[Characteristics of heterosexual love in alcoholics]

Heterosexual love has many negative impacts on the process of recovery from dependency in a clinical setting; therefore, the present study investigated the characteristics of heterosexual love in alcoholics. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on 23 alcoholics and 14 healthy volunteers in order to ascertain their experiences with heterosexual love, and episodes were compared between the two groups (39 episodes for the alcoholics and 22 episodes for the healthy volunteers). When compared to the healthy volunteers, the length of time from meeting to dating was shorter for the alcoholics, and the measures to deepen relationships were more limited and tended to cause difficulties during the period. In addition, during the period of maintaining relationships, the alcoholics tended to have fewer daily conversations and had more regrets of having started dating. Furthermore, when compared to the healthy volunteers, the mean score for heterosexuality-related satisfaction and the mean score for needing the partner was significantly lower for the alcoholics. These findings suggest that among alcoholics heterosexual love has an element of instability that reflects a lower degree of self-acceptance; therefore, it is necessary to remain aware of this point when providing support.