Psychosocial Problems of Wives of Alcoholics

Alcohol abuse is a major health problem in India and world at large. For the past thirty to forty years alcohol consumption has increased tremendously. The problem of alcoholism until a few decades was considered a moral problem and a sign of social irresponsibility. Alcoholism is not only a disease but also a serious problem that all the family has to deal with. Disruption in family caused by alcoholism is a serious, complex and pervasive societal problem. Disruption in family caused by alcoholism is a serious, complex and pervasive societal problem. Alcoholism statistics reveals that alcohol abuse of male is the major cause behind the broken family in Kerala. The impact of alcoholism reflects not only on the consumer, but also on his family especially his wife. The wives of alcoholics suffer a lot with their alcoholic husband resulting in various problems in wife. In this context we attempted to identify and measure the psychosocial problems of wives of alcoholics. It was conducted using a quantitative, descriptive survey method; data were collected from wives of alcoholics’ selected using convenient sampling admitted in selected hospital using a demographic data sheet, a four point rating scale containing 16 items to assess psychosocial problems of wives. Findings revealed that revealed that majority of subjects belonged to the age group of >40 years (60%), educated till 10th standard (83.3%), were unemployed, (63.3%) family income <1500/month (56.8%), belonged to Hindu religion (56.8%), duration of alcoholism for >16 years (60%). Majority of wives of alcoholics had severe psychological (33.3%) and social (46.4%) problems. Knowledge gained from this study can be utilized to provide awareness about managing their partner’s unhealthy habit and coping strategies.