June 29, 2007
Study Finds 5 Types Of Alcoholics
Research Also Shows More Than Half Of U.S. Alcoholics Are Young Adults
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New research on alcoholism shows that there are five types of alcoholics in the U.S., and more than half of alcholics are young adults. (CBS/AP)
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The high percentage of young adults among alcoholics was unexpected, notes researcher Howard Moss, M.D., the associate director for clinical and translational research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).
"While we knew that many young adults had problematic involvement with alcohol from our research on college-aged drinkers, we were certainly surprised by the proportion of alcohol-dependent individuals who fell into that young adult cluster," Moss tells WebMD.
In the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Moss and colleagues describe the five types of alcoholics. But before you read those descriptions, keep Moss' advice in mind.
"We hope that if someone suspects they may have a problem with alcohol that they talk about this with their health care provider," Moss tells WebMD. "If the health care professional is uncomfortable with assessing alcohol problems (and we hope all such professionals are comfortable with these assessments) the individual should ask for a referral to an addictions specialist for an in-depth evaluation," he says.
Moss and colleagues studied data from 1,484 U.S. adults who took part in a national survey conducted by the NIAAA from 2001 to 2002. The study focused on alcohol dependence and also included questions about personality, family history of alcoholism and other substance use.
The researchers applied the survey's findings to the U.S. population. They estimate that in the year before the study, nearly 8 million people in the U.S. met the standard for a diagnosis of alcohol dependence.
Alcoholism is the nonmedical, popular term for alcohol dependence, notes Moss.
The study describes five subtypes of alcoholics.
The young adult subtype accounts for about 32 percent of U.S. alcoholics. They're young adults who rarely seek help for alcohol dependence. About 24 years old, they became alcoholics by age 20, on average. They drink less frequently than other alcoholics, but they tend to binge drink when they drink. This is the largest subtype.
The young antisocial subtype comprises 21 percent of U.S. alcoholics. They are 26 years old, on average. More than half have antisocial personality disorder. They tended to start drinking at 15 and became alcoholics by 18 — earlier than other subtypes. They are
more likely to smoke tobacco and pot. The young antisocial subtype and the young adult subtype don't overlap, Moss tells WebMD.
The functional subtype accounts for about 19 percent of U.S. alcoholics. They're generally middle-aged, working adults who tend to have stable relationships, more education, and higher incomes than other alcoholics. They tend to drink every other day, often consuming five or more drinks on drinking days.
The intermediate familial subtype makes up nearly 19 percent of U.S. alcoholics. Nearly half have close relatives who are alcoholics. Alcoholics in this subtype typically began drinking by 17 and became alcoholics in their early 30s.
The chronic severe subtype is the rarest subtype, accounting for about 9 percent of U.S. alcoholics. This subtype mainly includes men, has the highest divorce rate, and frequently includes users of illicit drugs.
"When most people think of alcoholics, they think of middle-aged men with a profile similar to our chronic severe subtype," Moss tells WebMD. "Our data shows that alcoholism is more a disorder of youth than previously suspected."
Moss warns that while some alcoholic subtypes may function better than others, "in all cases, alcohol dependence must be viewed as a severe disease with a significant adverse impact on health and well-being."
By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang, M.D.
© 2007, WebMD Inc. All rights reserved.
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See all 57 CommentsThe SIXTH type is the person who is self-medicating regardless of age or ***...
In nearly all cases people who self-medicate do so as a result of untreated mental health issues such as PTSD, Depression, Anxiety Disorder, Bi-Polar Disorder, etc.
In the case of the "5 types" there is a very strong probability that nearly all of the types might be self-medicating, in addition to the other characteristics listed.
Stop drinking before posting here - you're so wasted you keep pressing the submit button!
I call my husband a "would be" alcoholic. He "would be" an alcoholic if I let him. There is no booze aloud in the house, except at Christmas. He will have some drinks when he goes fishing with his buddies but other than that he knows I will crush his skull (hahaha) if he starts drinking. There ain't no way I will go through what his mother went through with his dad.
If you were an addictive person you probably wouldn't have been able to give up the wine.
If an addictive person stops one addiction he will usually find another.
I have managed to stop my husband from drinking but food is another matter. He eats like there's no tomorrow!
I'm not saying you are an alcoholic, but doesn't it seem strange that you find it necessary to beat your wife? Would it be acceptable to you if she abused you in the same way? Could it be there is something wrong here? Then, if there is something wrong, might it be helpful to look for a solution?
