[Combination of anxiety disorder and alcohol dependence]

Three patients, two men aged 47 and 37 and a woman aged 32, are described. All three suffered from a combination of alcohol addiction and anxiety disorder. None of them had previously received adequate treatment because on the one hand they had been refused by psychiatric institutes because of their alcohol addiction, and on the other the institutes for the care of addicted had not diagnosed the anxiety disorder. About 150,000 people are estimated to have both an alcohol addiction and an anxiety disorder in the Netherlands. The importance of making a correct diagnosis and providing proper treatment for both disorders is emphasized.