At what age do people become alcoholic?
The age of people drinking alcoholically is falling
There is absolutely no question that the age of people being admitted into residential treatment for alcohol problems has been rapidly falling. It used to be more common that someone in their 50s to 60s would access treatment for their addiction to alcohol but now it is quite often someone in their 20s to 30s who requires residential alcohol treatment.
Perceptions of alcoholism have changed
People’s perception of alcoholism has also changed. There used to be a stigma attached to anyone with an alcohol problem but now there is much more of an understanding of the condition and an acceptance for the need to get help from a professional source. This has been very much helped by the media disclosing a variety of well-known younger celebrities needing help with their alcoholism. In addition, many people now know someone with an alcohol addiction which has made it much more acceptable to be admitted to a residential alcohol rehab or alcohol addiction clinic. The other noticeable change is in the ratio of male to females in treatment for alcoholism. There are now more females in treatment (including younger ones) making the ratio more even than in previous years.
Alcohol is now much more freely available
So what has caused this significant drop in age for a younger generation to now be more affected by alcoholism? Firstly, the licensing laws have changed drastically over a reasonably short period of time and it is now possible to purchase alcohol 24 hours a day 7 days a week. It is even – almost unbelievably – possible to purchase alcohol in a petrol station. If you cannot be bothered to get out of your house, a supermarket will deliver it to your front door. Long gone are the days when you had to purchase alcohol from a high street off licence and when there were restrictive pub opening hours. Many people will not have experienced the time when Sunday pub opening hours were between the hours 12.00 to 14.00 and 19.00 to 22.00.
People drink much more at home than in the past
Secondly, the way many of us drink has changed and this is one of the reasons why so many pubs are closing. These days people choose to either drink at home or socially at a friend’s house or before they go out; this is at least partly due to the rising costs of buying an alcoholic drink in a pub. It is ironically the increasing every day running costs that are putting up the cost of drinking in a pub and not the cost of the alcohol. Even in the most recent budget the tax on alcohol has remained the same – the government tends to target smokers and not drinkers.
Working for home increases drinking
Another way in which drinking habits have changed is the now acceptable “work from home” regime that has increased exponentially following on from the Covid pandemic. The structured restrictions of getting up and spending the day within a work environment with others has been removed. It is too easy to now have an alcoholic drink beside your computer and not a coffee or tea; in the home environment no one is there to see.
It is not what or when you drink but the effect on you that matters
Most 20 to 30 year olds will use the argument that they drink the same as others of their age. They do not want to accept that they might have to stop drinking alcohol completely. Also, they will consider themselves too young to be an alcoholic. They may be unaware that it does not matter what you drink or what time of day you start drinking; what does matter is what happens after you take that drink. For example, you do not only qualify as an alcoholic if you just drink spirits and have an early morning drink.
The other type of drinker is the binge drinker, who will go on a binge for a few days and then stop and then after a few or several more days will go on another alcoholic binge. This can identify someone as an alcoholic, too. This form of drinking can be even more damaging to the brain and liver than someone who is a daily drinker, as just when the body is recovering from a binge off it goes again on another one. Young binge drinkers are more difficult to help as they argue that they are not a daily drinker. It takes time for the gap between the binges to get shorter or the binges to get longer before they acknowledge the dangers of their drinking pattern and addiction.
It takes less time now to become an alcoholic
It is these environmental and social changes that have brought a younger generation to need help earlier for an alcohol addiction than in the past. Their addictive timeline has been shortened. With fewer restrictions, their addictive thinking and behaviour has accelerated and they are not getting the years of drinking that a previous generation had before they had to go into treatment.
Other risk factors include poor mental health, peer pressure and low confidence / self-worth
There are other known specific increasing risk factors that can lead to a younger person developing an alcohol addiction. These include having a mental health condition such as depression or anxiety or being diagnosed as bi-polar. Peer pressure to drink more and having low self-esteem or self-worth can also be risk factors as can using alcohol to give a confidence boost.
The benefits of residential alcohol treatment at The Haynes Clinic
One of the key components of being admitted to residential alcohol treatment and embarking on an addictions programme for alcohol dependency is a solid therapy programme. At The Haynes Clinic we pride ourselves on our very structured daily therapy programme which is facilitated by professional practitioners of all ages. Therefore, a young alcoholic is able to engage with the very best treatment programme being offered and can develop a trust with their therapist who will themselves be working a programme of Recovery free from alcohol or other mood altering substances. This will give any young person a feeling of hope that there is a way forward to getting a more normal life that is free from their old addictive thinking and behaviour.
Another benefit of alcohol addiction treatment is that when we take the step of seeking help, we find that we are in treatment with people of a similar age, who are also wanting to be able to make changes. We are no longer alone but feel supported.
