Alcohol

Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) in the United States

  • People Ages 12 and Older: According to the 2019 NSDUH, 14.5 million (nearly 15 million) people ages 12 and older7 (5.3 percent of this age group8) had AUD. This number includes 9.0 million men7 (6.8 percent of men in this age group8) and 5.5 million women7 (3.9 percent of women in this age group8)

  • Youth Ages 12 to 17: According to the 2019 NSDUH, an estimated 414,000 adolescents ages 12 to 177 (1.7 percent of this age group8) had AUD. This number includes 163,000 males7 (1.3 percent of males in this age group8) and 251,000 females7 (2.1 percent of females in this age group8).


  • In 2020, 50.0% of people aged 12 or older (or 138.5 million people) used alcohol in the past month (i.e., current alcohol users) (2020 NSDUH)

  • Among the 138.5 million people who were current alcohol users, 61.6 million people (or 44.4%) were classified as binge drinkers and 17.7 million people (28.8% of current binge drinkers and 12.8% of current alcohol users) were classified as heavy drinkers (2020 NSDUH)

  • The percentage of people who were past month binge alcohol users was highest among young adults aged 18 to 25 (31.4%) compared with 22.9% of adults aged 26 or older and 4.1% of adolescents aged 12 to 17 (2020 NSDUH)

  • The 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health reports that 139.7 million Americans age 12 or older were past month alcohol users, 65.8 million people were binge drinkers in the past month, and 16 million were heavy drinkers in the past month

  • About 2.3 million adolescents aged 12 to 17 in 2019 drank alcohol in the past month, and 1.2 million of these adolescents binge drank in that period (2019 NSDUH)

  • Approximately 14.5 million people age 12 or older had an alcohol use disorder (2019 NSDUH)

  • Excessive alcohol use can increase a person’s risk of stroke, liver cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatitis, cancer, and other serious health conditions

  • Excessive alcohol use can also lead to risk-taking behavior, including driving while impaired. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 29 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver daily

https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/atod

Alcohol use disorder is a pattern of alcohol use that involves problems controlling your drinking, being preoccupied with alcohol or continuing to use alcohol even when it causes problems. This disorder also involves having to drink more to get the same effect or having withdrawal symptoms when you rapidly decrease or stop drinking. Alcohol use disorder includes a level of drinking that's sometimes called alcoholism.

Unhealthy alcohol use includes any alcohol use that puts your health or safety at risk or causes other alcohol-related problems. It also includes binge drinking — a pattern of drinking where a male has five or more drinks within two hours or a female has at least four drinks within two hours. Binge drinking causes significant health and safety risks.

If your pattern of drinking results in repeated significant distress and problems functioning in your daily life, you likely have alcohol use disorder. It can range from mild to severe. However, even a mild disorder can escalate and lead to serious problems, so early treatment is important.

Symptoms

Alcohol use disorder can be mild, moderate or severe, based on the number of symptoms you experience. Signs and symptoms may include:

  • Being unable to limit the amount of alcohol you drink

  • Wanting to cut down on how much you drink or making unsuccessful attempts to do so

  • Spending a lot of time drinking, getting alcohol or recovering from alcohol use

  • Feeling a strong craving or urge to drink alcohol

  • Failing to fulfill major obligations at work, school or home due to repeated alcohol use

  • Continuing to drink alcohol even though you know it's causing physical, social, work or relationship problems

  • Giving up or reducing social and work activities and hobbies to use alcohol

  • Using alcohol in situations where it's not safe, such as when driving or swimming

  • Developing a tolerance to alcohol so you need more to feel its effect or you have a reduced effect from the same amount

  • Experiencing withdrawal symptoms — such as nausea, sweating and shaking — when you don't drink, or drinking to avoid these symptoms

What is considered 1 drink?

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines one standard drink as any one of these:

  • 12 ounces (355 milliliters) of regular beer (about 5% alcohol)

  • 8 to 9 ounces (237 to 266 milliliters) of malt liquor (about 7% alcohol)

  • 5 ounces (148 milliliters) of wine (about 12% alcohol)

  • 1.5 ounces (44 milliliters) of hard liquor or distilled spirits (about 40% alcohol)

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alcohol-use-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20369243