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Chronic severe alcoholics have the highest rate of family members who also experience alcohol dependence at 77%. Researchers found that they have the highest rates of employment among alcoholics, with 68% working full-time and an average family income of nearly $50,000 a year. In most cases, chronic severe subtype is the most damaging subtype compared to the different types of alcoholics. However, some people struggling with alcohol misuse have not yet faced these consequences, or faced many of them. These people may still be drinking to excess, and they may face very real consequences in time, but they may feel safe in the moment.
With the lowest levels of education, employment, and income of any subtype, this group also drinks more at one time and more overall than other groups. Yet, members of this group—35%—are more likely to seek help, and from multiple sources, including private healthcare providers, self-help groups, specialty treatment programs, and detox programs. This research helped scientists identify several different types of alcoholics.
What Are the 5 Alcoholic Subtypes?
More than 75 percent of this group also battles addiction to other substances too, including drugs like nicotine, marijuana, cocaine and opioids. These are people who began drinking at a https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/5-alcoholic-types-in-alcoholism/ much younger age and developed alcohol dependency issues. In a study of 1,484 people, scientists identified five types of alcoholism subtypes and their findings might come as a surprise.
Despite these alarming statistics, this group is more likely to seek help than almost any other. Over a third of the people in this subtype have sought some form of help or treatment to overcome their alcohol dependence, whether a private health care provider, treatment program, detox or self-help group. They have low rates of co-occuring mental health issues and having an alcoholic family member.
Determining Your Alcoholic Type
They are also more likely to suffer from cannabis and/or cocaine use disorder. Intermediate familial alcoholics had their first drink at 17 and developed dependence at the age of 32. Many people who fall into the young antisocial alcoholic subtype suffer from other mental health disorders as well, such as bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, or depression. As many as three-fourths of this subset also smoke marijuana and/or cigarettes, and many also struggle with opioid or cocaine addictions as well. Polydrug abuse, and co-occurring disorders combined with alcohol abuse, increases the risk for addiction and can interfere with treatment measures.
Young adult alcohol dependents are also 2.5 times more likely to be male than female. While this article isn’t a diagnosis, if you or your loved one fits the criteria of one of the models above, they may need help. FHE Health offers addiction types of alcoholics treatment programs for any type of alcoholic and is ready to stand by you every step of your recovery. These two alcoholism subtypes, however, represent only the prototypes or extremes of a continuous spectrum of manifestations of alcoholism.
Different Types of Alcoholics
Patterns of chronic heavy drinking or binge drinking can lead to physical dependence and addiction. NIAAA publishes that in 2015 over 15 million American adults battled alcohol addiction. Alcoholics are unable to control how much and how often they drink, and generally, they are unable to stop drinking on their own.
- This group is also characterized by high rates of co-occurring mental health disorders, such as depression, bipolar disorder, and social phobia.
- Polydrug abuse, and co-occurring disorders combined with alcohol abuse, increases the risk for addiction and can interfere with treatment measures.
- However, certain food groups also have benefits when it comes to helping with the discomfort of withdrawal symptoms and detoxification.
- Someone who is a young adult subtype alcoholic might have an average of 14 drinks a day when they drink.
No two alcoholics are the same, but it can be helpful to categorize people who struggle with their drinking to understand how to provide them with the support that they need to get well. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) reports that more than 86 percent of people 18 and older admit to drinking in their lifetime and nearly 60 percent say they had a drink in the past month. Many of them don’t believe they have a drinking problem until they start experiencing health issues. Intermediate familial alcoholics are more likely to have been genetically predisposed to alcoholism. BetterHelp offers affordable mental health care via phone, video, or live-chat. Their average age is 26 and they begin drinking at 15, with the start of dependency at 18.