Social cognition in severe alcohol use disorder

While severe alcohol use disorder (SAUD) is classically characterized as a compulsion to seek and consume alcohol and a reduced ability to control these behaviors, a growing number of studies shows social cognition difficulties among recently detoxified patients. The present chapter proposes an overview of this literature by presenting the main findings regarding emotional experience and emotion regulation, social cues processing, theory of mind, empathy and social emotions processing. From this literature, we propose that patients with SAUD show an increased sensibility to socio-emotional stimuli that directly concern them and a reduced ability to process those stimuli when they concern other individuals. We also propose new research avenues that may ultimately help to better understand social cognition deficits and their role in SAUD and to urge scientists and clinicians to consider rehabilitating these abilities in the early steps of detoxification programs.