Type 1 vs Type 2 Alcoholism: Whats Your Type? FHE Health

Someone who is in the chronic severe subtype will often drink excessively daily. Someone with a family history of alcoholism may have an intermediate family subtype. It is challenging for functional alcoholics to realize there is a problem. As was mentioned above, some https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/6-ways-to-take-a-break-from-drinking-alcohol/ people believe there are seven types of alcoholics. An alcoholic is diagnosed with an alcohol use disorder based on a specific set of criteria. If your drinking causes distress or problems in your daily life, you likely would be diagnosed with an alcohol use disorder.

Treating Alcohol Use Disorders

• Most functional alcoholics are middle-aged (around 41) who started drinking around age 18.
• With Type 1 alcoholism, users experience a loss of control over their drinking and feel excessively guilty about their drinking.
• While functional alcoholics may not binge drink, they do drink more alcohol than the average person.
• Many of the subtype characteristics (e.g., personality traits) are inherited independently of each other, and all possible combinations of personality traits occur (Cloninger 1987b, Svrakic et al. 1993).
• Less than 20% of this subgroup has sought help, and most do so from a 12-step program or a private health care professional.

We want to guide you down the path to recovery – call today to learn more. Intermediate familiar alcoholics are typically employed and have a close family member who’s an alcoholic too. Alcoholism treatment is not one-size-fits-all, and patients who work with qualified medical professionals have the best chance of recovery. At North Jersey Recovery Center, we strive to make your addiction treatment experience as comfortable as possible. Our team can verify your insurance coverage to help determine the costs of addiction treatment.

Help for Different Types of Alcoholics?

• For example, several studies found that compared with type I alcoholics, type II alcoholics exhibited lower activity levels of the enzyme monoamine oxidase (MAO) (von Knorring et al. 1987b; Sullivan et al. 1990).
• Generally, this group tends to view drinking heavily as a normal behavior.
• The body has become accustomed to alcohol, so smaller sips do not have the same power.
• Nearly 32 percent of alcoholics fall into the young adult category, making it the most prevalent subtype in the U.S.
• Some studies found that a person diagnosed with alcohol dependence who has a specific receptor gene may be more responsive to treatment with naltrexone than those who lack this specific gene.
• People in the intermediate familial subtype often have co-occurring mental health problems, such as clinical depression or bipolar disorder.

This group tends to start drinking younger (around 17) and also develops an alcohol dependence earlier (around 32). This subgroup is very likely to have had immediate family members with alcoholism. They also have high probability of suffering from antisocial personality disorder, depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and bipolar disorder. This group also suffers from high rates of cigarette, marijuana, and cocaine addiction. Many people who fall into the young antisocial alcoholic subtype suffer from other mental health disorders as well, such as bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, or depression.

Type I and Type II Alcoholism: An Update

• Avenues Recovery is a community-based drug and alcohol rehabilitation center with locations across the United States.
• Thorough assessments can help treatment providers to determine what the right type and level of care might be for a person battling alcohol addiction.

Binge drinking is a pattern of excessive alcohol use that increases the risk for developing tolerance and then physical dependence on alcohol that can then lead to addiction. According to NIAAA, around 20 percent of college students struggle with alcohol addiction. All types of alcoholism can contribute to severe and detrimental physical and mental health issues.

• Our program options range from intensive residential treatment to outpatient care.
• In addition, extensive records exist documenting a person’s history of alcohol abuse.
• The young adult subtype is less likely to have a full-time job but is more likely to be in college than other groups.
• It also can determine whether a certain type of treatment will be more effective than another.
• We do not receive any commission or fee that is dependent upon which treatment provider a caller chooses.

Understanding Alcoholism: 5 Different Types of Alcoholics

Someone who is considered a functional alcoholic may lead a kind of double life, compartmentalizing their drinking from the rest of their life. Type 2 alcoholism, in contrast to Type 1 alcoholism, usually occurs 5 types of alcoholics during adolescence or in the early adult years. Between these two types of alcoholics, those with Type 2 alcoholism frequently have skirmishes with the law, experiencing episodes of fighting and arrests.

Young and carefree, the average person in this category is between 17 and 25 and is newly legal to drink. They typically come from families with low rates of alcoholism and they are unlikely to suffer from co-occurring mental health conditions. The first subtype of alcoholism is the young adult subtype, also called the young alcoholic. Most likely what a person pictures when the term alcoholic is used, the chronic severe alcoholic subtype only accounts for about 9 percent of the entire US alcoholic population.

Categorizing alcoholics into subtypes helps in understanding the etiology of alcoholism, improving treatment, and advancing the theoretical framework for alcoholism and its consequences. These observations suggest certain patterns of neurotransmitter activity in different alcoholic subtypes. For example, people with antisocial personality traits or type II alcoholism are expected to be uncooperative and to have low serotonergic activity in the CNS.

Young Antisocial Alcoholic

Treatment options such as inpatient, outpatient, detoxification, support groups, and MAT can all help those struggling with AUD. This type of treatment allows you to receive help in an outpatient setting while still attending to your everyday responsibilities. This is a great option for people with mild to moderate addiction and those who have already gone through inpatient treatment.