Way More Americans Have An Alcohol Problem Than You Think

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If you had to guess, how many Americans would you say struggle with a drinking problem of some kind? Well, after checking out new data published in JAMA Psychiatry, we realized just how far off our estimate was… and how much worse the statistics look.

A whopping one in eight people in this country deal with an alcohol-related disorder daily. Yep, statistically speaking, easily one person (if not more) in your close friend group has an alcohol abuse issue. And these not-so-desirable trends only seem to be growing over time.

The researchers behind the study — a combination of professionals from the National Institute on Alcohol and Alcoholism, the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University — rigorously tracked the drinking patterns of 40,000 people between 2002 and 2003, and then they gathered data again 10 years later to visualize what their alcohol consumption patterns looked like over a significant period of time. They used the American Psychiatric Association’s definition of alcohol disorder to evaluate the subsequent data.

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In that decade, the prevalence of alcohol-related disorders increased by 50 percent. At the beginning of the study, 8.5 percent of the participants had a problem, but at the end of the study, 12.7 percent struggled with alcohol abuse.

Translate those numbers to the entire American population and you’re looking at a shocking 30 million people who drink more than they should.

Certain groups of people are at an even higher risk of developing these issues, too. In the study, alcohol disorders among the African American participants increased 92.8 percent and women, in general, saw an 84 percent increase. Surprisingly, senior citizens saw the most dramatic increase over the 10-year period of 106.7 percent. The researchers behind the study clearly assert that alcohol abuse is a public health crisis that is just as problematic as the nation’s opioid problem.

So while you should definitely go out and enjoy that happy hour or weekend bar night, just be mindful of how much you drink, how often you do it and how easy (or difficult) it feels to walk away from alcohol when the time comes. And just as important, keep an eye on any friends you think might need a little more help than just a morning-after Gatorade.

UPDATE: Some researchers have asserted that this study is faulty in significant ways since the federal survey used to gather data changed dramatically from 2002 to 2012. The resulting information is in direct contrast with another major federal study, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. What’s more, that study used data from people at least 18 years of age or older while the study described previously in this article included people ages 12 and up. This isn’t to say that America doesn’t have a drinking problem — it just might not be as severe as these numbers lead us to believe.