Thirty-six alcohol-dependent men, half of them with a comorbid anxiety disorder, and 15 healthy controls underwent a standardized psychosocial stress test. Thirty-one of the patients were assessed for relapse 6 weeks after discharge.
The relapses showed almost no cortisol responses on the stress test. Comorbid anxiety disorder did not affect the stress response or relapse.
During early alcohol abstinence, decreased stress sensitivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-helper organ-addressor axis appears to be associated with early relapse.
Alcohol and Alcoholism: Impaired serum cortisol stress response is a predictor of early relapse
Found at Alkohol adé (german)
