It is not as difficult for a man to stop drinking alcohol as it is for a normal woman to stop drinking. Alcoholism in women has become common in recent years. Younger women, who previously could not be forced to get drunk, increasingly engaged in drinking.
This is a vulnerable class in society, it is difficult for them to endure unrest, stress and everyday problems. But women are mothers, the foundation of the family and the educators of the younger generation, so it is necessary to prevent this epidemic.
Forming the problem of alcoholism in women
Just 20 years ago, women alcoholics made up a small fraction of those who drank and avoided seeking treatment for alcohol withdrawal. They are ashamed of their illness and hide it. Gradually, more and more representatives of the fair sex began to seek help. Now their percentage compared to male alcoholics has increased greatly. The number of women drinkers seeking recovery is increasing. The difficulty is that quitting alcohol is not easy. It's not easy to force yourself to live soberly.
Many women continue to drink alone and hide their alcoholism. Men and women are both at a disadvantage when it comes to alcoholism. In society, men who drink alcohol are considered lower than women. A woman supports her alcoholic husband. She hopes she can help him stop drinking. And a husband can abandon his alcoholic wife, who embarrasses him and sets a bad example for his children. Local children will not want to see their mother when she is drunk and forgets about them.
The opinion is growing increasingly strong that alcoholism in women is incurable. The origin of this myth is society's negative assessment of female drunkenness and the fact that a woman keeps silent about her problem for a long time and the disease becomesoblivion. Condemning women's drunkenness will hinder the prompt initiation of treatment and make it less effective. Women's rapid descent into addiction, which soon leads to personal deterioration, also plays a role.
The many serious complications of alcohol abuse make it difficult to make a rational decision to seek treatment. If someone can get their girlfriend to stop drinking by wishing her well, the odds of recovery will be higher. Unfortunately, this is not possible. She had to quit drinking on her own. And help should include making drinkers aware of their addiction.
Why do women start drinking?
Psychological or emotional reasons why a girl or woman drinks alcohol. She is emotional, mentally vulnerable, she experiences life events more strongly. It doesn't have to be a marginalized woman to begin with. Even outwardly successful representatives of the fair sex from time to time suffer from alcoholism and cannot stop drinking on their own. The main reasons for the onset of abuse are:
- Stressful circumstances due to unstable life, lack of finances, pressure from superiors and colleagues at work or the older generation in the family living nearby.
- Worry about the relationship with your spouse, lack of attention on his part, betrayal, rudeness, frequent absence from home.
- Inability to spend leisure time, feeling bored, lack of interests.
- Without family, I bury myself in work during the day and feel empty at night.
- Loneliness, especially sudden: the death of your husband, his departure or the loss of other loved ones.
- Insomnia, desire to normalize sleep.
- Dieting, an attempt to suppress hunger by restricting eating.
- Genetics, alcoholism among ancestors.
- Menopause, increased physical and mental illness due to changes in the body.
Is alcoholism in women different from alcoholism in men?
A woman gets drunk faster, this is due to the characteristics of her body. Body weight is lower than men, alcohol absorption process is faster. Enzymes that help decompose alcohol are less active, female sex hormones are incompatible with the decomposition products of alcohol.
Due to their physiological characteristics and emotional sphere, women can become addicted to alcohol twice as quickly. When a man is in the early stages of alcoholism, just starting to drink, the woman already feels a strong need to drink.
Stages of alcoholism
They are the same for men and women. Division into stages helps to assess the severity of the disease and complications that arise at this stage. Finding a patient with alcoholism at one stage or another requires different treatment approaches.
- Phase I.The attraction to alcohol arises and grows. A woman gets pleasant feelings from drinking alcohol and wants to repeat them. This is how mental dependence appears. A woman wishes to find herself in situations where she can drink alcohol more often. She is looking for a cause and a suitable company. Observing a woman, you can notice her atypical behavior and more frequent drinking. She explains this by saying that she feels bad or wants to relax, or is worried about problems - family or work.
