Sober living

Breaking Down The 5 Different Types of Alcoholics

different types of alcohol abuse

It may also be helpful to determine whether the treatment will be adapted to meet changing needs as they arise. Currently, there are three medications approved for AUD in the United States, and they are an effective and important aid in the treatment of people with this condition. Acceptance- and mindfulness-based interventions increase awareness and acceptance of present-moment experiences. Mindfulness-based skill-building strategies promote flexible, rather than autopilot, responses to triggers that can prompt drinking. Ultimately, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, and what may work for one person may not be a good fit for someone else.

Chronic severe alcoholics often smoke and may also suffer from cocaine, opioid, and/or marijuana dependence in addition to alcohol addiction. This subtype of alcoholics is the most likely to seek treatment and the most heavily represented type of alcoholic in a treatment program. About two-thirds of chronic severe alcoholics get help for their drinking.

Determining Your Alcoholic Type

different types of alcohol abuse

Young antisocial alcoholics have a high rate of psychiatric disorders and other substance abuse. Locate addiction treatment providers and services that support addiction providers. It is rare that someone would go to treatment once and then never drink again.

Understand Addiction

The young adult subtype also often abuses other substances besides alcohol and rarely seeks treatment. Additional alcohol research information and publications are available at The largest percentage of alcoholics fall into this group, as NIAAA publishes that 31.5 percent of all alcoholics in the United States fit this subtype. This group is typically in their late teens or early 20s, and either just of legal drinking how to store urine for drug test age or slightly younger.

Avast number of alcoholism1 typologies have been developed during the past one-and-a-half centuries. Equally diverse are the factors used to distinguish between different alcoholism subtypes within these various typologies. These factors include personality characteristics, coexisting psychiatric disorders, gender, and alcohol consumption patterns (for review, see the article by Babor, pp. 6–14.). One frequently cited typology resulted from a study of alcoholism and other relevant characteristics in a large number of Swedish adoptees and their biological and adoptive parents. The two subtypes identified in this typology are called type I (milieu-limited) and type II (male-limited) alcoholism.

  1. It’s a chronic disease marked by an inability to control alcohol consumption.
  2. Your health care provider or mental health provider will ask additional questions based on your responses, symptoms and needs.
  3. Many young antisocial alcoholics also have other substance use disorders, including addiction to cigarettes, marijuana, and opiates.
  4. Common mental health conditions that co-occur with AUD are depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, trauma- and stress-related disorders, other substance use disorders, and sleep disorders.

Understanding the 6 Types of Alcoholism

Functional alcoholics consume alcohol daily or at least several times per week. Some outgrow their problem drinking, while others develop an addiction to alcohol as they age. The effort was made to categorize different types of alcoholics, partly to dispel the myth that there is a typical alcoholic. Before we dive into the different types of alcoholics, let’s first establish what actually defines an alcoholic. Alcoholism is a complex and pervasive issue affecting millions of people in America.

This subtype is the most likely of any to experience major depression, dysthymia, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, and panic disorder. This group also is very likely to experience addiction to cigarettes, marijuana, cocaine, and opioids. They are not meant as a diagnostic to determine if someone is suffering from alcoholism.

Couples and family counseling incorporates spouses and other family members in the treatment process and can play an important role in repairing and improving family relationships. Studies show that strong family support through family therapy increases the chances of maintaining abstinence (not drinking) compared with people going to individual counseling. Many people struggle with controlling their drinking at some point in their lives. Millions of adults in the United States have alcohol use disorder (AUD), and approximately 1 in 10 children live in a home with a parent who has AUD. Virkkunen and Linnoila (1990) also found that type I and type II alcoholics differed in their serotonin activities in the CNS. The serotonin levels were reduced in the brains of men with early-onset alcoholism accompanied by violent behavior (i.e., type II alcoholics).

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