When we say, “You can cut back on alcohol,” alcoholics hear this as “this includes you.” This is perhaps the most dangerous myth.
“You can cut back on alcohol.”
So found a survey by the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, reported by Shari Roan in the L.A. Times, regarding the reported 30% of Americans who had experienced an alcohol “disorder.” The study reportedly found that about 70% quit drinking or cut back to “safe consumption patterns” without treatment after four years or less and that only 1% fit the “stereotypical image” of someone with severe, recurring alcoholism who has “hit the skids.”
Unfortunately, such statistical “findings” can seriously mislead and are, in fact, downright dangerous.
Only 10% of Americans are estimated to have the disease of alcoholism. Of the 30% of Americans experiencing a “disorder” in the study, 20% are, therefore, non-addicts. Many ...
