Statistics

The statistics surrounding alcohol addiction are simply alarming. For instance, did you know that alcohol contributes to as many as 100,000 deaths each year? Alcohol related deaths are the third leading cause of death right behind cancer and heart disease, and most alcohol related deaths occur at much younger ages than cancer and heart disease.

Nearly a third of all alcohol related deaths are the result of suicide or accidents such as drownings, head injuries that result from falling or DUI related car crashes. An estimated 50% of all traffic fatalities are the result of alcohol abuse. If these statistics are not sobering, how about the fact that an alcohol related car crash that results in death happens every 30 minutes or less, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year?

Thirty percent of all Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at least once in their lives and for many, the crash will not be a result of their own drinking but that of another person’s decision to drink and drive. Alcohol related traffic crashes cause injury approximately every two minutes. An estimated 80% of all fatal crashes that occur from the hours between midnight and three in the morning are the result of alcohol or at least involve alcohol.

About 20% of all suicides are related to alcohol. An estimated 76 million people have been exposed to alcoholism within their family growing up with or marrying an alcoholic. It is estimated that nearly 7 million children under the age of 18 years old live in a home that has at least one alcoholic parent.