When many people think of alcohol abusers, they picture teenagers or young adults drinking in high school or college. However, alcohol abuse is prevalent within many demographic groups in the United States. April is Alcohol Awareness Month. Stephan Arndt PhD, psychiatrist at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, talks about alcohol abuse:
What is considered alcohol abuse?
It’s a pattern of drinking despite negative consequences in the person’s life and the continuance of the drinking pattern, even though they know there’s a problem.
How serious is alcohol abuse in the state of Iowa?
Alcohol is the single most frequently used substance. It’s the most common cited substance of choice by individuals going into substance abuse treatment. Binge alcohol use is considerably higher in Iowa than the national average, especially among 12 to 17 year olds. So it’s a problem.
Demographically who is most likely to abuse alcohol? Why?
For abuse patterns, it’s mostly younger people; obviously, 12 to 17 year olds are doing the binge drinking, but it continues on to people in their 20s. That’s not to say it doesn’t go away. For older people there are significant cases of elders abusing alcohol. I think it’s because it’s the norm. In Iowa it’s considered socially acceptable and even promoted.
What other demographics often have issues with alcohol?
Well, women are an at-risk group simply because they’re smaller and the alcohol has a higher concentration in their blood stream. The consequences, both physically and socially, are more severe for women who abuse alcohol.
At a certain stage in their life, are people who abuse alcohol considered alcoholics?
Once the alcohol abuse has gone for a period of time, people become dependent on the alcohol. By that I mean they have physical withdrawal symptoms. Those are extremely unpleasant and at that point usually we refer to them as an alcoholic—although that’s not a common medical term. It’s also used by self-identification in groups such as AA.
What sort of damage does alcohol do to the brain short term? Long-term?
Short-term, in small amounts there’s really no particular damage. In larger amounts, it is a sedative and it can be neurotoxic. In very large amounts, at the extreme, you have very severe cases of what’s called Korsakoff's Syndrome, where the memory becomes shot and the person has difficulty getting along. There’s also beginning to be evidence that it may hasten dementia once people get older.
Is there treatment for alcohol abuse? What does it entail?
There certainly is. There’s a wide variety of evidence-based practices that have shown very good efficacy. They usually involve a period of detoxification which needs to be medically monitored some times because the withdrawal symptoms can be physically harmful, followed by a period of time where the person has intensive outpatient or inpatient care and period of recovery.
If someone is an alcoholic – can they drink socially?
That’s a funny question. If someone discovered that they were allergic to peanuts or avocados, you wouldn’t hear them asking that question at all. They would avoid it like the plague.
Is UI Hospitals and Clinics involved in any research with regard to alcohol abuse?
There are a variety of NIH-sponsored studies on the basic science of alcohol and its affect on say, lymphocytes. There are also a variety of research and evaluation projects going on at the Consortium at Substance Abuse Research and Evaluation having to do with treatment effectiveness throughout the state
Where can someone who wants to learn more about alcohol abuse and treatment go for more information?
They can visit DrugFreeInfo, a service of Iowa substance Information Center, or the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration. |
