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Alcohol and Divorce Statistics

Alcohol and divorce statistics have a definite and close relation. Addiction to any kind of injurious substances can often be a bothersome situation for an individual and may take a severe on his or her marital relationship. Take alcohol for instance. One of the most lethal addictions, alcoholism is one of the biggest reasons for marital problems like domestic abuse and financial troubles, in addition to compatibility issues. It is for these very reasons that alcohol is a major factor when it comes to marriages breaking up all across the nation. And this is more common than you think as over 13% of all adult Americans deal with drinking issues to some extent or the other. Following facts will give you a idea about how the marital breakup and alcoholism are directly related to each other.

Statistics Based on Research Conducted by Researchers and Non Profit Organizations (NPOs)

The Office of National Drug Control Policy, at the Executive Office of the President in Washington, conducted a nation wide research whose main objective was to measure the "directionality" of the relationship between divorce rate and alcohol consumption rates in the country, based on time series data collected on the two entities.

The Result of this Research

It was found that for the consumption for every increase in one liter consumption of alcohol, there was an increase of 20% in the break-off rate!

Digest that for a second. A 20% increase for every one extra liter consumed. The researchers note that another method of measuring the relationship between alcohol and legal termination of a relation, using the aggregate alcohol measure, showed that for every 10% increase in alcohol consumption, there was a significant rise in the chances of split-up. Apparently, this latter result agreed with those of earlier researches. With these findings, the researchers concluded that even though there was a highly ambiguous relationship between alcohol consumption and marital instability, and that the need to create superior research tools for measurement between the two quantities is needed to properly evaluate the complex nuances which make up the relationship between the two concepts. However, the researchers did conclude that it is "reasonable to assume that a bidirectional influence exists between alcohol and divorce statistics", based on such a study.

How an Alcohol Addiction Can Destroy an Entire Family Unit

According to an article by Joseph Devine on Ezine, whenever a partner in the relationship suffers from alcohol issues, the chances of breakup increase by a factor of four, i.e. 4 x.

It should be noted that an alcohol addiction affects not just the person with the addiction, but also the entire family, especially the spouse and children, if any. Problems related to alcohol in the family can be highly stressful and create a lot of psychological and at times, even physical trauma. Alcohol, being the number one substance for addiction in the US, has led to an increase in the cases of alcohol and divorce statistics by reason, as we have seen before.

Doctors have managed to classify the alcohol addiction which leads to breakup into two categories:
Alcohol Abuse
Alcohol Dependence

The first type of alcohol addiction, known as "Alcohol Abuse", is an extremely severe kind of addiction to alcohol, where the addict places alcohol first and foremost before any other responsibility, including his or her marriage and family. It is the overt use of alcoholic beverages and a person suffering from alcohol abuse is unable to hide his or her affliction from spouses and children, leading to tension in the marriage, and ultimately the legal termination of relation.

The second type of alcohol addiction is known as "Alcohol Dependence". This, though may seem like less of a threat than out and out alcohol abuse, is just as harmful to a marital relationship, if not more so, as a person suffering from it gets more and more dependent on alcohol. This leads to low tolerance levels when it comes to marital issues thanks to being under the influence of alcohol, and even when an alcohol dependent person tries to give up his or her addiction for family, he or she may suffer from severe withdrawal symptoms, which is nausea, headache, seizures and anxiety attacks. The person suffering from alcohol dependence slowly starts getting detached from every other aspect in life, including his or her marriage and children. This starts leading to problems which, in worst case scenarios, may end up in alcohol influenced domestic abuse. Definitely a debilitating process for the addict, where he or she may end up losing a marital relationship and child custody, especially if therapy for recovery is not sought after immediately coming to terms with one's own addiction. Money and divorce statistics are also closely related to such addictions and can cost dearly to the drunker.

As we have seen by the alcohol and divorce statistics provided here, alcohol addiction plays a huge role in a marriage coming apart. It is only with timely intervention and personal initiative that an addiction can be tempered and the marital relationship saved.

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