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Animal models for the study of alcoholism has been developed during the last years. These models contribute in revealing the mechanisms involved in this pathology. A synthesis of the main models used with rodents is presented along with studies that show the complex links between anxiety and alcoholism. The results indicate that alcohol acts as anxiolytic during early stages of consumption and as an anxiogenic agent when absent after chronic or acute doses, that the forced administration of ethanol provokes anxiolytic effects, and that the application of stressors alters the voluntary consumption of alcohol. There are few experiments that tested the relationship between alcoholism and frustration, a state considered equal to physical pain and to learned fear. The first results on the later subject obtained by the authors are described.