She cannot objectively assess that her drinking has become more frequent and refuses to quit smoking. He reacts harshly to comments and refuses to analyze his behavior. Conflict with people who want to force her to stay sober. To prevent outside pressure, the woman began to drink alcohol secretly.
- Phase II.Mental dependence has been formed, the mood depends on whether the woman is drunk or not. Physical dependence forms, and the alcoholic begins to feel hungover. She usually drinks a little every day, rarely she binges for days, then rests. But quitting drinking is inherently difficult.
The female body quickly begins to fade. External signs of persistent alcoholism appear. A disheveled appearance, an attempt to hide gray skin under makeup, bags under the eyes and a swollen face revealed a woman addicted to alcohol. Her voice became harsh and hoarse. This behavior shows aggression, hysteria, tearfulness, unwillingness to take responsibility, and alienation from loved ones. She became promiscuous and suffered from gynecological diseases. Memory decline, coma and hand tremor appear.
- Phase III.Physical dependence has developed, it is difficult for a woman to function without alcohol. Irreversible changes have occurred in the body. There are significant disorders in the mental field and internal organs.
Among the disorders characteristic of this stage: alcoholic encephalopathy, polyneuropathy, persistent intellectual impairment, delirium tremens, toxic hepatitis, 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 become a way of life, personality is being destroyed. She lost her job and almost all of her loved ones, who were desperate to see her sober. She has no other hobbies other than alcohol.
When to start treatment
To begin treatment, a woman must understand that she is dependent. Forced treatment will not be beneficial. The desire to quit drinking alcohol needs to be established on your own with the support of loved ones. She should not be left alone or hear accusations. Patience is needed from loved ones. Girls need help from their parents, especially their mothers.
During the first two stages of the disease, she may realize that alcohol leads to trouble and shameful actions. It is also important to understand that alcoholic beverages do not solve her problems, but only aggravate them. We need to help a woman realize that she is harming both herself and her relationships. It is necessary to demonstrate that it is still possible to improve life, explaining that not all is lost, since she has the ability to reason and perceive herself.
There is no need to waste time visiting traditional healers and quacks. They promise to help a person stay sober after one or more short-term treatments. Neither the price of such services nor the advertising reputation guarantees success.
Upon receiving consent for treatment, the woman must go to the hospital where they assist patients with drug treatment. Getting rid of alcoholism is a complex and long process. It should be performed only by a specialist, using complex methods: medication and psychotherapy.
What is medical care?
Treatment methods for alcoholism in women are very diverse. Specialists at the drug treatment hospital select a range of individual treatments based on the characteristics of each woman admitted for treatment. During treatment, the following are used:
- Preparations for detoxification and rapid removal of alcohol breakdown products from the body.
- The drug specializes in forming an aversion to alcohol.
- Medicines to treat disorders caused by alcohol abuse (cardiovascular, neurological, endocrine, psychiatric and other acquired diseases).
- Complex psychotherapy, the help of a psychologist, participation in group and individual classes to solve personal problems and relieve emotions.
- Sustained blockage of opioid receptors. Coding support, hypnotherapy. These methods should only be used in conjunction with other medical and psychotherapeutic interventions. Exposure alone is unlikely to be effective, as the motivation to stay awake outside of complex therapy is quickly lost.
What motivates a woman to stay sober?
The most important factor in a woman's readiness to return to a sober life is acceptance by her loved ones. A man often recovers to annoy someone, trying to prove that he is not completely lost. And women are trying to get sober again for an important purpose. It is important for them to see that people believe in them.
The driving force for an alcoholic to get sober may be the desire to be loved and desired again.A woman wants to start a family and she needs to show her best side. When she meets someone she likes, she develops a desire to get married and realizes she is a mother. This is also the motivation for you to give up alcohol.
Experts also note that women who are alcoholics fear serious illness or death from alcoholism. In men who drink, this fear is less pronounced; For them, this stimulation may not be effective.
A woman with a desire to maintain her health and femininity was able to overcome difficulties during the recovery period. It's important to know that, unlike monotonous binges that ultimately end equally tragically, recovery will give you a full and varied life. The experience of hundreds of thousands of women who have recovered from alcoholism proves this.