Alcoholism is a chronic relapsing disorder characterized by a loss of volitional control over consumption, impaired decision-making, pathological preoccupation with alcohol seeking at the expense of healthier forms of behavior and a compulsive drive for harmful drinking in the face of serious life consequences (e.g., deteriorating health, job and family loss). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, fourth edition (DSM-IV), established criteria for both alcohol dependence (alcoholism) and alcohol abuse. Research studies based on diagnosis compare those who meet or do not meet criteria for alcohol dependence. Alcohol dependence is defined by the presence of three or more of a set of seven criteria. Alcohol abuse is defined by the presence of two out of four criteria in the absence of meeting criteria for dependence. The recent publication of DSM-5 in 2013 combined the two separate diagnoses of alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence from the DSM-IV into a single dimensional diagnosis of alcohol use disorder (AUD) with mild, moderate, and severe subclassifications. In DSM–5, anyone meeting any two of eleven criteria during a specified period received the diagnosis of AUD where severity is based on the number of criteria met.
