Psychosocial problems of
wives of alcoholics
Ms. Ramya K. R.
1*, Sr.Lisa Paul2
1Asst
Professor, Jubilee Mission College of Nursing, Jubilee Gardens,
Kachery,Thrissur, Kerala, 68005,
2Associate
Professor, Jubilee Mission College of Nursing, Thrissur, Kerala
Corresponding Author Email: raviramya11@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
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.
Key
words: Alcoholism,
psychosocial problems, alcoholics.
INTRODUCTION:
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. After introduction of prohibition it was reined as an illegal
act. Recently studies consider it as more complicated, chronic, and immensely
costly disease than a type of deviant behavior. Rapid growth of alcohol
consumption in developing countries is likely to be followed by a higher
incidence of alcohol related problems.
In India people fail to understand
alcoholism as a disease. The common man sees alcoholism as a weakness of
character. The age at which people start drinking has also declined. Taking
alcohol even once in a while leaves the possibility of a habit-forming
phenomenon open and the drinker may start drinking frequently and in large
quantity, which could have drastic effects on ones
health. Alcohol associated
problems may lead to extreme physical, psychiatric and emotional problems. Some
of them may be anxiety, depression, personality disorder, violence, disruption
of roles and functions, conflicts, violence, cirrhosis of liver, other medical
problems, homicides, suicides, motor vehicle accidents, fire burns, drowning
and falls. 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. For female members of family
of patient with alcoholism, risk for hypertension was significantly increased.
In addition wives of those with alcoholism perceived themselves as unhealthy
and stressed. Wives of alcoholics experience unhappiness manifested by hurt,
frustration, tension, guilt, moodiness, anger, anxiety, distress, insecurity,
emotional isolation, hopelessness and decreased self esteem. Though alcoholics
may feel alone in their struggles the wives of alcoholics are affected as well.
Since long tem alcohol abuse can have dangerous
physical and emotional affects, alcoholics wives worry about their husband’s
emotional and physical health. Alcoholism can put financial strain on marriage.
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.1
Through this research we attempted to identify and measure the
psychosocial problems of wives of alcoholics so that the knowledge gained from
this study can be utilized to provide awareness about managing their partner’s
unhealthy habit and coping strategies.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
This
quantitative, non experimental descriptive survey was conducted in jubilee
mission medical college and research institute, Thrissur
Kerala a selected hospital of Kerala State during December 2011.A total number of 30 subjects were
selected using convenient sampling, a method of non probability sampling
technique. Wives of patients with established diagnosis of alcoholism who were
admitted during the study period and willing to participate were included in
the study. But wives of
alcoholics who can’t give an adequate response to the questionnaire were
excluded from the study. A demographic data sheet, a four point rating scale
containing 16 items to assess psychological (ten) and social problems (six) of
wives were used to assess the psychosocial problems alcoholism, were developed
after thorough review of literature. Validity was established by seeking
opinion of 5 experts from the field of nursing education psychiatry, community
health. A pilot study was conducted among 10 subjects to establish the
feasibility of study. No modifications were made in the tool or study protocol
after the pilot study. Subjects took 15 minutes to complete the tool. Informed
written consent was obtained from the subjects before data collection.
Collected data were analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics at .05 level of significance.
FINDINGS:
Findings of the study 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%).
Analysis also
revealed that majority of wives of alcoholics had severe psychological problems
(33.3%) while 26.6 % had mild, 20% had moderate, and 20% had very severe
problems. Social problems were found be severe in 46.4% of wives while 33.4%
had moderate, 16.6% had mild, 3.4% had severe problems. Duration of alcoholism
more than 16 years was found to be significantly associated with psychological
problems (t=17.2) and a monthly income of less 1500 was also significantly
associated with social problems.
CONCLUSION:
Study revealed that wives of alcoholic husbands can suffer from severe
psychosocial problems as found in studies conducted by Jackson (1962) Dawson DA3, and James4. So it is essential to screen for
psychosocial problems among wives of alcoholics and keep it to a lower level to
improve their quality of life. Nurses can help them to adopt effectively in
difficult situations to improve coping skills and to build adaptive behavior.
REFERENCES:
3.
Dawson
da, grant bf, chousp stunson ts (2007). The impact of
partner alcohol problem on womens physical and mental
health.www.nibi.nlm.nib.gov.
4.
James
je, goldman m (1971).behavior trends of wives of
alcoholics quarterly journal of studies on alcohol,32(1),373-381.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1360-0443.1978.tb00133.x/pdf.
5.
Understanding
the impact of alcohol on human health and alcoholism and well being. National
institute on alcohol abuse and
alcoholismnhttp://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh283/111-120.htm
Received on 17.12.2012 Modified on 20.01.2013
Accepted on 04.02.2013 © A&V Publication all right reserved
Asian J. Nur. Edu. & Research 3(1): Jan.-March 2013; Page 29-30