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Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland

The county with the most people seeking treatment for alcohol abuse? Waterford

A new study has found that an average of 8,000 people a year seek treatment for alcoholism in Ireland.

AN AVERAGE OF 8,000 people every year are being treated for problem drinking, with the figures peaking when the recession was at its worst, new figures have found.

More than 40,000 people needed treatment between 2008 and 2012, reaching its highest point in 2011.

Waterford had the highest number of new cases per head of population, closely followed by Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim and Wexford.

The counties with the lowest number of new cases were Clare, Roscommon, Wicklow, Mayo and Meath.

Many of the people needing treatment fit a certain profile: the study by the Health Research Board found that in 2012, two-thirds of cases were men and the median age was 40.

There was also a significant growth in the number of people needing repeat treatment as a result of chronic alcohol problems.

The proportion of people needing treatment who were in employment fell from 30 per cent in 2008 to just 20 per cent by 2012, suggesting the economic downturn had a direct impact.

Meanwhile, one in five people also used other drugs along with alcohol, most commonly cannabis, cocaine, benzodiazepines and ecstasy.

The median age – or middle point – when people with alcohol problems started drinking was 16, which has remained the same for five years. 

“These figures indicate the level of harmful drinking taking place in Ireland,” said Graham Love of the Health Research Board.

He said that measures such as regulation of how alcohol is marketed and advertised, minimum prices on alcohol, and labelling of alcohol with health information should help to solve some of the problems.

Read: Irish people consumed 38 million litres of pure alcohol last year > 

Read: ‘Conflicting advice’ leading to thousands of Irish women drinking alcohol while pregnant > 

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25 Comments
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    Mute Keith Barton
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 6:42 AM

    mmm…notice a link between the alcohol abuse and the unemployment rate? Waterford is an unemployment black spot.

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    Mute Kevin Higgins
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 6:50 AM

    Austerity kills

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    Mute Kris O Kay Kay
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 7:45 AM

    Well boi scraic wudja g’way boi…

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    Mute men in black hoods
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 7:02 AM

    Would ya blame people living there for hitting the bottle, the south east is our governments blind spot.

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    Mute Gerry Carroll
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 7:54 AM

    All depends how you read it…could it be a case of Waterford getting well and seeking help from disease the is slowly killing this country. 12 step recovery is a proven method and has worked for millions of suffering alcoholics worldwide, its not solely based on giving up the substance, but principles on how the live a better life and helps people reach their true potential.
    WELL DONE WATERFORD FOR ASKING FOR HELP! KEEP IT UP!

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    Mute Keelan O'neill
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 8:06 AM

    12 steps is a bit like joining the Freemasons. Unless you believe in a higher power you’re doomed.

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    Mute Gerry Carroll
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 8:22 AM

    A common misconception that a 12step programme is a religious programme and a higher power been ‘God’.
    Knowledge on the 12 step programme would show you that it is a spiritual programme, based on asking for help because you cant recover doing it on your own….help , guidance and support from other people who suffer from this crippling disease…surely asking for help and support can not be a bad thing…if it works.
    12 step recovery….asking for help…
    Proven to work.
    Ask the millons of families whose lifes have been directly improved as a result of recovery coming into their homes.

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    Mute Keelan O'neill
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 8:38 AM

    Don’t know Gerry, as soon as I read spiritual God or deity always springs to mind. There’s no definition of the word each person seems to have there own. People can believe what they if that is what gets them through recovery.

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    Mute Barry Creed
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 9:16 AM

    Or you can be smug about it and not get help

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    Mute Declan Pollard
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 7:25 AM

    Waterford has the highest unemployment rate so the correlation between alcoholism and having no job is very real. People have a tendency to think that genes are a major factor when it comes to alcoholism, but usually where you are in the socio-economic spectrum is a major contributory factor to being an alcoholic .

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    Mute alpha_chaarlie
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 6:51 AM

    If I was from Waterford, I’d probably drown my sorrows in alcohol as well.

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    Mute Andrew Maher
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 8:07 AM

    Very difficult to interpret the figures accurately….it could be a possibility that the good people of Waterford are seeking more help than elsewhere ?

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    Mute Plantation Watch
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 7:09 AM

    Pity there is little treatment for people beyond being sent to ineffectual rosary bead rattling 12 step groups.

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    Mute in_zane_burger
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 7:11 AM

    Hardly surprising when they used to make the best glasses to drink from

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    Mute Val Kearney
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 12:57 PM

    Not really surprising to be fair. Waterford isn’t in a recession, its in a depression.

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    Mute plato
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 7:00 AM

    Minimum pricing on alcohol ?? “Sigh” I could write loads.. But at this stage.. I’m just soooo fed up with all the shenanigans !! I think a lot of people feel this way :-(

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    Mute Terry O'Dowd
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 7:58 AM

    I’d like to see nutritional information listed on alcohol products, in the same way it is listed on food stuffs.

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    Mute Ephen Fecker
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 5:24 PM

    And! Who reads the label!?

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    Mute Fergal Kelly
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 12:02 PM

    I’m from Waterford and as soon as I read the start of the headline I knew it’d be us :/

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    Mute Jamie Dowling
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 12:16 PM

    Maybe because it’s easier to get help when unemployed? Free treatment on the medical card, more time to dedicate to recovery and the problem becomes more apparent and more damaging when unemployed.

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    Mute Keelan O'neill
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 8:02 AM

    Is that lemons on top of the packs of Guinness.

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    Mute Keelan O'neill
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 8:25 AM

    So that’s a no then from the red thumb. Because now I’ve noticed there is limes in with the lemons.

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    Mute Gabe
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 3:04 PM

    More like ‘Liquorford’! Am I right?

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    Mute Henry Shields
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 12:20 PM

    I was talking to a Doctor Sunday night ironically in a bar and according to him the new level to be classed a Alcoholic is 4 pints a day.

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