It is not as difficult for a man to get rid of alcohol addiction as it is for an ordinary woman to stop drinking alcohol. Female alcoholism has become widespread in recent years. Younger women, who in the past could not be forced to get drunk, are increasingly involved in drinking.
This is a vulnerable category of society; it is difficult for them to endure an unstable situation, stress and everyday problems. But women are mothers, foundations of the family and educators of the young generations, so it is necessary to stop this epidemic.
Formation of the problem of female alcoholism
Just 20 years ago, female alcoholics made up a small portion of people who drank and avoided alcohol treatment. They were ashamed of their illness and hid it. Gradually, more and more representatives of the fair sex began to seek help. Now their percentage compared to male alcoholics has increased significantly. There has been an increase in the number of women drinking while trying to recover. The difficulty is that quitting drinking is not that easy. It's not easy to force yourself to live soberly.
Many women continue to drink alone and hide their alcohol addiction. Men and women are at a disadvantage when they become alcoholics. In society, men who drink are judged less than women. A woman supports her husband who drinks. She hopes she can help him stop drinking. And a husband can leave his wife who drinks, who shames him and sets a bad example for her children. Native children will not want to see their mother when she is lying somewhere drunk and she has forgotten about them.
The opinion that female alcoholism is incurable has become stronger. The roots of this myth lie in the negative assessment of female drunkenness by society and in the fact that a woman remains silent about her problem for a long time and her illness is neglected. Condemnation of female drunkenness interferes with the rapid start of treatment and makes it less effective. A woman's rapid involvement in addiction, which soon leads to personal degradation, also plays a role.
Many serious complications resulting from alcohol abuse make it difficult to make a sound decision to seek treatment. If someone could convince their girlfriend to stop drinking by wishing her well, the recovery rate would be higher. Unfortunately, this is not possible. She needs to stop drinking on her own. And the help should consist of making drinkers aware of their addiction.
Why do women start drinking?
Psychological or emotional reasons lead a girl or woman to drink. She is emotional, it is easier to hurt her mentally, she experiences life events more strongly. For starters, she doesn't have to be a marginalized, dysfunctional woman. Even seemingly successful representatives of the fair sex suffer from alcoholism from time to time and cannot stop drinking on their own. The main reasons for the onset of abuse are:
- Stressful conditions due to unstable life, lack of finances, pressure from superiors and work colleagues or from the older generation of the family living nearby.
- Worries about the relationship with your spouse, lack of attention from her, betrayals, rudeness, frequent absences from home.
- Inability to spend free time, feeling of boredom, lack of hobbies.
- Lack of family, immersion in work during the day and emptiness in the evening.
- Loneliness, especially sudden: the death of a husband, her departure or the loss of other loved ones.
- Insomnia, desire to normalize sleep.
- Diet, an attempt to suppress hunger with food restrictions.
- Heredity, alcoholism among ancestors.
- Menopause, increased physical and mental discomfort due to changes in the body.
Is female alcoholism different from male alcoholism?
A woman gets drunk faster, this is explained by the characteristics of her body. Body weight is less than that of a man, alcohol absorption occurs faster. The enzyme that helps break down alcohol is less active; female sex hormones are incompatible with the breakdown products of alcohol.
Due to the characteristics of physiology and emotional sphere, a woman can become addicted to alcohol twice as quickly. When a man is in the initial stage of alcoholism, just getting involved in drinking, a woman already feels a significant need for alcohol.
Stages of alcoholism
They are the same for men and women. The division into phases helps to evaluate the severity of the disease and the complications that arise in this phase. Finding a patient suffering from alcoholism at one stage or another requires different approaches to treatment.
- Phase I.An attraction to alcohol arises and develops. A woman experiences pleasant sensations while drinking and wants to repeat them. This is what mental addiction looks like. A woman has a desire to find herself in situations where she can drink more often. She is looking for a reason and a suitable company. Observing a woman, you can notice her atypical behavior and more frequent drinking. She explains it by saying that she felt bad or wanted to relax, or she was worried about family or work problems.
She cannot objectively assess that drinking has become more frequent and she refuses to stop. She reacts sharply to the comments and refuses to analyze his behavior. Conflicts with those who want to force her to stay sober. To stop the pressure from the outside, the woman begins to drink secretly.
