Based on their behavior over the previous year, nearly 14 percent of Americans fit the new definition of Alcohol Use Disorder, which integrates two previously separate categories, “alcohol abuse” and “alcohol dependence.”

Taking into account their entire lives, that figure increases to 29.1 percent.

What’s more, the problem—if it is even recognized as such—goes untreated in a huge majority of cases. Only 7.7 percent whose 12-month record points to Alcohol Use Disorder sought help for their problem, as did only 19.8 percent of those who have met the criteria at some point in their lives.

The results highlight “the urgency of educating the public and policymakers about Alcohol Use Disorder and its treatments, destigmatizing the disorder, and encouraging (those who cannot stop drinking on their own) to seek treatment,” writes a research team led by Bridget Grant of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.