Psychosis resulting from the habit of drinking alcohol to drown sorrows.

Hanoi – Due to boredom and psychological stress, many people turn to alcohol to relieve their sorrows, gradually becoming addicted, developing mental illnesses, and requiring hospitalization.

The divorce in June of this year left Kien, 40, an employee of a construction company in Hanoi, devastated. After the ordeal, the man locked himself in his room, losing interest in work and relationships.

The family said Kien had a happy marriage with his first love, lasting eight years, but then she fell for someone else, which her husband found out. After three years of unsuccessful attempts to reconcile, Kien often turned to alcohol to drown his sorrows, and subsequently became a heavy drinker. Recently, he has been drinking a liter of alcohol daily, losing weight, becoming weak, experiencing incoherent speech and hallucinations, and repeatedly contemplating suicide.

At Mai Huong Day Psychiatric Hospital, Dr. Tran Thi Hong Thu, Deputy Director, said that the patient suffered from psychosis due to alcohol addiction and was treated with medication and psychotherapy.

Also resorting to alcohol to drown his sorrows, Tuan, 42, from Phu Tho , had to be hospitalized with a diagnosis of psychosis. His family said that for the past two years, he had suffered business losses, accumulated debts, and even had to borrow money at high interest rates, so he frequently drank alcohol to be able to sleep.

From drinking only in the evenings, he consumed alcohol throughout the day, frequently experiencing hand tremors, shouting, anger, smashing things, beating and verbally abusing his wife and children, and sometimes losing awareness of his loved ones. He was also a patient of Dr. Thu, receiving treatment with tranquilizers, antidepressants, vitamins, and brain-boosting medication.

Alcohol affects various parts of the body, most severely the central nervous system. (Image: Renaissance Covery)

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), alcohol is a direct cause of more than 30 non-communicable diseases and nearly 200 other illnesses, ranking third among the causes of premature death and disability globally. Alcohol affects all parts of the body, most severely the brain and central nervous system.

The risks and consequences of alcohol use depend on many factors such as age, gender, and biological characteristics. Therefore, there is no safe level of alcohol consumption; the risk increases proportionally with the amount of alcohol consumed.

Alcohol-induced psychosis is a state closely related to alcohol use, manifested by emotional and behavioral disturbances, hallucinations (such as auditory or visual hallucinations), and paranoia such as unfounded jealousy, initially only occurring in a drunken state, later becoming frequent and highly irrational, leading to self-defense or family conflicts, and even attacks on others. These states often appear during or immediately after alcohol use. On the other hand, alcohol-induced psychosis can also lead to depression, manifested by feelings of sadness, negativity, and a lack of will to live.

Currently, Vietnam does not have statistics on alcohol-induced psychosis, but the number of diagnosed cases has increased recently. The number of patients treated at Mai Huong Day Psychiatric Hospital is consistently close to 10 at any given time, compared to only 2-5 previously. Patients come from various groups, including doctors, lawyers, businesspeople, civil servants, and manual laborers; a common characteristic is their thinness and frequent auditory hallucinations.

Similarly, at a meeting of the Alcohol Use Disorders Club at Bach Mai Hospital in early October, Dr. Le Thi Thao, Head of the Substance Addiction Treatment Department at the Institute of Mental Health, stated that the institute receives many cases of alcohol-induced delusions, such as delusions of persecution, being followed, and grandiosity. The main cause is sadness and psychological stress, leading patients to seek solace in alcohol.

"But as the saying goes, 'drinking to drown your sorrows only makes them worse,' a vicious cycle begins with excessive alcohol consumption leading to psychological stress, which in turn causes depression, and depression in turn increases alcohol consumption," the doctor said.

According to experts, one of the difficulties is predicting the duration of psychiatric treatment for patients with alcohol addiction. Even after discharge, patients may relapse. Therefore, families need to monitor the patient and provide psychosocial rehabilitation to prevent relapse and facilitate reintegration. Patients also need regular follow-up appointments for mental health issues.

If alcohol consumption is necessary, men should not drink more than two units of alcohol per day, and women should not drink more than one unit per day; and should not drink more than 5 days per week. Specifically, men should not drink more than 1-1.5 bottles/cans of beer per day; 2 glasses of beer per day, no more than 2 glasses of wine per day, and 2 glasses of spirits (40% alcohol) per day. Women should drink half the amount of men.

Thuy Quynh

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