--- title: Alcohol Problems Affect Around 33 Million U.S. Adults description: New data on Americans drinking behaviors shows about 14% of Americans have alcohol-related problems. canonical: https://time.com/3907691/alcohol-problems-study/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-03T18:34:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:59:03.230Z article:section: Health og:title: Alcohol Problems Affect About 33 Million U.S. Adults og:description: Many do not get treated og:url: https://time.com/3907691/alcohol-problems-study/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Alcohol Problems Affect About 33 Million U.S. Adults twitter:description: Many do not get treated twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Alcohol Problems Affect About 33 Million U.S. Adults > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=150d157c-224c-4998-81fa-3f0b4c3dc88b&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Best Help for Alcoholics Is the One We're Not Using [Watch (HLS stream): The Best Help for Alcoholics Is the One We're Not Using](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/O4Gj9kvL.m3u8) (2:16)  _Published 2014-05-14. park_export_H264_ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jun 3, 2015 6:34 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jun 3, 2015 6:34 PM UTC About 14% of U.S. adults have alcohol-related problems, according to new data on Americans’ drinking behaviors. The [new study](http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2300494), published in the journal _JAMA Psychiatry_, looked at the prevalence of drinking issues based on a new definition for alcohol use disorders in the DSM-5 handbook. The new definition classifies problem drinkers as those who have two of 11 symptoms including continuing to drink even if it harms relationships, drinking harming performance at work of school, or inability to quit. The severity of the problem is classified by the number of symptoms a person has. In the new research, the study authors interviewed more than 36,000 adults about their lifetime drinking behaviors. The report shows that 30% of those interviewed had been a problem drinker at some point in their lives and 14% currently had problems. Many of the people had never been treated. Overall, men were more likely than women to have trouble with alcohol, and the issue was particularly noticeable among 18- to 29-year-olds, with about 7% showing symptoms of the most severe form of drinking problem, the study found. The researchers say that is in line with increasingly higher rates heavy of drinking among the age group. “Most importantly, this study highlighted the urgency of educating the public and policy makers about alcohol use disorder and its treatments, destigmatizing the disorder, and encouraging among those who cannot reduce their alcohol consumption on their own, despite substantial harm to themselves and others, to seek treatment,” the study authors concluded. ## Transcript There's a drug that can effectively treat alcoholism. So, why aren't more people taking advantage of it? [ MUSIC ]. Naltrexone is a drug that can reduce the pleasure feelings in the brain that come from drinking alcohol. So, it's been used for years to help alcoholics wean themselves off of drinking by making each drink less and less pleasurable. In the latest study appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, there's even more evidence that Naltrexone can be an effective way to help alcoholics from relapsing. It wasn't a cure, but it did help a significant number from returning to heavy drinking. But few doctors are prescribing it. Perhaps because the studies aren't exactly the rigorous ones that scientists usually like to see. In this particular case, for example, the researchers looked at 122 studies involving more than 22, 000 patients, but all of those who were taking naltrexone were also on behavior therapy or counselling. So it's hard to say how much of their success is avoiding relapse, was due to the drug. Or due to the support they got through the counseling. Still, Naltrexone has an important advantage over the other commonly used drug for alcoholism, known as Antabuse. That drug works by blocking the bodies' ability to break down alcohol. So alcoholics who use it tend to feel sick every time they take a drink. So, not surprisingly, most of them simply stop taking it. And there's another reason that Naltrexone may get a little more attention in the field of alcoholism treatment. Recently the Food and Drug Administration approved Naloxone. A related drug which are shorter acting than Naltrexone, that can help to treat heroin and narcotic overdoses. In those cases the drug works by sitting on the the same cells that heroin and narcotics like painkillers do, but without the dangerous effects of dropping breathing and heart rates. That can often be fatal. There are no simple answers to treat something as complicated as alcoholism. 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