- Phase II.Mental dependence has already formed, the mood depends on whether the woman has been drinking or not. Physical dependence is formed, the alcoholic begins to have a hangover. She often drinks a little every day, less often goes on a multi-day binge, after which there is a break. But quitting drinking is already very difficult.
The female body quickly begins to fade. External signs of persistent alcoholism appear. The unkempt appearance, attempts to hide the gray complexion under decorative cosmetics, bags under the eyes and puffy face reveal a woman who drinks. Her voice becomes harsh and hoarse. Her behavior shows aggression, hysteria, tearfulness, reluctance to take responsibility, and alienation from loved ones. She becomes sexually promiscuous and has gynecological diseases. Her memory weakens, lethargy and hand tremors appear.
- Phase III.Physical dependence developed; it is difficult for a woman to function without alcohol. Irreversible changes have occurred in her body. There are significant disorders in the mental sphere and internal organs.
Among the characteristic disorders of this phase: alcoholic encephalopathy, polyneuropathy, persistent decline in intelligence, delirium tremens, toxic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, renal failure, chronic pancreatitis, risk of heart attack and stroke. The risk of poisoning from alcohol substitutes is extremely high.
Returning to a sober life is nearly impossible. Drinking has already become a lifestyle, the personality is being destroyed. She lost her job and almost all her loved ones, who despaired of seeing her sober. She has no interests other than alcohol.
When to start treatment
To begin treatment, a woman must understand that she is addicted. Forced treatment will not be beneficial. The desire to stop drinking should form on its own with the support of loved ones. She should not be left alone or listen to the accusations. Patience is required from loved ones. The girl should be helped by her parents, especially her mother.
In the first two stages of the disease, she is able to realize that alcohol leads to problems and shameful actions. It is also necessary to understand that alcoholic drinks do not solve your problems, but only aggravate them. We must help a woman realize that she is harming herself and her relationships. It is necessary to demonstrate that it is still possible to improve life, to explain that not all is lost, since she is capable of reasoning and being aware of herself.
There is no need to waste time going to traditional healers and quacks. They promise to get the person sober in one or more short treatments. Neither the price of such services nor the advertising fame guarantees success.
Once consent to treatment has been obtained, the woman must go to a hospital where assistance is provided to patients undergoing drug treatment. Getting rid of alcohol addiction is a long and complex process. It should be carried out only by a specialist doctor, using complex methods: medicinal and psychotherapeutic.
What is medical care?
Treatment methods for female alcoholism are very diverse. Specialists at the drug addiction treatment hospital select an individual set of therapeutic measures based on the characteristics of each woman admitted for treatment. During the treatment the following are used:
- Preparations for detoxification and rapid elimination of alcohol breakdown products from the body.
- Drugs specializing in the formation of aversion to alcohol.
- Medicines for the correction of disorders resulting from alcohol abuse (cardiological, neurological, endocrinological, psychiatric spectrum and other acquired pathologies).
- Complex psychotherapy, help from a psychologist, attendance of group and individual lessons to solve personal problems and emotional relief.
- Maintenance blockade of opioid receptors. Support coding, hypnotherapy. These methods should only be used in combination with other medical and psychotherapeutic interventions. Isolated exposure has practically no effect, as the motivation for sobriety outside of complex therapy quickly fades.
What motivates a woman to be sober?
The most important factor that pushes a woman to return to a sober life is acceptance from loved ones. A man often recovers to spite someone, trying to prove that he is not completely lost. And women are trying to get sober for some important purpose. It is important for them to see that people believe in them.
An incentive to sobriety for an alcoholic patient may be the desire to feel loved and desired again.A woman wants to start a family and needs to show the best side of her. When she meets someone she likes, she wants to get married and fulfill herself as a mother. This also motivates you to give up alcohol.
Experts also point out that alcoholic women fear serious illness or death as a result of alcoholism. In men who drink this fear is less pronounced; for them this stimulus may not work.
A woman, in her desire to remain healthy and feminine, is able to overcome the difficulties of the recovery period. It is important to know that, unlike monotonous binges that ultimately end just as tragically, recovery will give you a full and varied life. This is demonstrated by the experience of hundreds of thousands of women who have already gotten rid of alcoholism.