Study shows less than 25 percent of alcoholics seek treatment

More than 30 percent of American adults have abused alcohol or suffered from alcoholism at some point in their lives, and few have received treatment, according to a new government study.

Alcoholics who got treatment first received it, on average, at about age 30 -- eight years after they developed a dependence on drinking, researchers reported.

"That's a big lag," especially combined with the fact that only 24 percent of alcoholics reported receiving any treatment at all, said study co-author Bridget Grant of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

The treatment rate for alcoholics was slightly less than the rate found a decade earlier. The study did not look at reasons for the decline, but other research has revealed a belief among doctors and the public that treatment doesn't work.

However, Dr. Mark Willenbring, director of the institute's Division of Treatment and Recovery Research, said evidence indicates that substance-abuse treatment is more effective than treatments for many medical disorders.

Three common approaches to treating alcoholism are 12-step programs, cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational enhancement therapy. Medications such as Antabuse, naltrexone and Campral also can help in combination with counseling, he said.