Background: Depressed and bipolar alcoholics represent a significant affective subgroup that has a poorer prognosis than either diagnosis alone. To date few systematic treatment programs have been developed to treat dual diagnosis.

Methods: An inpatient treatment program was developed at St Patrick's Hospital Dublin to treat dual diagnosis clients with alcohol dependence and either unipolar or bipolar affective disorder. Clients (N = 232) were assessed for depression, anxiety, elation, cravings, drink and drug intake on admission, discharge, 3 and 6 months post-discharge from the program.

Results: In the overall group there was a reduction in number of drinking days and units per drinking day over the study (p < .01). There was a 71.8% complete abstinent rate at 3 months and 55.8% at 6 months in the depression group, non-significantly greater than for the bipolar group at 64.7% and 54.1% respectively. Gamma GT, MCV and craving scores were significantly reduced over time (p < .01). Mania, depression and anxiety inventory scores fell over time in both groups (p < .01). 15-21-year olds were more severely anxious, had higher illicit drug use, and were more likely to relapse to drug use than older clients. Bipolar 1 clients were significantly more likely than bipolar 2 clients to be on mood stabilisers at all follow-up stages (p < .001).

Limitations: No control group was used.

Conclusions: There is evidence for efficacy of a specifically designed dual diagnosis inpatient treatment program as both depressed and bipolar alcoholics had significant reductions in all measurements of mood, craving, and alcohol/drug consumption by self report and biological markers, suggesting both diagnoses can be effectively treated together.