| There are a few misconceptions about | | | | |
| alcoholism fact. Many people have been | | | | People who were divorced or separated were |
| suffering from years of alcoholism because | | | | usually under stress. They were also often |
| they do not know the statistics. A look at | | | | trying to look for mates in social settings |
| alcoholism fact is good for anyone who wishes | | | | that involved alcohol. The rate for them was |
| to know more about the disease. | | | | 10%. Married people had a lower rate, with |
| | | | only 4.6% being alcoholics. The good |
| People have widely varying ideas of how | | | | alcoholism fact was that only 1.3% of widowed |
| prevalent alcoholism is. Some think | | | | people were alcoholics. |
| "everyone is an alcoholic; why should I be | | | | |
| any different?" Others think the problem is | | | | Another alcoholism fact is that there seems |
| rare and that the people who fall victim are | | | | to be a relationship between emergency room |
| just the bottom of the barrel. They do not | | | | visits and alcoholism. For people 12 and |
| know the alcoholism fact about this. | | | | older, 34.2% were seen in emergency rooms, |
| | | | while for those who were not |
| Actually, the percentage of people 12 and | | | | alcohol-dependent, the rate was only 27.9%. |
| over who were alcohol-dependent in 2004 was | | | | This would indicate that those who suffer |
| 7.6%. That is around 18.2 million people. | | | | from alcoholism do have serious physical |
| This is neither rare nor extremely common. | | | | problems. |
| The true alcoholism fact is that these people | | | | |
| are a minority, but they are not simply the | | | | In the year of 2004, 61% of adults drank |
| dregs of society. | | | | alcohol. In that same year, there were 32% |
| | | | of the drinkers who had at least 5 drinks on |
| There is often the image of the homeless old | | | | one day during the year. An alcoholism fact |
| alcoholic man curled up with his bottle in | | | | is that there were 20,687 alcohol-induced |
| the gutter. Or, people think of an | | | | deaths in 2003. Besides those, there were |
| alcohol-dependent executive drinking | | | | 12,360 alcohol liver disease deaths the same |
| copiously in an office. People think this is | | | | year. |
| an alcoholism fact. Actually, after the age | | | | |
| of 25 years old, the incidence of alcoholism | | | | The incidence of other diseases and |
| goes down. | | | | conditions that have become associated with |
| | | | alcoholism is staggering. Conditions like |
| For people ages 12-17, the percentage was | | | | high blood pressure, pancreatitis, insomnia, |
| 5.9%. The harsh alcoholism fact is that the | | | | and even osteoporosis have been linked to |
| rate of alcoholics between 18 and 25 years of | | | | alcohol dependence. This is an alcoholism |
| age was 17.4%. From there, the percentages | | | | fact that cannot be ignored. |
| went down, with 11.1% at 26-34 years old, | | | | |
| 7.5% at 35-49 years old, and only 3% over 50. | | | | Alcoholism fact has been established by study |
| | | | of statistics and by research. There is |
| The marital status of alcoholics is not | | | | little one can do about it except to seek |
| surprising, though. Alcoholism statistics | | | | treatment and encourage other alcoholics to |
| were studied for alcoholics aged 18 and | | | | do the same. Alcoholism fact supports the |
| older. The alcoholism fact is that those who | | | | notion that this is a large problem. |
| were single and never married had the highest | | | | Research suggests that it is not |
| rate, with 16%. | | | | insurmountable. |