Drinking, to me, is to get very drunk. That is alcoholism. I know I always will be an alcoholic and will have to be sure never to have even one. We need to be taught more about these subtypes and how to live without the need for alcohol. I have an addictive personality and my biggest problem was not knowing how to make friends or talk to strangers without the false %u201Calcohol courage%u201D. A sad existence but one I am learning to fix. I wish it would be possible to make alcohol illegal but they tried that once and it didn't work. The world would be much better off without it.
My Uncle never used to drink during the week when he worked but come the weekend he would binge drink. He was told he was a "weekend alcoholic".
There are allot of syptoms people need to realize show they are dependent on booze. It is very surprising to find out who does this. Why do we need to deaden our senses.
It is also a way of living that gets out of hand. It was fashionable to have the before dinner cocktail and drinks, and a few after dinner.
It is best to just say no.
Yes , the abused wife/child/friend/boss/creditor will see the EFFECTS of the disease, but still never fully comprehend the workings of the alcoholic'c mind. Forty-seven years of sober experience with alcoholics confirms my belief.
One more point: Prohibition did nothing but drive drinkers underground, probably increasing rather than decreasing alcoholism's rate. It's not a moral issue; it's a sickness of the mind, body and spirit.
ANY mood altering substance can do it. Some folks pop pills, others smoke pot, and still others do Cocain or Heroin. They all are the same crutch in our minds. It is our responsibility to understand these things, and those of us who have addictive problems to act and refrain from using mood altering drugs.
Yes, alchohol "is" a drug.
(Hey, it's certainly no worse than booze.)
I would like to know how they chose the people to be interviewed and what specific questions those people were asked. Because one important consideration here is the fact that only people who know they have a problem with alcohol would even be able or willing to answer a survey about alcoholism. What about the millions out there who don't acknowledge that they have a problem? Were people chosen at random and the interviewers then made the determination that the subjects were alcoholics? Or were these admitted alcoholics who willingly and honestly answered the questions?
It seems to me like this study wasn't randomized correctly and so the results are not very relevant.
To me, this is useful information in educating the world. Many of us have a mental image of an alcoholic and figure anybody that doesn't fit that image isn't qualified. I'm not an alcoholic because I don't drink alone, or I don't drink mornings, or I don't drink every day, or I don't go to jail, or I don't go to jail very often, or I still have a good job and a wife and...
Have you ever heard the line "you don't look like an alcoholic", or "she can't possibly be an alcoholic, she's too young"?
The research is useful in helping whoever reads it learn that an alcoholic is not what Hollywood painted. I think that has value.
Here's the truth: there are 2 types of alcoholics. Those that drink from physical dependance and those that drink from social/emotional dependance. PERIOD that's it! What age you are makes no difference, what gender you are makes no difference, your income level makes no difference because alcohol doesn't care where you work or go to school. While it is true that some groups are at greater risk for being socialized into alcohol use, and there is a link between genetics and likelyhood of dependance, that doesn't mean necessarilly that everyone is an alcoholic. An alcoholic is still an alcoholic, and a social drinker is still a social drinker.
Don't let them convince you that you're a victim, or that you have a disease just because you're not entirely socially inept...don't be afraid to let your hair down and have a cold one with your friends.
The problem isn't drinking. Drinking is a symptom of something else. Maybe your stupid, maybe you have no coping skills, maybe you have nothing better to do, maybe you are anti-social...whatever
YOU ALL LACK DISCLIPINE.
Get a life and quit blaming your problem on something "you cannot control"--This is more of the pussification of America.
AA is a cult.
You are all fools.
Have fun at your self-help support groups.
I stay sober one day at a time. I ask my higher power to help me stay sober in the morning and I thank Him every night.
It doesn't make a bit of difference to me about types of alcoholics. Lots of people die from this disease and have ruined lives because of alcohol.
There is a solution and I found it in A. A.
Anyone with a drinking problem can contact A.A.
from their phone book or e-mail: www.aa.org
I have to agree though, you aww whacka disispwin.
Also, if you have an "alergy to alcohol" which is just a silly notion, it would mean you COULDN'T drink it. There's no such illness where one drink forces you to drink the whole thing to keep from getting sick...you're thinking of Lay's potato chips: nobody can eat just one.
