Alcoholism Diagnosis

Initial Diagnosis of Alcohol Addiction

In order to treat drug and alcohol addiction doctors need to be able to make an accurate diagnosis of alcoholism. This can be very difficult because alcoholics are generally in denial about their alcohol problem and whether or not they actually need help or treatment. The alcoholic will often lie about their use of alcohol as they don’t want to divulge that information to a medical professional.

To initiate an attempt at diagnosis, the medical professional will generally ask, amongst other health questions, how much alcohol the patient drinks and whether they have any heavy drinking days in the past year. They may remind them of the maximum limits of alcohol which is:

• Healthy men under age 65 - up to 4 drinks/day and 14/week
• Healthy women (and men over 65 years old) - up to 3 drinks/day and 7/week

The criteria for diagnosis of alcohol dependence and alcohol abuse that the medical profession in the United States uses is based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) diagnostic criteria. This criteria comes from research that has been done on behavior patterns or physiological characteristics that make up the symptoms of alcoholism. The criteria has changed and been updated over time as alcohol addiction has evolved.

The DSM-IV (4th edition) criteria for alcohol dependence is as follows:

• Not been able to stick to drinking limits - a need for increased amounts of alcohol to achieve the desired effect
• Unsuccessful attempts to cut down or stop
• Shown tolerance - diminished effect with the same amount of alcohol
• Shown signs of withdrawal that is relieved or avoided by more alcohol
• Kept drinking despite problems with family or work
• Spent a lot of time drinking or recovering from the effects of alcohol
• Spent less time on other activities that don’t include drinking

If a patients exhibits 3 or more of these symptoms within a 12-month period, then a problem with alcohol dependence is very likely and the patient should be referred onto an addiction specialist or treatment center.

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