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 situations of instability, stress and everyday problems. But women are mothers, the foundation of the family and educators of the younger generations, which is why it is necessary to stop this epidemic.
Formation of the problem of female alcoholism
Just 20 years ago, female alcoholics accounted for a small portion of alcohol consumption and avoided seeking anti-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 in relation to male alcoholics has increased a lot. There has been an increase in the number of women who drink and seek recovery. The difficulty is that stopping 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 embarrasses him and sets a bad example for her children. Native children will not want to see their mother when she is somewhere drunk and forgets about them.
The opinion that female alcoholism is incurable has become stronger. The roots of this myth lie in society's negative assessment of female drunkenness and the fact that women remain silent about their problem for a long time, and the disease becomes neglected. The condemnation of female drunkenness interferes with the rapid initiation of treatment and makes it less effective. The woman's rapid involvement in addiction, which quickly 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 get their girlfriend to stop drinking by wishing her good luck, the recovery rate would be higher. Unfortunately, this is not possible. She must stop drinking on her own. And 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 get hurt mentally, she experiences life events with more force. For starters, she doesn't have to be a dysfunctional marginalized 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 start of abuse are:
- Stressful conditions due to unstable life, lack of financial resources, pressure from superiors and co-workers or the older generation of the family living nearby.
- Concerns about the relationship with the spouse, lack of attention on his part, betrayal, rudeness, frequent absences from home.
- Inability to spend leisure time, bored, lack of hobbies.
- Lack of family, immersion in work during the day and emptiness at night.
- Loneliness, especially sudden: the death of a husband, his departure, or the loss of other loved ones.
- Insomnia, desire to normalize sleep.
- Diet, an attempt to suppress hunger with dietary 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 the emotional sphere, a woman can become dependent on alcohol twice as fast. When a man is in the early stages of alcoholism, just starting to drink, a woman already feels a noticeable need to drink.
Stages of alcoholism
They are the same for men and women. The division into stages helps to assess the severity of the disease and the complications that arise at this stage. Finding a patient with alcoholism at one stage or another requires different treatment approaches.
- Stage I.An attraction to alcohol emerges and develops. A woman feels pleasant sensations when drinking and wants to repeat them. This is how mental dependence arises. A woman wants to find herself in situations where she can drink more frequently. She is looking for a reason and a suitable company. Observing a woman, you can notice her atypical behavior and her more frequent consumption. She explains this by saying that she felt bad or wanted to relax, or was worried about problems-family or work.
She is unable to objectively assess that her alcohol consumption has become more frequent and refuses to stop. He reacts sharply to the comments and refuses to analyze her behavior. She clashes with those who want to force her to get sober. To stop the external pressure, the woman begins to drink secretly.
- Stage II.Mental dependence has already been formed, the mood depends on whether the woman drank or not. Physical dependence forms, the alcoholic begins to have a hangover. She usually drinks a little every day, less often she goes into a multi-day binge, after which there is a break. But stopping drinking is already very difficult.
The female body quickly begins to disappear. External signs of persistent alcoholism appear. An unkempt appearance, attempts to hide the gray complexion under decorative cosmetics, bags under the eyes and a swollen face reveal a drinking woman. Her voice becomes rough and hoarse. The behavior shows aggression, hysteria, crying, unwillingness to take responsibility and alienation from loved ones. She becomes sexually promiscuous and has gynecological illnesses. Memory weakens, lethargy and hand tremors appear.
- Stage III.Physical dependence developed; It is difficult for a woman to live without alcohol. Irreversible changes occurred in the body. There are significant disorders in the mental sphere and internal organs.
Among the disorders characteristic of this phase: alcoholic encephalopathy, polyneuropathy, persistent decline in intelligence, delirium tremens, toxic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, kidney 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 almost impossible. Drinking has already become a way of life, the personality is being destroyed. She lost her job and almost all of her loved ones, who lost hope of ever seeing her sober. She has no interests other than alcohol.
When to start treatment
To begin treatment, the woman must understand that she is dependent. Forced treatment will not be beneficial. The desire to stop drinking must be formed on your own, with the support of loved ones. She should not be left alone or hear accusations. Patience of loved ones is required. The girl must be helped by her parents, especially her mother.
In the first two phases of the disease, she can see that alcohol brings problems and shameful actions. You also need to understand that alcoholic drinks do not solve your problems, they only make them worse. We need to help a woman realize that she is harming herself and her relationships. She must show that it is still possible to improve life, explain that not everything is lost, as she is capable of reasoning and being aware of herself.
There is no need to waste time turning to traditional healers and charlatans. They promise to sober a person up in one or more short treatments. Neither the price of such services nor advertising fame guarantees success.
Upon receiving consent for treatment, the woman must go to a hospital where she provides assistance to patients undergoing drug treatment. Getting rid of alcohol addiction is a complex and long process. It should only be carried out by a specialist doctor, using complex methods: medicinal and psychotherapeutic.
What is medical care?
Methods of treating female alcoholism are very diverse. Specialists at the drug treatment hospital select an individual set of treatment measures 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.
- Drugs specialized in the formation of aversion to alcohol.
- Medicines to correct disorders resulting from alcohol abuse (cardiological, neurological, endocrinological, psychiatric spectrum and other acquired pathologies).
- Complex psychotherapy, assistance from a psychologist, attendance at group and individual classes to resolve personal problems and provide emotional relief.
- Maintenance blockade of opioid receptors. Support coding, hypnotherapy. These methods should only be used in combination with other medical and psychotherapeutic interventions. Exposure alone has virtually no effect, as the motivation for sobriety outside of complex therapy quickly disappears.
What motivates a woman to get sober?
The most important factor that prepares a woman to return to a sober life is acceptance by loved ones. Often a man will recover to irritate someone, trying to prove that he is not completely lost. And women are trying to get sober again for some important purpose. It's important for them to see that people believe in them.
An incentive to sobriety for a patient with alcoholism may be the desire to feel loved and desired again.A woman wants to start a family and needs to show what's best in 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 note 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, manages to overcome the difficulties of the recovery period. It is important to know that, unlike monotonous binges that end equally tragically, recovery will provide you with a full and varied life. The experience of hundreds of thousands of women who have already got rid of alcoholism proves this.