopram compared with those given placebo.

Keywords: Alcohol, Citalopram, Mental well-being