[The wives of alcoholics: experience in the study of psychopathology]

The authors examined clinically 215 wives of alcoholics or divorced women who had been previously married to alcoholics. None of the women abused alcohol. Only 12 of them were officially registered as psychiatrist's patients. Borderline psychopathological conditions were diagnosed in 174 women who had long been married to alcoholic husbands or lived with them in one apartment. Of them, psychopathy, neurotic personality, neurosis, reactive depressions were identified in 27%, 24.7%, 23%, 15%, respectively. 41 divorced women living apart from former alcoholic husbands had no psychopathology at the moment of the study. Borderline neurotic disorders in alcoholic husbands' wives should be considered in familial analysis made for subjects seeking genetic advice.