{"id":17484,"date":"2022-05-03T02:57:31","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T07:57:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zocdoc-patient-blog.kettleinthekitchen.com\/?p=17484"},"modified":"2026-08-14T11:03:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T16:03:17","slug":"when-to-get-help-for-a-drinking-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/blog\/guides\/when-to-get-help-for-a-drinking-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Think You Have a Drinking Problem? How to Get Help"},"content":{"rendered":"

Americans’ drinking habits tipped the needle during the pandemic; Researchers found that excessive drinking (think, binge drinking) increased by 21%. And one study<\/a> shows that this boost in drinking will spur an additional 8,000 deaths from alcohol-related liver disease by 2040. Given the cultural acceptance around drinking, for some, it can be difficult to figure out, or even admit, whether you have a drinking problem or not.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to be addicted to have problems with alcohol,\u201d said Dr. John Kelly, a psychiatry professor specializing in addiction medicine at Harvard Medical School. \u201cAlthough we may have a stereotype of what an \u2018alcoholic\u2019 looks like, there is a broad range of alcohol involvement and impairment which can affect people in different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly says that only about 15 percent of people who have had a drink actually become addicted \u2014 i.e., develop a compulsive and physiological need for alcohol. But a person can still be at risk of becoming dependent, meaning they have difficulty quitting, as well as developing a host of health problems that accompany even not-so-heavy drinking.<\/p>\n

Alcohol consumption has been linked to a heightened risk of several cancers in both men and women, according to a report by the World Cancer Research Fund<\/a>. For women, one and a half drinks a day can increase breast cancer risk<\/a> by 20 percent. (A note on the \u201calcohol is good for you\u201d science: A large-scale federal study on the benefits of moderate drinking was recently revealed<\/a> to be funded by the alcohol industry. The study has, for now, been suspended.)<\/p>\n

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Not quite addicted<\/h2>\n

Kelly says drinking becomes a medical problem when it starts to interfere with functioning and well-being, when a person centers their life around alcohol and making sure it\u2019s around, or when they begin prioritizing it, such as by only going to parties where the drinks are free-flowing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat typically happens is the person has a sense they are drinking too much and they try to cut down,\u201d he said. \u201cBut they can\u2019t fully do it, and so they feel like they\u2019re losing their grip. That\u2019s a function of the changes in the brain. The brain tries to adapt to these higher and higher levels of alcohol exposure, and it creates more of a propensity for continued use.\u201d<\/p>\n

About 17 million people in the United States have a drinking problem and meet criteria for alcohol use disorder, a chronic relapsing brain disease characterized by compulsive alcohol use, loss of control over alcohol intake and a negative emotional state when not using, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines<\/a> \u201cmoderate drinking\u201d as one drink a day for women and two for men, and \u201cbinge drinking\u201d as about four daily drinks for women and five for men. \u201cHeavy alcohol use\u201d means five or more days of binge-drinking in the past month. It\u2019s worth noting that these general guidelines don\u2019t take into account genetic factors that might increase someone\u2019s propensity toward alcohol addiction, such as differences in the way people metabolize alcohol.<\/p>\n

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You might have a problem. Now What?<\/h2>\n

There are hundreds of self-screening tools and \u201cAm I an Alcoholic?\u201d quizzes online. The AUDIT<\/a>, developed by the World Health Organization, is the industry standard recommended by addiction medical professionals. It consists of 10 questions about drinking quantity and frequency, and the ways in which drinking might be affecting someone\u2019s life. The AUDIT is a good starting point for people who think they might have a problem, or who have a friend or family member they\u2019re concerned about. Drinker\u2019s Checkup<\/a> is another online resource for getting feedback about drinking.<\/p>\n

Getting treatment is trickier. Once a person decides to seek help, navigating treatment options \u2014 and the growing number of people who call themselves \u201caddiction experts\u201d \u2014 can be overwhelming.<\/p>\n

Rehab centers can be a minefield<\/a>; regulations vary from state to state. Some states require facilities to have at least a certificate of need, or CON, aimed at curbing costs for patients. California is not a CON state<\/a>, which may help explain why so many luxury rehabs flourish there. The dearth of regulations also allows rehab facilities to operate independently of rigorous state oversight and offer treatments that are in no way rooted in science. The luxury rehab facility Passages Malibu, for example, lists \u201csound therapy\u201d<\/a> as one of its treatment methods, saying the practice \u201cresults in healing at the cellular level.\u201d There is no scientific data on addiction treatment to support this claim.<\/p>\n

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Beyond rehab<\/h2>\n

\u201cNot everybody has to go to rehab,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cIn fact, very few people who have an alcohol problem will actually need to go away.\u201d If someone is experiencing severe withdrawal, it\u2019s appropriate to go to the emergency room.<\/p>\n

For those wondering if they have a problem, Kelly recommends seeing a doctor<\/a> for proper assessment. Licensed addiction psychiatrists, as well as licensed board-certified addiction medicine physicians<\/a>, have a higher level of training specific to addiction. NIAAA offers a treatment navigator<\/a> on its site, with recommended questions to ask a provider to make sure they are operating on evidence-based practice guidelines.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people can have one or two sessions with an addiction specialist and that can be sufficient,\u201d Kelly said. He thinks people are often scared away by the idea of getting treatment, assuming they\u2019ll immediately have to go to rehab for 30 days. That misconception, in his view, prevents many people who are on the cusp of being at-risk from seeking help.<\/p>\n

Alcoholics Anonymous is free and easily accessible, but it\u2019s not the only game in town. While it has been found to be effective<\/a>, many people need medical stabilization, which AA doesn\u2019t offer. \u201cA lot of people don\u2019t think of alcohol as being a psychoactive drug in the same way cocaine or heroin is, and yet it is,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cIt affects the central nervous system in a very profound way.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are currently three FDA-approved drugs<\/a> for treating alcohol addiction, but they are underused, according to a recent government report<\/a>. This could be due in part to the ubiquity of the 12-step model. But there are many different levels of care: a few months of weekly outpatient treatment, medication in concert<\/a> with outpatient treatment and AA, as well as treatment for depression and other psychiatric disorders that accompany alcohol abuse. Only 20 percent of people who abuse alcohol<\/a> ever get treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a broad range of services that people can plug into,\u201d Kelly said, depending on the severity of their drinking. If it\u2019s safe, a person can also work with a specialist to curb their drinking without eliminating it entirely. \u201cA lot of people think, I\u2019m not bad enough to go to rehab<\/i>. But the thing is, don\u2019t wait until you\u2019re that bad. Do something now.\u201d<\/p>\n

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