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By gaining a better understanding of the different types of alcoholics, a person can better learn how alcoholism may affect them personally, helping them to then locate a relevant treatment program and learn how to manage their alcoholism into recovery. Over 6 percent of American adults battled an alcohol use disorder (AUD) in 2015, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) publishes. Less than 10 percent of adults in the United States who struggled with alcoholism in 2015 received professional treatment for the disease, NIAAA further reports. One other limitation of our review was the influence of proximity to alcohol outlets, where we reviewed the influence of alcohol outlet density in general. However, we did not investigate the difference between on-premise and off-premise outlets, which may need further understanding. The findings in this review suggest that a wide range of factors can contribute to alcohol consumption profiles, awareness, and behaviors.
What is Your Drinking Pattern?
Concordantly, Seid et al. 34 stated that more reports regarding harmful effects, such as in marriage, relationships, or finance, have been observed in women who live nearer to alcohol outlets. While drinking and alcohol-use disorders are relatively rare under the age of 10 years, the prevalence increases steeply from the teens to peak in the early 20s. The UK has the highest rate of underage drinking in Western Europe (Hibell et al., 2009). This is of particular concern because alcohol presents particularly serious consequences in young people due to a higher level of vulnerability to the adverse effects of alcohol. Heavy drinking in adolescence can affect brain development and has a higher risk of organ damage in the developing body (Brown et al., 2008). The adverse effects of alcohol dependence on family members are considerable.
Problem drinkers and drinking problems
However, in other countries, this same trend has been found to fade as individuals transition into adulthood 25, 26. For most people who are alcohol dependent the most appropriate goal in terms of alcohol consumption should be to aim for complete abstinence. With an increasing level of alcohol dependence a return to moderate or ‘controlled’ drinking becomes increasingly difficult (Edwards & Gross, 1976; Schuckit, 2009). Further, for people with significant psychiatric or physical comorbidity (for example, depressive disorder or alcoholic liver disease), abstinence is the appropriate goal.
Alcohol is excreted in urine, sweat and breath, but the main method of elimination from the body is by metabolism in the liver where it is converted to acetaldehyde and acetate. The rate at which alcohol is metabolised and the extent to which an individual is affected by a given dose of alcohol is highly variable from one individual to another. These individual differences affect drinking behaviour and the potential for alcohol-related harm and alcohol dependence. Also, the effects of alcohol vary in the same individual over time depending on several factors including whether food has been consumed, rate of drinking, nutritional status, environmental context and concurrent use of other psychoactive drugs. Therefore, it is very difficult to predict the effects of a given amount of alcohol both between individuals and within individuals over time. For instance, the impact on the liver varies clinically so that some experience liver failure early on in their drinking career, whilst in others drinking heavily liver function is relatively normal.
- Landberg et al. 14 reported that the threat of violent death has been increasing among boys whose fathers are frequent consumers, and the threat of suicide increases in the highest category of fathers’ consumption.
- This may be because alcohol interferes with executive functioning in the brain, which regulates and inhibits aggressive behavior.
- Those who continue drinking may find themselves transitioning into the next stage of alcoholism.
4.2. Psychological factors
Specific guidance applying to special populations will be referred to in the appropriate section in subsequent chapters. The dependence-producing properties of alcohol have been studied extensively in the last 20 years. Alcohol affects a wide range of neurotransmitter systems in the brain, leading to the features of alcohol dependence. The main neurotransmitter systems affected by alcohol are gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamate, dopamine and opioid (Nutt, 1999).
It should not be used in place of the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider. The Recovery Village aims to improve the quality of life for people struggling with substance use or mental health disorder with fact-based content about the nature of behavioral health conditions, treatment options and their related outcomes. It should not be used in place of the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare providers. Looking at the evidence, a higher density of alcohol outlets may be a contributing factor to the more frequent consumption of alcohol, which can be explained by easier sourcing of the substance. Although the outcomes and outlet types that were examined by the studies were various, this factor holds a correlation with alcohol consumption globally; however, that relation may differ between regions.
Understanding the Five Types of Alcoholics
Only 30% provide some form of assisted alcohol-withdrawal programme, and less than 20% provide medications for relapse prevention. Of the residential programmes, 45% provide inpatient medically-assisted alcohol withdrawal and 60% provide residential rehabilitation with some overlap between the two treatment modalities. The alcohol withdrawal programmes are typically of 2 to 3 weeks duration and the rehabilitation programmes are typically of 3 to 6 months duration.
If your pattern of drinking results in repeated significant distress and problems functioning in your daily life, you likely have alcohol use disorder. However, even a mild disorder can escalate and lead to serious problems, so early treatment is important. By having a better understanding of what type of alcoholic you may be, it can be easier to recognize that you would benefit from an alcohol addiction treatment program. Treatment providers can help you to determine what form of treatment will be optimal for your specific needs and circumstances. The largest percentage of alcoholics fall into this group, as NIAAA publishes that 31.5 percent of all alcoholics in the United States fit this subtype.
For example, someone who reduces their consumption from 50 units a week to 20 would have achieved a significant reduction in potential harm, even though still formally categorised as ‘increasing risk’. Because of this, we favour the use of a graded approach to risk, which better reflects the complexities involved. Homeless people who misuse alcohol have particular difficulties in engaging mainstream alcohol services, often due to difficulties in attending planned appointments. This section provides an overview of the issues for each special population.
Meanwhile, alcohol ismore likely to increase aggressive behaviors in people with ASPDthan in people without. This may be because alcohol interferes with executive functioning in the brain, which regulates and inhibits aggressive behavior. People with ASPD also show impaired executive functioning, which may make them particularly vulnerable to this effect.
You’re aware of the adverse effects, but no longer have control over your alcohol consumption. You may start to feel sick from heavy drinking, but enjoy its effects too much to care. Many drinkers at this stage are more likely to drink and drive marijuana addiction or experience legal troubles as a result of their drinking. Drinkers leave the experimental stage when their alcohol consumption becomes more frequent.
Consider talking with someone who has had a problem with drinking but has stopped. A functional alcoholic may not hit “rock bottom,” and they are often successful in relationships, employment, and life in general. Therefore, Psychology Today reports that they often deny they have a problem with alcohol and are less likely to seek professional help.
Don’t wait— https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/what-is-the-most-addictive-drug/ reach out today to take the first step toward taking control of your life. The presence of any two symptoms within a one-year period can result in a diagnosis of alcohol addiction. As previously mentioned, however, there are multiple types of alcoholic subtypes. The following checklists for each type can help you determine which subtype you might fall into.
