A Comparative Study of Defense Mechanism in Wives of Alcohol Dependents and Healthy Controls

Alcohol dependence, a type of substance use disorder, is a chronic mental disorder. Individuals with this disorder develop impaired control over alcohol consumption and become physically dependent on it. As a result, their personal and social lives are seriously disrupted, but despite this, they continue to consume alcohol, even in risky situations. Wives of individuals with alcohol dependence are the most deeply affected members of the family, especially as this disorder puts a lot of distress on the family. Due to its chronic nature and the reoccurrence of relapses, the wives of such individuals resort to defense mechanisms. The present study aims to compare Defense Mechanism in Wives of Individuals with Alcohol Dependence and Healthy Controls. A sample of 30 wives of individuals diagnosed as Alcohol Dependents with no co-morbid psychiatric disorder and a matched group of 30 wives of healthy controls were selected through Purposive Sampling as per the defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Both groups were compared on the Defense Mechanism Inventory (DMI-MS) by Dr. N. R. Mrinal and Dr. Uma Singhal (2012) and obtained data was analyzed using t-test. The results showed that wives of individuals with alcohol dependence had significantly higher scores on ‘Reversal’ and ‘Turning against self’ than the control group.