Diagnosing Alcohol Use Disorder

Do you have an intense craving for a drink that consumes your thoughts? Find out if you meet the criteria for alcohol use disorder (AUD).

Diagnosing AUD can be challenging because it relies on the honesty of the individual. AUD is the medical term for both alcohol abuse, including binge drinking, and alcohol dependence, where withdrawal symptoms occur without alcohol. Alcohol dependence is known as alcoholism.

Denial Affects Accurate Diagnosis

Getting honest answers about alcohol consumption and its life impact can be challenging because denial is a prevalent symptom of alcoholism. An old saying about alcoholism states that it's "the only disease that denies its existence and resists treatment." If someone is not honest about their drinking habits, diagnosing AUD accurately can be difficult or even impossible.

Healthcare providers might overlook AUD during routine checkups due to misdiagnosis.

Admitting your drinking habits and patterns to a healthcare professional can sometimes be daunting. Various online alcohol screening tests offer if you're not ready for a face-to-face conversation about drinking.

Recognizing the Problem: Family and Friends

Long before a healthcare professional diagnoses AUD, friends and family often recognize the issue. They might approach you about the problem and encourage you to seek help, but again, denial may get in the way. Denial is so prevalent among people with alcohol abuse problems that it is a warning sign of alcoholism. A person who drinks excessively often fails to recognize or admit that alcohol consumption has become a problem.

AUD Diagnostic Tools

Healthcare professionals use various diagnostic tests to screen for and assess drinking problems. To overcome denial, most healthcare providers avoid directly asking about the number of drinks consumed; instead, they ask about problems related to drinking.

Brief, four-to-five question alcohol screening tests, such as the FAST test, are helpful for initial screening to detect AUD. More in-depth evaluations are done using longer, more detailed tests.

Advancements in laboratory medicine have introduced new opportunities for biomarker-based assessment of health risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption.

Criteria for Alcohol Dependence

According to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, healthcare professionals may diagnose AUD if you meet at least two of 11 criteria within a 12-month period. Your level of alcohol abuse or dependence is categorized as mild, moderate, or severe based on the number of criteria met.