Alcohol use affects people in various ways. One or few alcoholic drinks in a day is regarded as moderate alcohol drinking (CDC, 2021). However, having no ability to control the consumption of alcohol is a sign of a larger problem. Alcohol abuse is an issue that individuals can develop due to the uncontrolled use of alcohol (2021). People who abuse alcohol develop a drinking habit resulting in poor judgment and risky behaviors.
Alcohol And Its Co-Occurring Disorders
Alcohol abuse may cause severe health conditions. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) (2021) reported that about eighteen million US citizens are struggling with alcohol use disorders. These disorders may disrupt their lives or may even lead to the loss of their life. For instance, it worsens certain disorders, such as osteoporosis, in the body (2021). The abuse of alcohol can also make the diagnosis of other health problems like heart disease more difficult. That is due to the alcohol effects on the circulatory system.
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Several mental health conditions might occur with abuse of alcohol. Kleber et al. (2006) noted that Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), bipolar disorder, and depression are common conditions that co-occur with alcohol abuse. The effect is based on how severe or how long the disorder has been affecting the patient. Regarding depression, he noted that depression is one of the common mental health disorders in the US that affects an individual's thoughts and actions. Sometimes, one may use alcohol to suppress depression signs quickly. However, such self-medication for depression is dangerous and may also result in life-threatening effects. An individual’s brain-reward system is stimulated after alcohol consumption, causing one to experience a "high." After some time, their bodies start relying on alcohol to achieve happy feelings, resulting in a cycle of alcohol dependence or addiction.
Bipolar disorder (BPD) is another alcohol abuse co-occurring disorder that involves erratic mood swings fluctuating from far heights to server lows. Galbicsek (2020) notes that bipolar has been diagnosed in 6 million US citizens, including young and old. Changes in an individual’s moods resulting from BPD can produce broader mental and physical symptoms. An individual with BPD is at a higher risk of developing alcohol abuse disorder than those who are not bipolar. Such conditions are hazardous whenever they co-occur since alcohol can aggravate bipolar disorder symptoms. Besides, Galbicsek added that obsessive compulsory disorder (OCD) is another co-occurring disorder involving obsessions that are uncontrollable and triggering re-occurring compulsions. It is estimated that 24% of patients with OCD are also suffering from alcohol abuse disorder (2021). It is also noted that obsessions and compulsions that are associated with OCD come in various forms. These include arranging things in a particular way, counting items, and excessive hand washing. Some people with OCD may turn to alcohol abuse to help them get distracted from intrusive behaviors or thoughts. As a result, drinking makes the OCD symptom worse instead of helping them escape their fears and get relaxed. Alcohol abuse co-occurring OCD may result in a lifetime effect such as health implications and emotional troubles when there is no proper treatment.
Prevalence and Incidence
A study by Oreskovich et al. (2015) highlighted the prevalence of substance use disorders (SUD) in American physicians. They conducted a national study on a large sample of US physicians from all particular disciplines using the "America Medical Association Physician Masterfile." They found out that 12.9% of male and 21.4 percent of female physicians met diagnostic criteria for abusing alcohol. They also found that independently associated factors with the abuse of alcohol or alcohol dependency were the rage, several worked hours, male gender, being married or having a partner, and having children. Besides, they also found that being in any specialty other than internal medicine was strongly associated with alcohol or dependency abuse. They concluded that alcohol abuse is a critical problem among physicians in America. Therefore, organizational approaches for the early identification of alcohol abuse among the physicians' needs should be followed by interventions and treatments because there is a high prognosis for physicians' recovery from chemical dependency.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) (2021), the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) 2019 report indicated that 85.6% of Americans above 18 years reported that they took alcohol at some point in their life. 69.5% said that they consumed alcohol in the past year, and 54.9% reported that they consumed alcohol in the past month. Besides, the survey also reported that 14.1 million American adults above 18 years had alcohol use disorder. That included 8.9 million men and 5.2 million women. On the other hand, 414 thousand youths between 12 to 17 years were also reported to have alcohol use disorder. The number consisted of 163 thousand males and 251 thousand females.
Populations at Risk
Consumption of alcohol is typical across the sub-populations within the US. The health burden associated with taking alcohol varies across these groups, including the groups defined by demographic characteristics like age, sex, and race. Delker et al. (2016) noted that young adults between 18 to 25 years are at a higher risk of alcohol use disorder and unintentional injury caused by uncontrolled alcohol drinking. According to the study, it was noted that white respondents reported the highest prevalence of alcohol consumption while the Native Americans reported higher alcohol abuse and dependence. Black Americans and Native Americans were also identified to be most vulnerable to alcohol-related health effects. The study also found that there was variability between and among the subpopulations event within the ethnic groups. Concerning the gender difference, men reported more alcohol consumption than the female counterparts, more so in the older cohorts. Men were also at a greater risk of abusing alcohol and being alcohol defendants.
