A Comparitive Study to Evaluate the Stress Level among Wives of Alcoholics and Wives of Non- Alcoholics in a Hospital in Chennai

Substance abuse is regular consumption of large amounts of substance (alcohol or drugs) that are harmful to themselves or others. More than half of substance abuse patients are diagnosed with a psychiatric diagnosis - major depression, personality disorder, anxiety disorders, and dysthymia. Among other substance or drugs, alcohol is the most frequently abused drug. Alcoholism is one of the major problems in this country and the world in general. This problem is affecting not only the person who is consuming alcohol it also affects all other people who are living around him. The spouses of the alcoholics are mostly affected. Stress has a negative impact on ones mental and physical health. The purpose of the study was to analyze the level of stress among wives of alcoholics and wives of non-alcoholics. For this, a non-experimental, comparative study was designed with 70 wives (35 wives of alcoholics and 35 wives of non-alcoholics) chosen by using non probability convenience sampling technique. This study was conducted in a Government hospital at Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Age, number of children, occupation, and monthly income, history of domestic violence and duration of alcohol consumption are the demographic variables studied. Sheldon Cohen perceived stress scale was used to assess the level of stress. Data collected from the wives was analyzed using statistical techniques. The conceptual frame work used in the study was based on Betty Newmann system theory. The above study reveals that there is an association between level of stress and domestic violence and duration of alcohol consumption. The present study also shows that there is severe stress level in wives facing with domestic violence and husband excessive alcohol consumption shows severe stress in wives.