Chronic Severe alcoholics have the highest rates co-occurring mental disorders, including anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and antisocial personality disorder. This subtype comprises around one-fifth of all alcoholics in the United States – 21%. They are typically in their middle-twenties and possess a history including an early initiation of alcohol abuse.
This subtype is frequently paired with mental health issues outside of antisocial personality disorder. Yet, an interesting fact about this type is that one-third of them seek treatment, which could be due to the severe issues caused by their antisocial personality. The young adult subtype is the most predominant subtype, which categorises 5 types of alcoholics people from the age of 18 to 25. The average age of an individual who develops alcohol addiction in this group is around 20 years old. These types of alcoholics tend to drink less regularly than other groups, but binge drink whenever they do drink. The average maximum amounts of drinks that they have on drinking days are 14.
Get Help With Alcohol Addiction
Researchers found that more people in this type reach out for help for their alcohol dependence than any other type. Nearly two thirds of chronic severe alcoholics seek out rehabilitation for their dependence. Many have been diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder and other mental illnesses, including major depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, social phobias and panic disorder.
- Over 6 percent of American adults battled an alcohol use disorder (AUD) in 2015, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) publishes.
- Many young antisocial alcoholics also have other substance use disorders, including addiction to cigarettes, marijuana, and opiates.
- About 31 percent of functional alcoholics have a family member with alcohol use disorder.
But no matter your age, status, family, or subtype, alcoholism can create long-term problems that damage your health and relationships. If you believe that you or a loved one falls into one of these alcoholic subtypes it’s important to seek treatment options. About 17 percent of functional alcoholics have ever sought help for their alcohol https://ecosoberhouse.com/ dependence. They typically participate in 12-Step groups or are treated by private healthcare professionals. Additionally, young antisocial alcoholics have a high probability of having other substance use disorders. About three-quarters of them are regular smokers, and 66 percent meet the marijuana abuse/dependence criteria.
How to Determine Alcoholism Type
This subtype of alcoholics is generally in their mid-20s and started drinking young. Early episodes of binge and heavy drinking (binge drinking on five or more days in the same month) can elevate the risk for struggling with alcohol-related issues later in life. While approximately 15 million American adults suffer from alcohol use disorder, fewer than 1 in 10 typically seek treatment for addiction.
- For example, perhaps because of the differences in measurement techniques and methodological approaches, typology researchers have not always recognized the similarities between their own work and that of other investigators.
- The likelihood of additional mental disorders is less than the young antisocial type, but around one quarter of this group reports having dealt with depressive disorders at one point or another.
- This group maintains a low level of employment, education, and general financial success.
- Depression and mood disorders commonly co-occur with alcohol abuse and can increase a person’s vulnerability to addiction.
- In initial studies, type I alcoholics frequently exhibited high harm avoidance, low novelty seeking, and high reward dependence (Cloninger 1987a), personality characteristics indicating high levels of anxiety.
