title_body: Has alcoholism increased?
upvoted_answer: According to the OECD (The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), alcohol consumption in its member countries (which includes the US) has been decreasing since [at least] 2000. Litres of pure alcohol consumed (a metric for standardizing alcohol consumption across drinks of varying alcohol content) has fallen from 9.5 litres per capita in 2000 to 9 litres in 2015 (roughly 5% decline).
  
  The definition of alcoholism can vary since it typically includes the frequency of consumption within its own definition. The paper I cited includes stats on binge drinking (at least once a month) by gender, but does not compare data to prior years. There's been a ton of research on this topic, so a bit of googling should quickly turn up something useful. CAMH has useful publications and so does the WHO.