Answer Addiction

Tag: chronic drinking

  • 1 in 12 Americans Have Alcohol Use Disorder

    1 in 12 Americans Have Alcohol Use Disorder

    Seven times more Americans deal with alcohol use disorder than opioid use disorder.

    The opioid crisis fills our newsfeeds day after day, but at the same time Americans are grappling with the addictive nature of another, totally legal substance: alcohol. 

    According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, 17.6 million Americans—1 in 12—have alcohol use disorder. Despite its prevalence, few people realize how widespread alcoholism is. In addition to people with alcohol use disorder, even more Americans report problematic drinking habits. 

    “Varying degrees exist, from mild to severe, depending on the number of symptoms a person experiences. But a powerful craving for alcohol, despite its consequences, is common across that spectrum,” Linda Searing wrote for The Washington Post. 

    This means that 7 times more Americans deal with alcohol use disorder than deal with opioid use disorder, according to Pew Charitable Trusts.

    In addition, more people are dying from alcohol-related causes: 88,000 Americans perish each year from alcohol-related causes, compared with 72,000 who die from opioid overdoses (although opioid overdose rate is likely underreported, research has shown). That makes alcohol use the third-leading lifestyle-related cause of death in the United States. 

    Like opioid addiction, alcoholism is also increasing. Last November, USA Today reported that between 2007 and 2017 the death rate from alcohol increased 24%. Among women, the death rate increased a staggering 85%. 

    “The story is that no one has noticed this,” said Max Griswold, who compiled data on the trend for the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. “It hasn’t really been researched before.”

    Psychologist Benjamin Miller said that because alcohol is legal and socially accepted, people aren’t as wary of its dangers. 

    “Culturally, we’ve made it acceptable to drink but not to go out and shoot up heroin,” Miller said. “A lot of people will read this and say ‘What’s the problem?’”

    In addition to alcohol’s health effects, abusing alcohol can also have secondary effects on loved ones living with or around people with alcohol use disorder.

    The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence estimates that half of American adults have a close loved one with alcohol use disorder, while 10% of children live with at least one parent who is an alcoholic. 

    “Parental alcohol use disorders put children at greater risk of experiencing abuse or neglect and developing mood disorders,” Pew Trusts writes. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Which State Ranked Worst For Excessive Drinking?

    Which State Ranked Worst For Excessive Drinking?

     “America’s Health Rankings” report cited this state for its abnormally high percentage of adults who consume alcohol at a rate higher than the national average. 

    A new report released by the United Health Foundation, a non-profit group dedicated to improving American health care, claims that Wisconsin is the worst state in the US when it comes to excessive drinking.

    In the foundation’s 29th annual “America’s Health Rankings” report, the Badger State was cited for its abnormally high percentage of adults who consume alcohol at a rate much higher than the national average. Factoring in community, environment, health outcomes and public policy (among other concerns), the report concluded that nearly a quarter of all adults in Wisconsin (24.2%) drank alcohol to excess. 

    The Foundation defines “excessive drinking” by using two separate categories: “binge drinking” and “chronic drinking.”

    Binge drinkers include women who consumed four or more drinks on one occasion within the past 30 days (five drinks for men), while chronic drinkers are women who consumed eight or more alcoholic drinks per week (15 drinks for men). 

    By contrast, the best-ranked state was Utah, as only 12.2% of its adults reported excess drinking there. The study also found that men, young adults and adults in higher-income homes are far more likely to drink to excess than women, older adults or adults in comparatively lower socioeconomic brackets. 

    On the same day the report was released, Wisconsin’s Department of Transportation announced an anti-drunk driving campaign. Geared toward holiday drinkers, the state’s “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign involves over 100 law enforcement agencies across the state, which are all grouped into 25 separate task forces. 

    Overall, Wisconsin boasts roughly 3,800 law enforcement officers across those task forces—all of whom are trained with Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE), a program developed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to train police officers how to “observe, identify, and articulate the signs of impairment related to drugs, alcohol or a combination of both, in order to reduce the number of impaired drivers and impaired driving related traffic collisions.” 

    In terms of where Wisconsin falls in relation to the country’s overall health, it ranks 23rd out of the 50 states. (Last year, it ranked 21st.) The United Health Foundation also noticed a 16% increase in mortality and chronic disease in the state, including obesity. Premature death increased by 6% in Wisconsin, too.

    According to Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR), only $52 is spent per person on public health funding as opposed to states like Alaska, which spends $281 per person.

    “These rankings are indeed a wake-up call for all the people that are involved in such activities, and the state on the whole as well, and certain measures must be taken to address such situations which may not seem to have severe effects directly, but sure can be a cause for concern as they may affect many things indirectly, before it is too late for the same,” writer Jessica Pittard observed. 

    The Foundation’s annual report listed Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana as the country’s most unhealthy states, while Hawaii, Massachusetts and Connecticut sat at the top as the healthiest.

    View the original article at thefix.com