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ALCOHOLISM
Abuse of alcohol sometimes occurs after a TBI as a means to "self-medicate" depression, anxiety, or both, in persons at high risk based on family history (genetics), past personal history of abuse, type of brain injury (especially disinhibiting frontal lobe injury) and other factors. Medications that have been used to curb alcoholism include those which trigger nausea and vomiting when the patient drinks (antibuse) and those which decrease the craving. More recently, some good results have been achieved with Depakote in alcohol detoxification programs. Depakote is a medication that calms the patient by increasing the supply of GABA but does not react adversely with alcohol like Valium and other benzodiazepines. See J. of Clinical Psychiatry 2000;61:947. Depakote is best known as anti-epileptic drug, sometimes used to prevent onset of migraines.