Men are developing a dependency on alcohol at a higher rate than female their female counterparts. American Addiction Centers (2021) noted that up to half of American men have alcohol problems in a particular form or another. That could happen because men naturally have a higher tendency to take risks than women. That leads to more drug and alcohol experimentation during their youth. For some men, such experimentations evolve into a total addiction. The study also noted that individuals with mental illness are more likely to abuse alcohol and other drugs. Therapists suggested that such patients turn into alcohol consumption initially to medicate the symptoms of such illness themselves. Even though it offers short-term relief, prolonged alcohol only exacerbates their mental illness symptoms.
Evidence-Based Prevention Strategies
There are various evidence-based prevention strategies and community resources that help Americans against alcohol abuse. According to Rural Health Information Hub (2021), the fast track program is one of the promising prevention programs based on evidence for youths. It is a comprehensive program for prevention designed for children and continues through a longer period. The components of intervention components keep on changing with the child's age, and it includes components like child tutoring, home visits, classroom curriculum lead by teachers, and parent training. It reduces an individual’s chances of alcohol abuse and binge drinking in addition to the chances of an individual developing a severe substance use disorder. “Strong African American Families” (SAAF) is another 7-week program that targets rural African American families with their children between ten to fourteen years. The program works to strengthen the attachments between children and their parents, thereby reducing alcohol and drugs. Both SAAF and Fast Track programs have been rated as useful programs for reducing alcohol use among youths within the US.
Community resources
There are various community resources available for the prevention of alcohol abuse among US citizens. The Alcohol Epidemiology Program (AEP) is one of the community resources and a research program within the Division of Epidemiology and Community health in public health at the University of Minnesota that helps in alcohol prevention within the US (AEP, 2021). The faculty of AEP and the staff often conduct advanced research to discover influential community and policy interventions intended to reduce social and health problems associated with alcohol use. Another useful community resource program that also helps American citizens against alcohol abuse is the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY). The program uses a public health approach to prevent and reduce alcohol-related issues in youths in the US (CAMY, 2021). CAMY focuses on the marketing variables of the product, price, promotion, and place. It considers the role that such variables play in alcohol drinking among youths. These community resource programs are essential in preventing the abuse of alcohol among US citizens.
Conclusion
In conclusion, alcohol abuse is a common problem among US citizens. The common co-occurring disorders alongside alcohol abuse are depression, OCD, and bipolar disorder. Statistics have shown that several men and women are prone to alcohol abuse. Besides, alcohol abuse is also a critical problem among physicians in America. However, American men and African American population are among the population at a higher risk of abusing alcohol. Lastly, Fast track and SAAF are the most crucial evidence-based prevention programs for alcohol abuse as they focus on the youths and children.
References
AEP. (2021). Alcohol Epidemiology Program . Aep.umn.edu. Retrieved 12 February 2021, from http://www.aep.umn.edu/.
American Addiction Centers. (2021). Are Specific Groups More Prone to Have Drinking Problems? . Alcohol.org. Retrieved 12 February 2021, from https://www.alcohol.org/faq/who-is-most-prone-to-alcoholism/ .
CAMY. (2021). Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth . Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Retrieved 12 February 2021, from http://www.camy.org/.
CDC. (2021). Alcohol Questions and Answers | CDC . Cdc.gov. Retrieved 12 February 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/faqs.htm.
Delker, E., Brown, Q., & Hasin, D. (2016). Alcohol Consumption in Demographic Subpopulations An Epidemiologic Overview. Alcohol Research Current Review , 38 (1), 7–15. Retrieved 12 February 2021, from.
Galbicsek, C. (2020. Dual Diagnosis: Alcoholism and Mental Illness - Alcohol Rehab Guide . Alcohol Rehab Guide. Retrieved 12 February 2021, from https://www.alcoholrehabguide.org/resources/dual-diagnosis/#:~:text=There%20are%20many%20mental%20health,and%20severity%20of%20the%20disorder.
Kleber, H., Weiss, R., Anton, R., George, T., & Greenfield, S. (2006). PRACTICE GUIDELINE FOR THE Treatment of Patients With Substance Use Disorders (2nd ed., pp. 140-152).
NIAAA. (2021). Understanding Alcohol Use Disorder | National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) . Niaaa.nih.gov. Retrieved 12 February 2021, from https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/understanding-alcohol-use-disorder.
Oreskovich, M., Shanafelt, T., Dyrbye, L., Tan, L., Sotile, W., & Satele, D. et al. (2015). The prevalence of substance use disorders in American physicians. The American Journal On Addictions , 24 (1), 30-38. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajad.12173
Rural Health Information Hub. (2021). Prevention Programs for Youth and Families - RHIhub Substance Use Disorder Toolkit . Ruralhealthinfo.org. Retrieved 12 February 2021, from https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/toolkits/substance-abuse/2/prevention/youth-and-families.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). (2021). Section 2 PE Tables – Results from the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Detailed Tables, Sections 1 - 3, SAMHSA, CBHSQ . Samhsa.gov. Retrieved 12 February 2021, from https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/cbhsq-reports/NSDUHDetailedTabs2018R2/NSDUHDetTabsSect2pe2018.htm#tab2-1b.
