Harvard Health Blog

Alcohol use disorder: When is drinking a problem?

POSTED DECEMBER 20, 2018, 10:30 AM
Marcelo Campos, MD, Contributor

Over the past few months, a conversation about alcohol use has been center stage in the national news. Stories about harmful behavior associated with alcohol use are quite common in many families around the world. The rise of the opioid epidemic in the US has rightly caught our attention, but overshadowed a much more common problem. In the United States, from 2006 to 2010 alcohol-associated deaths accounted for 88,000 deaths annually, or almost 10% of all US deaths.

While many people are becoming aware that medication assisted therapy can help treat opioid use disorder, very few know that medication and counseling can significantly reduce alcohol use compared with trying to cut back on your own.

Learn more »

Get your copy of Overcoming Addiction

Addiction can be devastating. Recent scientific advances have shaped our understanding of this common and complex problem. The good news is that there are a number of effective treatments for addiction, including self-help strategies, psychotherapy, medications, and rehabilitation programs. You can use the strategies presented in this report, Overcoming Addiction: Finding an effective path toward recovery, to discover new ways to cope with life’s difficulties.

More Blogs from Harvard Health

Can exercise help conquer addiction?

Is a steady diet of social media unhealthy?

Heart failure and salt: The great debate

Overcoming Addiction

Featured content:

•	The problem of addiction
•	What is addiction?
•	How people develop addiction
•	Recovering from addiction
•	Working with a therapist
•	... and more!