Alcohol ‘Induced’ Mania - Insights from Three Cases in a Hospital in India - Abstract
Background: Heavy alcohol drinking has been documented to ‘induce’ mania in a sub-set of persons. Misrecognition of this association is known to negatively impact illness course in these patients. Lack of research in this area has deterred the understanding of the link of alcohol drinking to mania in such cases. Alcohol ‘induced’ mania remains a vague diagnostic entity with uncertain validity.
Cases: We report three cases of mania occurring subsequent to heavy alcohol drinking. The distinct features of the cases offer the opportunity to delve into the probable role of alcohol in the development of mania in the patients, i.e., if alcohol was the ‘inducing’ agent, if alcohol was only one among several potential precipitating factors, or if it was a co-occurrence by chance.
Discussion: Establishing the relationship of alcohol with mania is known to have immense clinical importance. Furthermore, a potential benefit of research on the association of alcohol drinking and mania would be the better understanding of the biological underpinnings of bipolar disorder.