Drinking Behavior and Drinking Problems in the United States

Psychiatric Admissions for Alcoholism, Neuroses and Schizophrenia in Rural and Urban Ireland

“…Both alcoholism and schizophrenia had the same incidence rates in rural and urban communities suggesting that variations may be attributable to differences in readmission rather than the occurrence of these disorders. The finding of higher urban alcoholism readmission rates supports previous Irish and non-Irish data (Calahan & Cisin, 1976;Walsh, 1969), of alcoholism as an urban disorder. That alcoholism is predominantly a disorder of young Irish males is consistent with Irish and emigrant studies (Murphy, 1975;Walsh, 1969).…”

The relationship between alcohol dependence and alcohol–related problems in a clinical population

“…Support for the hypothesis that non-dependent drinkers can experience alcohol-related problems comes from general population studies (Cahalan & Cisin, 1977;Makela & Simpura, 1985;Hilton, 1987) which suggest that the highest incidence of drinking problems occurs in the early 20s age group, whereas severe alcohol dependence typically emerges at an older age. It seems intuitively less likely that a drinker would become severely dependent without developing alcohol-related problems.…”

Writing Under the Influence: Science Versus Fiction in the Analysis of Corporate Alcoholism Programs

“…There has been a similar misinterpretation of Cahalan's data on the incidence of alcohol problems in the general population. He had stated that about nine million people in the United States have had some problem associated with the misuse of alcohol, but he clearly disclaimed the notion that these nine million individuals are "alcoholics" (e.g., Cahalan & Cisin, 1976). Nevertheless, this number has appeared as the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's official statistic on the prevalence of the disease of alcoholism (U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1974)-which, in turn, has become the official reference for others, such as the NCA.…”