Alcohol dependence and related disabilities are a large burden for the population. Problems in families, working places and severe medical symptoms are often caused by alcoholism.
Most of these patients never reach a specialized, high-quality treatment program. They get no specific withdrawal treatment, no specific psychosocial help, and only 3-5% get anticraving medications.
One of the main causes of this situation is that the diagnosis according to ICD and DSM is too broad and does not give sufficient information for the right treatment program.
Therefore, we need a more specific diagnostic procedure. Subgroups of alcohol dependence should be able to offer better motivational and treatment programs.
In this article, the history of subgroups will be presented, as well as the modern developments of subgroups. Today, the minimal standard for subgroups, defined in different ways in different countries, will be shown. The Lesch typology is one of these approaches, using these instruments (www.lat.online.at). The results of its use in basic and clinical research show the importance of these subgroups.
