Alcohol and Alcoholism

I wish to discuss alcohol in general and alcoholism in particular.  My foundations for the discussion will be Argument from Authority, and various web resources including the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) which is an arm of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  Links for both these sites may be found here and in the sidebar.  Additional resources will be noted and linked as appropriate.

Estimates from the NIAAA for the year 2002 based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) are that of the population of the United States 18 years of age and older that 4.7% of the population abuses alcohol to the extent that they may be properly diagnosed as “Alcoholic.”  This is an estimate of the overall population and is not broken down by age groups, sex, or ethnicity.  Statistics are available for sub-groups at the site.  This equates to nine million, six hundred and sixty-eight thousand individuals.

9,668,000.  That’s a lot of hard core drunks folks.  4.7% on the face of it doesn’t sound all THAT bad, does it?  But remember, we aren’t breaking it down into subgroups.  Certain subgroups have a much higher incidence of alcoholism.  We’re not concerned with the subgroups though, not here and not yet anyway.  What we are concerned with is the total culture.  And, the total culture includes MANY more people than this simple statistic indicates.

Let’s talk about family and friends.  Alcoholism has been accurately described as a “Family Disease.”  I am not going to debate here the concept of whether or not it is an incurable disease.  That is a topic for a whole other post and debate.  Let’s just for the sake of a descriptive noun call it a disease.  Save the other argument for later.

It is a Family Disease.  For every alcoholic there is a family member who is affected.  The incidence of alcoholics who have no family or friends is something that may be considered, but when an alcoholic gets to that point it is because their alcohol abuse has already driven away all the family and friends that they may once have had.  So, you still have to count them.  They, in the past tense, were victims of the alcoholic and his/her sickness.

Let’s try to count them.  I guesstimate that for every alcoholic that there are at least 4 other blood or legally related persons and at least 2 friends.  I strongly suspect that the number is higher but it will serve for example purposes.  That means that in addition to the alcoholic themselves that there are 58,008,000 others who are hurt by this disease.  And don’t fool yourselves, they are hurt.  There are children of divorce.  There are families that are fiscally and emotionally bankrupted by the disease.  There is a GREAT deal of “love lost.”  There is suicide by children and family who are unable to cope and see no other way of escape.  There are children and others who are scarred for life by the actions of ONE drunk.

In addition to the alcoholic the number estimated here approaches 68,000,000 out of a population (in 2002) of about 298,000,000.  That’s a little less than 20%.  Considerably more than the 4.7% figure given by the NIAAA.  Do you know an alcoholic?  Maybe you don’t know one personally, but do you know someone who has to suffer with one?  That is a much more likely probability.  And, even if you can honestly say you have not even second-hand contact with an alcoholic then there may still be someone who you know or with whom you are closely associated who is.  It’s a “secret” disease.  People don’t want to let the world know that they are afflicted this way.  It’s “Mama’s Little Secret.”

Where does all this end?  I’m not ready to discuss remedies, fixes, and cures.  I can tell you from personal authority what worked for me, but not now.  I can give you my opinions of what is good and bad about possible ways to overcome if not defeat this horrific disease, but not now.  You can look in Who I Am for a hint.  I can give you my opinions on what this disease means on a Macro Social level in the United States and how it should be addressed, but not now.

Right now, I think I’m going to fix myself a Diet Coke and watch a little television.

c.e.s.