U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Antidepressants for the Treatment of People with Co-Occurring Depression and Alcohol Dependence

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Systematic Review

Source: The Cochrane Collaborative

Last Reviewed: April 2018

Workgroups: Substance Use Workgroup, Mental Health and Mental Disorders Workgroup

In this Cochrane systematic review, the Cochrane Collaborative found that antidepressants may be an effective treatment for people with both depression and alcohol dependence. Researchers found that antidepressants have positive effects on certain outcomes related to depression and alcohol use — like the number of drinks consumed — but not on other outcomes — like the rate of days without drinking. The risk of side effects appears to be very small.

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Objectives related to this resource (1)

Reduce the proportion of people who had alcohol use disorder in the past year — SU‑13
Little or no detectable change

Suggested Citation

1.

Agabio, R., Trogu, E., Pani, P.P. (2018). Antidepressants for the treatment of people with co‐occurring depression and alcohol dependence. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Issue 4). DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD008581.pub2