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Fact Sheet on Alcohol Problems

Types of Alcohol Problems:

  • Alcohol Use Disorders include alcohol dependence (known as alcoholism) and alcohol abuse.1
  • Alcohol abuse is characterized by clinically significant impairment or distress but does not entail physical dependence.2
  • Alcohol dependence (alcoholism) is characterized by impaired control over drinking, tolerance, withdrawal syndrome when alcohol is removed, neglect of normal activities for drinking, and continued drinking despite recurrent related physical or psychological problems.3
  • Risky drinking includes drinking beyond moderate levels either on a regular basis or on a particular occasion.4

Who Has An Alcohol Problem?

  • Nearly 14 million Americans meet diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorders.5
  • Approximately one-half of US adults report family history of alcoholism or problem drinking.6
  • An estimated 74% of current male drinkers and 72% of current female drinkers aged 21 and older at least once a year exceed guidelines for low risk drinking. 7
  • More than 18% of Americans experience alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence at some time in their lives.8

How Can I Recognize An Alcohol Problem?

  • Drinking to calm nerves, forget worries or to boost a sad mood.
  • Guilt about drinking.
  • Unsuccessful attempts to cut down/stop drinking.
  • Lying about or hiding drinking habits.
  • Causing harm to oneself or someone else as a result of drinking.
  • Needing to drink increasingly greater amounts in order to achieve desired effect.
  • Feeling irritable, resentful or unreasonable when not drinking.
  • Medical, social, family, or financial problems caused by drinking.9

Harmful Effects of Alcohol

  • Heavy drinking raises the risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, certain cancers, accidents, violence, suicides, birth defects and overall mortality.10
  • Economic costs to society are estimated at $185 billion annually for 1998.11
  • Harmful and hazardous drinking is involved in about one-third of suicides, one-half of homicides, and one-third of child abuse cases.12
  • Alcohol is involved in a large proportion of unintentional deaths from falls, burns, and drownings.13

Women and Alcohol Problems

  • Women overall drink less than men but are more likely to experience adverse consequences including damage to the heart muscle, liver, and brain trauma resulting from auto crashes, interpersonal violence, and death.14, 15
  • The progression of alcohol abuse and alcoholism is usually faster in women than in men.16
  • Researchers have identified no safe threshold for drinking during pregnancy.17

Drinking Among Teens

  • More than 41% of high school seniors perceive no great risk in consuming four to five drinks nearly every day.22
  • Approximately 22% of 8th graders, 41% of 10th graders, and 50% of 12th graders report having consumed alcohol during the past month.23
  • About 8% of 8th, 23% of 10th, and 32% of 12th graders report having been drunk during the past month.24
  • About 14% of 8th, 26% of 10th, and 30% of 12th graders report binge drinking during the past two weeks.25
  • Alcohol is frequently a factor in the three leading causes of death (motor vehicle crashes, homicides, and suicides) for 15 to 24 year olds.26,27

Drinking Among College Students

  • In 1999, 44% of college students reported binge drinking (consuming 5 or more drinks in a row for males or 4 or more drinks in a row for females during the past two weeks); nearly 23% of college students reported frequent binge drinking (bingeing three or more times in a two-week period).18
  • The rate of binge drinking among fraternity and sorority members is considerably higher: 65% in 1999. Among those living in a fraternity or sorority house, the rate of binge drinking is still higher (79%), though lower than in 1997 (82%). 19
  • Among college students who consumed alcohol, more than 47% in 1999 reported drinking to get drunk (compared with 40% in 1993 and 52% in 1997).20 · Young persons who begin drinking before age 13 are four times as likely to develop alcohol dependence and twice as likely to develop alcohol abuse as those who begin drinking at age 21.21

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NATIONAL ALCOHOL SCREENING DAY IS APRIL 8, 2004

 

References

  1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Fourth Edition. 1994.
  2. Ibid. APA 1994.
  3. Ibid. APA 1994.
  4. Higgins-Biddle JC and Babor TF. Reducing Risky Drinking: A Report on Early Identification and Management of Alcohol Problems Through Screening and Brief Intervention. A report prepared for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation by the Alcohol Research Center of the University of Connecticut Health Center, 1996.
  5. Grant B, Harford TC, Dawson DA, et al. Prevalence of DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence, United States 1992. Alcohol Health & Research World 18(3). 1994.
  6. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) analysis based on U.S. Alcohol Epidemiologic Data Reference Manual, Volume 6, 1st Edition. Drinking in the United States: Main Findings from the 1992 National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey (NLAES). Bethesda, MD: NIAAA (in press).
  7. Ibid. NIAAA (in press).
  8. US. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Home and Garden Bulletin No. 232. Nutrition and Your Health. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 1995.
  9. Greenfield, S. Educational Lecture for National Alcohol Screening Day. 1999.
  10. Ibid. USDA and USDHHS, 1995.
  11. National Institute on Drug Abuse and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The Economic Costs of Alcohol and Drug Abuse in the United States, 1995. 1998.
  12. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Eighth Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol and Health. Bethesda, MD: NIAAA, 1997.
  13. Hingson R, and Howland J. Alcohol and non-traffic unintended injuries. Addiction 88 (7): 877-883, 1993.
  14. Ibid. NIAAA 1997.
  15. Urbano-Marquez A, Estruch R, Fernandez-Sola JM, Pare JC, and Rubin E. The greater risk of alcoholic cardiomyopathy in women compared with men. JAMA 274 (2): 149-154, 1995.
  16. Ibid. Greenfield, 1999.
  17. Jacobson JL, and Jacobson SW. Prenatal alcohol exposure and neurobehavioral development: Where is the threshold? Alcohol Health & Research World 18(1): 30-36, 1994.
  18. Wechsler H, Lee J, Kuo M, and Lee H. College binge drinking in the 1990s: A continuing problem: Results of the Harvard School of Public Health 1999 College Alcohol Study. Journal of American College Health 48:199-210, 2000.
  19. Ibid. Wechsler et al. 2000.
  20. Ibid. Wechsler et al. 2000.
  21. Grant BF and Dawson DA. Age at onset of alcohol use and its association with DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence. Results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey. Journal of Substance Abuse 9:103-110, 1997.
  22. Johnston LD, O’Malley PM, and Bachman JG. Data tables from the 2000 Monitoring the Future Survey. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan News and Information Services [On-line]: www.monitoringthefuture.org; accessed January 18, 2001.
  23. Ibid. Johnston LD et al. 2000.
  24. Ibid. Johnston LD et al. 2000.
  25. Ibid. Johnston LD et al. 2000.
  26. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Traffic Safety Facts, 1999.
  27. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Vital Statistics Reports, Volume 47, Number 19, June 30, 1999.

   

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