The National Institutes of Health defines the disorder as "a medical condition characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite harmful social, occupational or health consequences. "Yet despite how popular it is, most people who have the disorder do not receive treatment for it, even when they reveal their drinking problem to their primary care doctor or another health care professional.
Alcohol abuse can be driven by a complex variety of factors, including stress, depression and anxiety, as well as a person's genetics, family history and socioeconomic circumstances. Many people kick their heavy drinking habit on their own or through self-help programs like Alcoholics Anonymous or SMART Recovery. But relapse(复发) rates are very high. Research suggests that among all the people with alcohol use disorder who try to quit drinking every year, just 25 percent are able to successfully reduce their alcohol intake long-term.
Alcohol is one of the most common forms of substance(物质) abuse and a leading cause of preventable deaths and disease, killing almost 100,000 Americans annually and contributing to millions of cancers, car accidents, heart attacks and other ailments. It is also a significant cause of workplace accidents and lost work productivity, as well as a driver of tense family and personal relationships. Yet for a variety of reasons, people who need treatment rarely get it from their physicians.
Studies suggest that a major barrier to people seeking treatment is that they believe that quitting drinking is their only option. That view is driven by the popularity and long history of 12-step programs like A. A. that consider quitting drinking as the only solution to alcoholism. For some people with severe drinking problems, that may be necessary. But studies show that people who have milder forms of alcohol use disorder can improve their mental health and quality of life, as well as their blood pressure, liver health and other aspects of their physical health, by lowering their alcohol intake without quitting alcohol entirely. Yet the idea that the only option is to quit suddenly can prevent people from seeking treatment.
