Hospitalized alcoholics have also been found to have an increased prevalence of dental problems, compared with nonalcoholic psychiatric patients, including missing teeth and nonrestorable teeth. Based on ECA data, alcoholics are 21.0 times more likely to also have a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder compared with nonalcoholics. Antisocial personality disorder. Comorbid ASPD has prognostic and treatment implications for alcoholics. Patients with ASPD have an earlier age of onset of alcohol and other drug abuse and a more rapid and serious course of illness.
Bulimics commonly exhibit multiple drug use disorders and have high rates of alcoholism.
Between 33 and 83 percent of bulimics may have a first-degree relative suffering from alcohol abuse or alcoholism. Although it has been suggested that alcoholism and depression are manifestations of the same underlying illness, the results of family, twin, and adoption studies suggest that alcoholism and mood disorder are probably distinct illnesses with different prognoses and treatments. However, symptoms of depression are likely to develop during the course of alcoholism, and some patients with mood disorders may increase their drinking when undergoing a mood change, fulfilling criteria for secondary alcoholism. When depressive symptoms are secondary to alcoholism, they are likely to disappear within a few days or weeks of abstinence, as withdrawal symptoms subside. Among alcoholics entering treatment, about two-thirds have symptoms that resemble anxiety disorders.