This group also sees the highest rate of emergency room visits due to drinking. Alcohol use disorder is considered a brain disorder, affecting the functioning and structure of the brain, and symptoms can range from mild to moderate to severe. Alcohol withdrawal can begin within hours of ending a drinking session.

That’s because they can balance their drinking with their personal and professional life. Moreover, many don’t believe they have a drinking g6pd fruits to avoid problem until they start experiencing health issues. To understand this complex and unique disorder, it’s essential to learn the different types of alcoholics.

Tailoring Treatment f0r Different Types of Alcoholism

They typically drink every other day, consuming five or more drinks on average, and they often surround themselves with others who drink heavily. In the U.S., the intermediate familial alcoholic subtype comprises 19% of all alcoholics. Intermediate familial alcoholics are similar to functional ones but are more likely born with a genetic predisposition to alcoholism. Someone who drinks to excess on a regular basis can face very real health problems due to ongoing alcohol abuse.

Treating Alcohol Use Disorders

About 31% of functional alcoholics have a close family member who also has alcohol dependence. The good news is they’re more likely to seek treatment than those in other groups at 66%. They are also the most likely to participate in detox programs at inpatient treatment centers with private health care providers. In the U.S., chronic severe alcoholics comprise 9% of all alcoholics. The chronic severe subtype is the smallest but most severe of all the categories of alcoholism. Alcohol is often implicated in exacerbating aggression, and the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) publishes that 40 percent of all violent crimes cite alcohol as a contributing factor.

What is Considered an Alcoholic?

The consumption of large quantities of alcohol within a short period is a concerning pattern. Repeated binge drinking episodes may lead to the development of alcoholism or AUD over time. In the case of significant alcohol dependence, medical detox and medications are often necessary in addition to therapeutic treatment methods. Highly trained professionals can guide families and loved ones into a treatment program that will be optimal for enhancing a sustained recovery.

It’s also critical to understand their experiences with substance abuse. Severity is based on the number of criteria a person meets based on their symptoms—mild (2–3 criteria), moderate (4–5 criteria), or severe (6 or more criteria). If you are struggling with alcohol misuse despite negative personal, professional, and health consequences, you may fit into one of the five types of alcoholism or xanax for sleep vs ambien alcoholics. Functional alcoholics are more likely to smoke but usually aren’t addicted to other substances.

What Factors Contribute to Alcoholism?

This subtype drinks less frequently than others but is very likely to engage in binge drinking when they do. Members of this group are 2.5 times more likely to be male than female. While it is very unlikely that a member of this group will seek out treatment, they are most likely to seek out a 12-step program if they do. They have the highest divorce rate — 25.1 percent — of all the alcoholic types. Only 9 percent have gone to college, and only 43 percent are employed full time. They drink more heavily than any other type of alcoholic, consuming alcohol 248 days of the year on average and drinking five or more drinks 69 percent of the time.

1. Many young adult alcoholics are likely college students who are away from home for the first time, and who are surrounded by a culture that promotes and encourages excessive social drinking.
2. One way to take action is to regularly have informal talks about your loved one’s drinking.
3. This subtype of alcoholics is generally in their mid-20s and started drinking young.
4. If you’re dealing with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and need help to stay sober, reach out to an addiction specialist to help get the treatment you need.
5. That means people who drink heavily often need to keep drinking heavily to feel the impact of alcohol.

Chronic severe alcoholics experience the highest alcohol-related emergency room visits, professional and social problems, and withdrawal. When heavy or binge drinking is the norm in a family, people tend to fall into drinking as normal behavior. These people have an underlying antisocial personality disorder, exhibiting various harmful behaviors. Criminal activity, disregard for safety, impulsiveness, deceitfulness, and a lack of remorse are the defining traits of this group.

The British website DrinkAware points out that people who drink heavily over a period of several weeks or months can develop very high levels of alcohol-related enzymes in the gut. That means people who drink heavily often need to keep drinking heavily to feel the impact of alcohol. The body has become accustomed to alcohol, so smaller sips do not have the fun activities for substance abuse groups same power. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAA) studied alcoholics and how they differ. Each subtype is unique and offers a bit more insight into alcohol abuse. The presence of any two symptoms within a one-year period can result in a diagnosis of alcohol addiction.