Suicidal behavior is a major medical and social problem. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that alcohol and drug abuse is associated with suicidal ideation, attempts and suicides. Next to depression, alcoholism and drug abuse are the psychiatric conditions most strongly associated with suicide attempts and completed suicides. Alcohol and drugs are involved in about 50 percent of all suicide attempts. About 25 percent of completed suicides occur among individuals with alcoholism or drug abuse. Acute substance use makes suicide more likely. Nearly all alcoholic suicides occur among active drinkers, and alcohol consumption often immediately precedes the suicide. Individuals who drink a significant amount of alcohol before a suicide attempt make more serious suicide attempts.

Clinicians should be educated about a risk of suicidal behavior among individuals with substance abuse. The book will describe the current state of knowledge of this difficult and controversial issue. Clinical, epidemiological, neurobiological, cross-cultural, and treatment aspects will be discussed. The results of the newest studies will be presented. The book, “Suicidal Behavior in Alcohol and Drug Abuse and Dependence” is mostly for M.D. or Ph.D. level professionals but may be of significant interest to mental health counselors, medical and psychology students, and lay people.

Publisher: Nova Science Publishers

Editors: Leo Sher and Alexander Vilens

Table of Contents:

Preface

Part I. Epidemiology and pathophysiology of alcohol and drug abuse and dependence

Chapter 1. Epidemiology of alcohol, tobacco and substance use
Levent Tokucoglu¹ and A. Ender Altintoprak².
¹Neuropsychiatry Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey; ²Ege University School of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey

Chapter 2. Serotonin dysfunction in alcoholism
Eva Friedel and Andreas Heinz.
Charité University Medicine, Berlin, Germany

Chapter 3. Depressed-like behavior and alcohol drinking are co-morbid but independent in the Fawn-Hooded rats
Amir H. Rezvani¹ and David H. Overstreet.
¹Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA; ²University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

Chapter 4. Psychophysiological aspects of alcohol epileptic syndrome
Tatiana Elistratova and Andrey Soloviev.
Northern State Medical University, Arkhangelsk, Russia

Part II. Comorbidity of alcohol and drug abuse and dependence with other psychiatric disorders

Chapter 5. Comorbidity of anxiety disorders with alcohol and drug abuse and dependence: a comprehensive review
Omer Saatcioglu.
Bakirkoy Research and Training Hospital for Psychiatry, Neurology and Neurosurgery, Istanbul, Turkey

Chapter 6. Co-occurrence of substance use disorders with anxiety disorders: epidemiology, psychobiology, clinical features, and treatment
Sebnem Pirildar, A. Ender Altintoprak and Ozlem Kuman
Ege University School of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey;

Chapter 7. Alcohol dependence and PTSD comorbidity
Malgorzata Dragan.
University of Warsaw, Poland

Chapter 8. Comorbidity of bipolar disorder with alcohol and/or drug abuse
Ho-Jun Seo¹ and Chi-Un Pae^1,2.
¹The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; ²Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA

Part III. Treatment of alcohol and drug abuse and dependence

Chapter 9. Pharmacological treatment of alcohol, tobacco and substance use
A. Ender Altintoprak.
Ege University School of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey

Chapter 10. Pharmacotherapy for alcohol dependence
József Nagy.
Gedeon Richter Plc., Budapest, Hungary

Chapter 11. Management of acute psychiatric conditions in a dual diagnosis unit
Raman Gopalakrishnan.
Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , USA

 

Part IV. Substance use disorders and self-injurious behavior

Chapter 12. Self-Injurious behavior in individuals with alcohol and drug abuse and dependence
Cuneyt Evren.
Bakirkoy State Hospital for Psychiatric and Neurological Diseases, Istanbul, Turkey

 

Part V. Substance use disorders and suicide: epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical aspects

Chapter 13. Epidemiological evidence for the link between suicide and substance use, abuse and dependence
Gillian W. Smith¹, Colette Corry² and James E. Houston¹.
¹Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK; ²University of Ulster, Londonderry, UK

Chapter 14. Epidemiology of suicidal behavior in individuals with alcohol and/or drug abuse
Tamás Zonda¹, Csilla Csoboth² and Károly Bozsonyi³.
¹Hungarian Association for Suicide Prevention, Budapest, Hungary; ²Semmelweis University, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, Budapest, Hungary; ³Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Institute of Sociology, Budapest, Hungary

Chapter 15. Substance use disorders and risk of completed suicide
Barbara Schneider.
Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Chapter 16. Psychosocial risk factors for suicide attempts among drug users
Elizabeth Maloney and Shane Darke.
National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

Chapter 17. Links between personality, alcohol use, and suicide in emerging adulthood
Julie A. Patock-Peckham and Lindsey M. Backer.
Baylor University, Waco, Texas, USA

Chapter 18. Acute alcohol use and suicide attempts
Courtney L. Bagge and Julie A. Schumacher.
University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi, USA

Chapter 19. Prevention of suicidal behavior in individuals with alcohol and/or drug abuse
Ioana Todor.
University of Alba Iulia, Romania

Chapter 20. Suicidal behavior among users of alcohol and illicit drugs
Jennifer R. Havens and April M. Young.
University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Kentucky, USA

Chapter 21. Bad together: alcohol dependence, impulsivity and suicide
Jessica WM Wong¹ and Ulrich Preuss².
¹AWO Psychiatry Center, Halle, Germany; ²Martin-Luther-University, Halle, Germany;

Chapter 22. Suicidal behavior in alcohol use disorders: neurobiological aspects
Leo Sher.
Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York, USA

Chapter 23. Socio-political dilemmas: alcohol/substance abuse and suicide
Said Shahtahmasebi.
The Good Life Research Centre Trust, Rangiora, New Zealand

Part VI. Substance use disorders and suicide in adolescents and the elderly

Chapter 24. Substance use disorders and suicide risk among adolescents
Maurizio Pompili^1,2, Eleonora Piacentini¹, Marco Innamorati³, Letizia Capezzali¹, Mariantonietta Milelli¹, Roberto Tatarelli¹ and David Lester⁴.
¹Sant’Andrea Hospital, Rome, Italy, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy; ²Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; ³Università Europea di Roma, Rome, Italy; ⁴The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Pomona, New Jersey, USA;

Chapter 25. Alcoholism and suicidal behavior in the elderly
Margda Waern.
Institution for Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

Part VII. Suicidal behavior in individuals with comorbid substance use disorders and other psychiatric disorders

Chapter 26. Comorbid bipolar and substance use disorders: Impact on suicidal behavior.
Brit Haver and Ketil J. Oedegaard.
University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

Chapter 27. Comorbidity of bipolar disorder with alcohol and drug abuse, leading to suicidal behaviorAmanda Galvão-de Almeida^1,2, Fabiana Nery-Fernandes¹, Ilza Rosa Batista², Camila Guindalini², Esdras Cabus Moreira¹ and Ângela Miranda-Scippa¹.
¹Universidade Federal da Bahia, Bahia, Brazil; ²Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Chapter 28. Comorbid features of suicidal behavior, depression and alcohol abuse
Debora Ganz and Leo Sher.
Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York, USA

Index