Alcohol Use Disorder

Alcohol use disorder is vastly undertreated - Joseph P. Schacht

HWN Suggests

Is my drinking normal, or could I be an alcoholic?

The trouble with alcohol is that it’s everywhere. We don’t treat any other drug the way we treat alcohol, marijuana included, and in part that’s because we mostly don’t think of it as a drug. It’s what you down a shot of to loosen up on the dance floor, or to ease your social anxieties at your company’s holiday party. You know it’s not good for you, sure, but it’s a part of daily life. It’s easy to stop thinking of alcohol like a drug—but it is one. And like any drug, you can become addicted to it without even realizing.

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Featured

Alcohol use disorder: the urgent issue we can't continue to ignore

As with many physical and psychological problems, the researchers found that AUD correlates to socioeconomic status. The lower your income, the more likely it is that you’ll suffer from the disorder. Youth is a risk factor too, with rates in the sample highest among those aged 18-29 and subsequently declining with age. From a developmental point of view, if nothing else, alcohol abuse during adolescence is particularly hazardous.

Previously Featured

A Pill to Treat Alcoholism Exists. Why Aren’t Doctors Prescribing It More?

In hundreds of studies, naltrexone has been found to be a safe and effective medication to help people reduce and stop drinking. Yet it’s woefully underprescribed.

Alcohol Abuse Is on the Rise, but Doctors Too Often Fail to Treat It

People with alcohol use disorder are often seen in clinics and hospitals, but medical professionals too often ignore the condition.

Alcohol’s health benefits hard to prove, but harms are easy to document

Partially because it is such a commonly used substance, heavily marketed and glamorized in pop culture, Americans’ comfort with and acceptance of alcohol is high. Should it be?

Am I an Alcoholic? Test for Alcohol Use Disorder

Are you addicted to drinking alcohol? Take this alcohol use disorder (AUD) test to determine if you meet the diagnostic criteria for mild, moderate, or severe alcohol use disorder

Becoming the Person I Drank to Be

I will never forget the magical night when I discovered that alcohol could make me into the fearless person I'd always wanted to be.

Does Science Show What 12 Steps Know?

Data seem to support the 12-step program's benefits for addicts.

Drinking Facts: Alcohol Problems Around the World

Kids' drinking is on the rise, a third of all booze is black market, and nearly half of us have never touched a drink. David Sessions digs into a new report on global alcohol consumption from the World Health Organization and finds some stunning statistics.

Drinking Has Surged During The Pandemic. Do You Know The Signs Of Addiction?

"It's not as much going out and incorporating alcohol into a dinner or time spent with family or friends," Johnson says. "Lots of people are sitting home drinking alone now, and historically, that's been viewed as more of a high-risk drinking behavior."

How Alcohol Conquered Russia

A history of the country’s struggle with alcoholism, and why the government has done so little about it.

It’s time to rethink how much booze may be too much

Researchers are changing how they study the risks of alcohol — and it’s making drinking look worse.

Maybe I'm Not an Alcoholic

I don't have any shame in saying I'm an alcoholic. I don't think that saying I'm an alcoholic is defining me by my disease as much as it's keeping me accountable to my recovery. If I let myself believe I might not be an alcoholic then why wouldn't I take a drink? Why would I continue to go to meetings or work a program of recovery? I probably wouldn't. Which is exactly why I have no shame in saying that my name is Allison, and I'm an alcoholic.

Meet the Doctor Who Convinced America to Sober Up

Meet Benjamin Rush, father of the temperance movement, signer of the Declaration of Independence.

The Good—And Bad—Health Effects Of Alcohol

The health effects of alcohol go beyond feeling hungover and sluggish after a night of drinking. In fact, over the years, researchers have discovered both positive and negative ways it can affect the human body depending on how much you imbibe, for how long and how often.

The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous

Its faith-based 12-step program dominates treatment in the United States. But researchers have debunked central tenets of AA doctrine and found dozens of other treatments more effective.

This Is What Happens to Your Body When You Stop Drinking

Here's how a substantial phase of sobriety could affect your immune system, sleep, and even your skin.

To Hell and Back: Alcoholism, addiction and lessons they taught me

What's life like in the addict's shoes? In this Star Dispatches ebook, an alcoholic recounts his descent into booze and a hard-won recovery.

Understanding Alcohol Use Disorder

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a medical condition characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational, or health consequences. It encompasses the conditions that some people refer to as alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence, alcohol addiction, and the colloquial term, alcoholism. Considered a brain disorder, AUD can be mild, moderate, or severe. Lasting changes in the brain caused by alcohol misuse perpetuate AUD and make individuals vulnerable to relapse.

What to do if you’re worried about drinking too much alcohol

A few years ago, I went to a restaurant with some friends, a couple visiting from out of town. I ordered a glass of wine, while my friends got club soda. They explained that they had stopped drinking.

What we learned about drinking alcohol in 2018

The truth about drinking is going to disappoint you. Not because it’s scary, but because it’s still inconclusive. There’s no amount of routine drinking that will definitively kill you (although acute alcohol poisoning can be fatal). Though the data suggest drinking alcohol over time correlates with a shorter life span, the truth is scientists still don’t know if it actually causes health problems that lead life to end sooner, despite headlines suggesting otherwise.

Resources

Alcoholic Daze

My husband recently died after a long struggle with alcoholism and I am making the slow climb back to normality.

Drinking Diaries

DRINKING DIARIES is a forum for women to share, vent, express, and discuss their drinking stories without judgment. Whether you drink or not, are the child of an alcoholic or the mother of a future drinker, sip wine on occasion or binge drink for sport—we want to hear your story.

Guinevere Gets Sober

It’s difficult to face up to addiction. Many people are turning to the internet for support and education. This site is a place where people who think they might have “a problem” can come for current news and research about addiction and recovery, as well as reviews of books and media about addiction, recovery, and practices that support recovery.

Life Straight Up

I am Julie, a wife and mother who also happens to be a recovering alcoholic. I began this blog as a journal of my life in 2010, after facing my alcoholism and being in a serious car accident prevented me from performing the role in my corporate position.

Mrs D Is Going Without

I used to be a boozy housewife. Now I'm not. This is my blog.

The Immortal Alcoholic

Details the effect of being a non-alcoholic person married to an end-stage alcoholic. Frustrations, trials, tribulation... and yet... there is comedy hidden in the insanity. This blog also provides useful insight and facts concerning the complexities of conflicting information.

The Soberist Blog

A life in progress … sans alcohol.

Unpickled

I am learning to walk without the crutch of alcohol. I began writing this blog on my first day of sobriety. Gulp. I drank quietly in private and have managed to quit just as privately. I didn’t stay quiet about it, though. My story is all here. The purpose of this blog is to help make me accountable and, as it turns out, to encourage others along the way.

Alcohol Use Disorder