Does perfectionism lead to alcoholism?

“Severe Alcohol Use Disorder (SAUD) is essentially characterized by a set of cognitive, behavioral, and physiological symptoms indicating that the person continues to consume alcohol despite significant problems related to it.” Alcoholism and alcohol abuse are common terms but less rigorously defined, applying to individuals with alcohol-related issues.

Two mental disorders are very often associated with it, with particularly high comorbidity rates: depression and anxiety.

Alcoholism is a complex problem that generally has multiple causes, but it is also influenced by our personality. This is shown by the study of several Belgian researchers from the psychology faculty of Louvain published in the journal Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research.

We all know the use of alcohol as a “social lubricant,” but according to this study, the preexistence of certain character traits would lead to a higher risk of developing alcoholism, sometimes accompanied by total social disconnection.

In the presented study, 65 recently detoxified SAUD patients and 65 healthy volunteer controls were matched.

The idea was to assess whether perfectionism, known to be a vulnerability factor for psychopathological disorders, also played a role in severe alcohol use disorder.