Men’s basketball head coach Larry Eustachy announced Wednesday afternoon he was diagnosed as an alcoholic several weeks ago, and experts say he has a difficult journey to recovery.

Alcoholism is not a new disease, said Douglas Epperson, professor of psychology.

“This is not a new or unknown issue, if it turns out he does have problems with drinking,” Epperson said. “Roughly 10 percent of people [have alcohol problems].”

Epperson said alcoholism has both social and biological sides.

“People start drinking for the same reason everybody else does,” Epperson said. “What happens is the learning curve is accelerated for some people.”

Some people explore alcohol and perhaps have a period where they engage in heavy drinking, and others develop a lifelong pattern, he said. Both types of drinking — binge drinking and alcoholism — have serious consequences. Epperson said no one but Eustachy and those close to him would know how far his divulged alcoholism extends.

“[There is no way to know] whether there is a pattern or whether the publicized incidents were relatively isolated,” he said. “I don’t think the public has the information to make that judgment.”

Ron Palumbo, clinical social worker for Ames Counseling and Psychological Services, said alcoholism is a progressive disease.

“The further along you are, the harder it is to treat,” he said.

As alcoholism progresses, many alcoholics begin to use alcohol as a way to blunt pain, Epperson said. Alcoholics will use alcohol as a way to avoid dealing with emotional pain and stress. This avoidance pattern will eventually become a self-perpetuating cycle, because the alcoholism will actually create more pain in the person’s life, he said.

Eustachy said at a press conference Wednesday he had been seeking counseling out of state.

June McDonald, treatment coordinator at the Center for Addictions Recovery, 125 S. 3rd St., said this is not common.

“I would say probably about 5 percent or less go into counseling on their own, as far as our agency goes,” she said.

It is difficult and humbling for a person to go into counseling of their own will, McDonald said.

“They have to realize on some level that they are powerless over their disease,” she said. “This often comes in the way of suffering some sort of consequences.”

There are three main kinds of counseling for alcoholics: outpatient, residential, and individual, McDonald said.

“Outpatient counseling entails group therapy and education on a weekly basis,” she said.

Residential counseling is when someone stays in rehabilitation for two weeks to a month. During that time the patient receives education, group therapy and support, among other things, McDonald said.

Individual counseling requires weekly or biweekly sessions with a counselor.

McDonald said there is a lot of denial involved with alcoholism. Families tend to try and cover up the problem, and sometimes people will go into treatment with no intention of stopping, she said.

Being in the public eye doesn’t change the fact the Eustachy family would have to jump the same hurdles many other families have to face, McDonald said.

“I would anticipate that it would be very difficult for them,” she said.