The Relation between Pathological Narcissism and Alcohol Use Disorder

Abstract

The objective of this study is to evaluate the relationship between alcohol use disorder and self psychology by comparing inpatients with alcohol use disorder and healthy individuals. A total of 308 individuals were included in this study. The subject group consisted of 206 male inpatients in the Alcohol and Substance Addiction Research Treatment and Education Center (ASAREC) of Bakirkoy Mental Health and Neurological Diseases Education and Research Hospital who were diagnosed with alcohol use disorder and a control group composed of 102 randomly selected males with no alcohol use or other psychological disorders. The data collection tools used in the study were Self Psychology Inventory and Socio-demographic Data Form, which was created by the study's authors for the present study and solicited information regarding participants' age, sex, alcohol use, family income, and marital status in order to homogenize the data. The defensive grandiose self and defensive idealized parental imago scores of participants with alcohol use disorders were significantly higher than those of the control group. The healthy grandiose self and healthy idealized parental imago scores of participants with alcohol use disorders were significantly lower than those of the control group. The results of the present study suggest that one of the reasons of alcohol use disorders may be an inadequate self make up and weak ego defense mechanisms and that alcohol use disorders may be related to pathological narcissism.