Debora Ganz and Leo Sher
Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
Comorbidity of Depression and Alcohol Use Disorders. Hauppauge, New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2009, 198 pages.

Depression and alcohol abuse both pose extreme threats to adolescent populations. The comorbidity between these diseases has been found to be up to 73 percent. Factors that often contribute to both of these disorders within adolescent populations include neurobiology, other comorbid psychiatric conditions, and childhood abuse. Adolescents with comorbid alcoholism and depression are likely to present with aggression, substance use and stress; both generalized and specific. Such adolescents may commonly be identified as delinquent due to such behaviors. Factors that may implicate adolescents with comorbid depression and alcoholism to harbor suicidal tendencies include impulsivity, self-medication and external pressures. There is a lot that can be done by clinicians, legal and educational professionals and society at large that may help to prevent such problems.