Delegates at the IMO annual general conference were this afternoon told of the close, causal link between alcohol and depression in the State.
Dr Ronan Hearne, Consultant Psychiatrist at the Cluain Mhuire Family Centre in Dublin, said he wanted to dispel popular myths. "Alcohol causes depression not the other way around, alcohol causes anxiety", he said.
He told delegates in Killarneythat between 70 to 90 per cent of those suffering from depression suffer from alcohol problems. He said that 25 per cent of all patients attending accident and emergency departments do so with alcohol-related problems. He added that 34 per cent of all accidental deaths were alcohol-related.
The Irish addiction to alcohol was costing the tax-payer €2.4 billion per annum and more than 60,000 patient days.
Prof Marie Cassidy, Deputy State Pathologist, told the conference that alcohol did not have a significant role in the dramatic increase in homicides in the State.
Homicides in the Republic have doubled over the last 15 years to 15 for every million of population.
She said the relationship between alcohol and homicide is not what one would expect and that alcohol is not the cause of Ireland's increased homicide rate.