Keck Medicine of USC releases research indicating heavy drinking has persisted among Americans

By NIRC Staff

A recent study by Keck Medicine of USC, a world-renowned academic medical center, revealed that alcohol use increased during the pandemic and has stayed elevated years later. According to the study, heavy alcohol use increased by 20% among Americans between 2018 and 2020, and that increase was sustained through 2022. In the study, heavy drinking was defined as greater than or equal to five drinks a day or 15 drinks a week for men, and greater than or equal to four drinks a day or eight drinks a week for women.  

As alcohol addiction treatment experts at Northern Illinois Recovery Center (NIRC), we find that people often don’t fully comprehend the risks associated with heavy drinking, whether that is prolonged daily use or occasional binge drinking. Between 2016 and 2021, the CDC reported a 29.3% increase in deaths from excessive alcohol use. 

“For the effects of chronic heavy drinking on health, you are looking at an increased risk of liver disease, including severe liver disease (cirrhosis), as well as increased risks of cancer (mouth, throat, breast, colon, among others), increased risks of heart disease, stroke and hypertension, and many others,” said Dr. Beth Dunlap, MD, Medical Director at NIRC. 

In research published by NIRC earlier this year, 68.5% of the treatment center’s clients had been admitted for alcohol use disorder (AUD) in the first six months of 2024. This was an increase from the same period in 2023, when 54.7% of clients were admitted for AUD. The research from Keck Medicine echoes a trend that NIRC has seen in its own client data: Alcohol use disorders are proliferating. 

Additionally, alcohol use disorders do not discriminate by geography or other demographic factors: Keck Medicine’s study found that drinking accelerated across age, gender, race, ethnicity and location. The research from Keck Medicine suggests that larger social or economic factors may be at play in the rising use of alcohol.

“In the last four to six years, we saw a drastic ushering in of acceptable heavy drinking practices which can be most notably linked to the changes brought on by COVID protocols,” said Dr. Caitlyn McClure, LCSW, DSW, Vice President of Clinical Services at NIRC. “The cultural encouragement of drinking to get through parenting or being isolated; the reduction in social norms around drinking, such as normalizing day drinking and the use of delivery services for alcohol; and the overall attitude that alcohol was the primary solution to the stress and loneliness of that time are prime examples.”

“Marketing picked up on these shifts in cultural norms,” continued Dr. McClure. “We have seen products and advertisements that further encourage these norms of drinking to manage all stress such as wine or beer yoga, alcohol to-go options from restaurants, wine glasses that fit an entire bottle of wine, and more.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with heavy drinking and needs help, please consider a medically supervised detox for your own safety. Additionally, many treatment centers like NIRC offer outpatient programs to assist you in your recovery and sobriety from alcohol.