More resources for a variety of healthcare professionals can be found in the Additional Links for Patient Care. Here, we briefly share the basics about AUD, from risk to diagnosis to recovery. This article introduces a number of AUD topics that link to other Core articles for more detail. Excessive drinking is a leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and it is also costly. It cost the nation $249 billion in 2010 (the most recent year of data available). Drugs “with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependance” are classified as Schedule III.
The results in the chart show the increased risk of developing alcohol dependency (we show results for illicit drug dependency in our topic page on drug use) for someone with a given mental health disorder (relative to those without). For example, a value of 3.6 for bipolar disorder indicates that illicit drug dependency became more than three times more likely in individuals with bipolar disorder than those without. The risk of an alcohol use disorder is highest in individuals with intermittent explosive disorder, dysthymia, ODD, bipolar disorder, and social phobia. In the chart, we see the prevalence of alcohol dependence versus the average per capita alcohol consumption. There is no clear evidence that high overall consumption (particularly in moderate quantities) is connected to the onset of alcohol dependency.
Alcohol-induced Death Rates in the United States, 2019–2020
Explore topics related to alcohol misuse and treatment, underage drinking, the effects of alcohol on the human body, and more. First, the population represents a convenience sample of adolescents being assessed for SUD treatment and is not generalizable to all adolescents in the United States. Second, the assessment is self-reported and subject to potential reporting and recall biases as well as social desirability bias. Alcohol use is a known risk factor for mortality, and the rates of alcohol-induced deaths have risen over the past several years (1). Alcohol use in the United States increased during the first year of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which may have affected mortality rates, especially for alcohol-induced deaths (2).
Mississippi has a high rate of under-21 alcohol-related deaths and the second-highest rate of deaths from acute causes. Alcohol-related deaths in Idaho are more likely to be older, chronic alcohol users. Alabama has the third-highest rate of under-21 deaths related to excessive alcohol use. Children aged 17 years and younger are much more likely to live with an alcoholic parent than they are to be diagnosed with a learning disability or ADHD. ¶¶ 1) Friend or friends, 2) brother or sister, 3) parent or parents, 4) adult relative or other adult, 5) relative near adolescent’s own age, 6) boyfriend or girlfriend, 7) coworker, 8) someone else, 9) anyone who has drugs, or 10) used alone.
Alcohol expenditure
We see that the proportion of deaths attributed to alcohol consumption is lower in North Africa and the Middle East and much higher in Eastern Europe. The first stats on alcoholism map shows this in terms of spirits as a share of total alcohol consumption. In many Asian countries, spirits account for most of total alcohol consumption.
Although those in lower income or educational status groups often drink less overall, they are more likely to have lower-frequency, higher-intensity drinking patterns. Overall, these groups drink less, but a higher percentage will drink heavily when they do. Both are measured in terms of pure alcohol/ethanol intake rather than the total quantity of the beverage.
What puts people at risk for developing AUD?
It’s estimated that globally, around 1 percent of the population has an alcohol use disorder. At the country level, as shown in the chart, this ranges from around 0.5 to 5 percent of the population. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) refers to the drinking of alcohol that causes mental and physical health problems. By default, the data for France is shown – in recent decades, here, the share of beer consumption increased to make up around a fifth of alcohol consumption in France.
Many of the risk factors for alcohol dependency are similar to those of overall drug use disorders (including illicit drug disorders). Further discussion on these risk factors can be found on our topic page on drug use. Alcohol consumption is a known risk factor for a number of health conditions, and potential mortality cases. Alcohol consumption has a causal impact on more than 200 health conditions (diseases and injuries). In the chart, we see the relationship between average per capita alcohol consumption – in liters of pure alcohol per year – versus gross domestic product (GDP) per capita across countries.
Recommended statistics
Nevada’s alcohol-related death rate per capita is high, but it has a very low rate of underage deaths. Michigan has a slightly higher rate of alcohol-related deaths and female drinking deaths. Statistics indicate that Illinois may have a significant underage drinking problem though its under-21 death rate has declined in recent years. The District of Columbia’s alcohol-related death rate increases faster than any U.S. state’s, and the rate of binge drinkers is very high. Some of these include drugs that were once common prescriptions, such as Laudanaum. The map shows the share of all road traffic deaths attributed to alcohol consumption over the national legal limit for alcohol consumption.