(Newswire.net — September 12, 2018) — Often, the dangers of alcohol addiction get overlooked due to the substance’s prominence in many of our social, romantic, and even professional lives. And that’s not to mention alcohol’s iconic status across our every form of media.
But perhaps its mass acceptability and accessibility are largely responsible for why so many of us become an alcoholic (those suffering with alcohol dependence syndrome) over the course of our lifetimes. In fact, alcohol is one of the most common addictions in the world, second only to cigarettes.
Alcoholism Affects Both Adults and Young People
The first thing to consider with regard to alcohol consumption is how common it is. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), from 2015, over 86% of adults 18 and over have consumed alcohol at some point in their life. That may not sound too surprising; however, over a quarter of them (roughly 27%) also reported binge drinking within the past month.
For the uninitiated, “binge drinking” is a specific form of drinking that gives a person a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level of at least 0.08, which is the legal driving limit in most states. This typically requires four drinks for women and five drinks for men within a two-hour period.
Also from that 2015 NSDUH report, 6% US adults reportedly suffer from alcohol dependence syndrome, a disease defined by the inability to control alcohol use despite experiencing health, social, or occupational consequences. According to the World Health Organization, a key attribute of alcohol dependence is “difficulties in controlling substance-taking behavior in terms of its onset, termination, or levels of use.” In other words, it has the strong potential for regular binge drinking.
The NSDUH also found that 2.5% of people aged 12 to 17 also suffer from alcoholism, and there is strong evidence indicating that this age group is more likely to develop a dependency as an adult when they use an addictive substance than those within that age range who do not. In fact, 4,700 deaths every year are related to teen alcohol use, which is greater than the number of deaths related to every illegal drug combined.
Health, Fatalities, and Getting Help
According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, there are 88,000 deaths every year related to the excessive consumption of alcohol. That makes alcohol the third-leading cause of death, behind only tobacco and heart disease.
It’s estimated that outside of the maternity ward and ICU, roughly 40% of hospital beds are occupied by people who require treatment for an injury or health condition that’s somehow related to alcohol use. Arguably the most troubling statistic is that of the 15 million people mentioned earlier that suffer from AUD, only 8% of them will receive clinical treatment for alcohol abuse.