Clinical profile of comorbid major depression and alcohol use disorders in an initial psychiatric evaluation.

This study evaluated the clinical profile of patients who presented with both DSM-III major depression (MD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) as compared with that of patients with either diagnosis alone. Comparison of these three groups (MD without AUD, AUD without MD, and comorbid AUD-MD) selected from a large sample (8,139) of general adult psychiatric patients showed that the historical, cross-sectional, and dispositional profile of AUD-MD patients occupied an intermediate position between that of the other two groups. The symptomatology of AUD-MD patients was somewhat closer to that of MD patients, whereas the premorbid personal and social history and dispositional status were more similar to those of AUD patients. AUD-MD patients had a strikingly higher rate of suicidal indicators as compared with AUD or MD patients.