Generally, this group tends to view drinking heavily as a normal behavior. Intermediate familial alcoholics are about 38 years old and started drinking around the age of 17. Most of them started drinking before their 20th birthday and developed dependence before turning 25th. The rates for other substance abuse disorders and family history of alcoholism are moderate. The types of alcoholics is the classification of alcoholics into five different categories established by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism .

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The Diamond Rehab Thailand was born out of a desire to help people recover from addiction in a safe, low-stress environment. All of the information on this page has been reviewed and verified by a certified addiction professional. In Media Studies from Penn State University, but instead of shifting into an academic career in social science, he has decided to put his skills to work in the pursuit of helping those struggling with addiction.

What is Alcohol Addiction?

The intermediate familial subtype, on average, begins drinking around age 17 and starts struggling with dependence by their 30’s. Less than 30% of all intermediate familial alcoholics seek treatment for their disease. Making up more than 31% of all alcoholics, the young adult subtype is by far the most common type of alcoholic in the United States. The average age of the young adult subtype is 25, with many in the category developing a dependence to alcohol by the age of 20. A large portion of individuals in this category of alcoholics become alcoholics during their college years, where alcohol is deeply ingrained into the college experience.

Family members and adults may assume that the young adult will then “grow out of it” and do not see the drinking as a potential ongoing or long-lasting issue. More than 80% of this group experiences acute alcohol withdrawal and persistent efforts to cut down, and more than 90% experience drinking despite the problems it causes them and drinking larger amounts and for longer than intended. This group also tends to spend significant amounts of time recovering from alcohol, and many experience reduced activities due to drinking.

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The flip side of this coin, however, is that environhttps://ecosoberhouse.com/ and other factors make up the other half of the risks for the onset of addiction. One such issue is that of a perceived need for professional help and recognition that a problem with alcohol exists. In 2013, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported that of those who needed treatment and didn’t receive it, approximately 95.5 percent didn’t feel they needed it. This group has the lowest levels of education, employment, and income of any group.

  • This subtype has the highest attendance rate at self-help groups, specialty rehab, detox, and inpatient programs.
  • They have the highest education levels and incomes of all types of alcoholics.
  • “If the health care professional is uncomfortable with assessing alcohol problems the individual should ask for a referral to an addictions specialist for an in-depth evaluation,” he says.
  • Though young, the average alcoholic in this group at 24 has already spent the last four years as an alcoholic, having become one at the average age of 20.
  • Binge drinking leads to over 80,000 American deaths annually and is a contributing factor to alcohol dependence and addiction.
  • If you or a loved one is ready to overcome an alcohol addiction, reach out today.

This is why healthcare and mental health organizations do not use the term anymore and instead refer to someone with drinking problems as an individual with an alcohol use disorder. Group members are more likely to be unmarried college students without full-time jobs and drink less frequently than the other groups but are more prone to binge drinking. They’re mostly male and rarely seek help for their alcoholism, but when they do, they usually turn to 12-step programs.

Young Antisocial Alcoholics

People in the chronic severe subtype are the most likely of any group to experience major depression, dysthymia, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, and panic disorder. They also may have addictions to cigarettes, marijuana, cocaine, and opioids. The severity of alcoholism is typically tied to how often a person will seek treatment, and NIH reports that two-thirds of chronic severe alcoholics will seek professional help. The intermediate familial subtype accounts for 18.8% of alcoholics. This group tends to start drinking younger and also develops an alcohol dependence earlier .

types of alcoholism

The functional alcoholic may be good at covering up emotional distress and issues with alcohol, and able to maintain outward appearances of success. About 66 percent of chronic severe alcoholics seek treatment for their alcohol dependence. This subtype has the highest attendance rate at self-help groups, specialty rehab, detox, and inpatient programs.

What Is Alcohol Use Disorder?

80% of types of alcoholics within this subtype have a family history of multi-generational alcoholism. Researchers foundthat about 62% of functional alcoholics work full-time, 3.6% are in school full-time, and 5% are retired. Nearly 26% have a college degree or higher, and the average household income is almost $60,000, the highest among any of the subtypes. Functional alcoholics make up19.4%of alcohol-dependent individuals.

  • They may have a hard time holding down a job, don’t have much of a family or home life to speak of, have had multiple run-ins with the law, and spend a good chunk of their day consuming drink after drink after drink.
  • About 31 percent of functional alcoholics have a family member with alcohol use disorder.
  • According to the NIAAA “More than 10% of US children live with a parent with alcohol problems…” .
  • About 25% of people in this group suffered from some sort of drinking issues in the past.
  • These types of alcoholics, for example, have a 52.5% probability of having a first and second-degree family member with an alcohol use disorder.

On drinking days, the average maximum number of drinks is almost 14. This pattern of alcohol use is more likely to be hazardous than non-binging patterns. Moreover, as typologies based on single defining characteristics (e.g., gender or family history of alcoholism) have given way to multidimensional classification schemes, researchers for the first time have conducted replication studies.