While AA has improved the quality of lives for many individuals its important to remember that its also just a tool for religious fundies to convert "sinners." The program needs to modernise and remove all the christian hooplah.
I can sympathize with people with alcohol problems lacking the support to overcome their habit. Breaking an ingrained habit can be very difficult for any one of us (God knows I've tried with my habits), and they need all the help and support they can get. But call it what it is, a habit, not a disease.
"If you're 21 and life is peachy, but you sometimes get buzzed with your buddies from the fraternity or sorority...you're not an alcoholic, you're just an average college student."
"...don't be afraid to let your hair down and have a cold one with your friends."
WRONG. If you have an addictive personality this is how it starts.
People need to start having fun by doing other things besides drinking. It is like an epidemic.
It seems like everybody has a drinking problem these days. Where I used to live I was surrounded by people that drank. The neighbors on one side were always drinking. I went over and knocked on the door one day and the wife came to the door, she was drunk and her kids were running around everywhere. The neighbors on the otherside, the husband had a wine room outside, where he made wine. He spent most of his nights there drinking it. The neighbors across the street, the husband had his beer every night. These people were all alcoholics.
A friend of mine and my two sisters-in-law started drinking wine when they got home from work. What started out as a glass or two ended up being the whole bottle. I have to give them credit, they figured out they had a problem before it got out of control.
What starts out as a few drinks with the buddies, for some that is all it will be, for others it is the road to being full blown alcoholics.
These hypocrates, usually healthy looking younger adults, (college aged), are the ones that strike me as having livers that are more pickled than most cucumbers at a salad bar. They're the ones who are more likely to binge drink and/or smoke cigars, cigarettes, or joints at various social functions to gain acceptance among their piers.
Last I checked, there is no such thing as "driving while obese" or "second-hand obesity".
So if there's any vice that is less harmful to others, (other than yourself), it is unhealthy food and unhealthy food intake.
Given a choice of addictions... food addictions are far less harmful to a society than alcohol and other drug addictions... by a wide margin (no pun intended).
No, this is not an excuse to make a midnight run to Krispykreme, but this is just an FYI to the hypcrates who look down on others with severe weight problems as 'less-than-human'.
The younger people with alcohol addictions do not tend to have the physical appearances that advertise their addiction. They tend to look healthy, energetic, sometimes with a trendy/preppy appearance. On the other hand, people who suffer from food addiction are quite noticeable as their waist-line clearly shows their addiction.
Posted by markjessup at 01:28 AM : Jul 02, 2007
............
AGREED!
And replace all those marijuana users that are currently in prison! Why?? Here's a pop quiz:
1. When was the last time someone stoned was accused of beating the krap out of their spouse and/or children?
2. When was the last time someone stoned caused a major car accident, killing one or more innocent people!
3. When was the last time a group of stoned people started a riot that caused thousands of dollars in damage to public or private property?
4. When was the last time a group of stoned people started a bar fight?
ANSWERS:
1. NEVER
2. EXTREMELY RARE
3. NEVER
4. NEVER
Now anyone who knows the business of politics knows exactly why alcohol is legal and marijuana is not.
And that's just how FVCKED UP our society is in this country.
- Posted by markjessup at 01:29 AM : Jul 02, 2007
On what charge ?
And how would you define "alcoholic" so precisely that you would have enforeable laws about it ?
Or should we just bring back Prohibition ?
I think there is one type of alcoholic, the one who can't control the drinking. Not because of lack of discipline, just can't control it.
Posted by dmk3 at 03:47 PM : Jul 02, 2007
One of the commonalities of alcoholics is not only an addiction disorder, but often there is an obsessive compulsive component. What ever they do, they tend to do to the extreme and do a lot of it. Often those with such a problem would simply switch addictions if they could not practice their one of choice. A study in the late 1980s showed those with addictive personalities were just as apt to do drugs or have sexual or gambling addictions as have an alcohol dependency. The theory is that there is some sort of biochemical imbalance that incorrectly latches on to the fixation and fix of a stimuli and then pursues it to excess and cannot stop. This is why it is considered a disease. The cirrhosis of the liver and other diseases are the end result of alcoholism but the disease is the obsessive nature of wanting to do something so much and so often, until it is destructive to one's life.
did you type that verbatim, if so which magazine and article. you seem to have an answer (a lengthy on at that) no harm just wondering are you a philosopher of all things?
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