[Specific features of spouse alcoholism].

The paper aims at specifying the update topology of spouse alcoholism. The results of the study, including 85 alcohol addict couples (both husband and wife), show that spouse alcoholism can be divided into the following types in relation to the initial time of alcohol abuse: the early type when both mates had already developed alcohol drinking behavior before the marriage and genuine late type, when alcohol addiction was formed after the marriage. The genuine spouse alcoholism can be further subdivided into depressive, neurotic and codependent types. It can be noted that prognosis of spouse alcoholism is worse, on the whole, comparing to alcohol addiction of one family member only, because a probable relapse of the disease in one spouse can cause the relapse in the other spouse while the effectiveness of a therapeutic approach depends in large on the treatment compliance of each spouse.