--- 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: 2026-02-22T07:52:51.672Z 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 ## 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. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3907691/alcohol-problems-study/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3907691/alcohol-problems-study/"},"headline":"Alcohol Problems Affect About 33 Million U.S. Adults","datePublished":"2015-06-03T18:34:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:52:51.672Z","description":"Many do not get treated","url":"https://time.com/3907691/alcohol-problems-study/","keywords":["Addiction","Alcohol","drinking"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/addiction/","name":"Addiction"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3907691/alcohol-problems-study/","name":"Alcohol Problems Affect About 33 Million U.S. Adults"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Best Help for Alcoholics Is the One We're Not Using","description":"park_export_H264","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/O4Gj9kvL/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-05-14T21:10:03.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/O4Gj9kvL.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3907691/alcohol-problems-study/","duration":"PT2M16S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3907691/alcohol-problems-study/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```