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. Alcoholism among women has become widespread in recent years. Younger women who previously could not be forced to drink are increasingly turning to alcohol.
This is a vulnerable category of society; They find it difficult to endure an unstable situation, stress and everyday problems. But a woman is a mother, the foundation of a family and educator of the younger generation, so it is necessary to stop this epidemic.
Emergence of the problem of female alcoholism
Just 20 years ago, female alcoholics represented a small proportion of the drinking population and avoided undergoing 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. Meanwhile, their proportion in relation to male alcoholics has risen sharply. The number of drinking women seeking recovery has increased. The difficulty is that it is not so easy to stop drinking. It's not easy to force yourself to live a sober life.
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 alcohol are judged worse than women. A woman supports her drinking husband. She hopes she can help him stop drinking. And a husband can leave his drinking wife, who shames him and sets a bad example for his children. Local children will not want to see their mother if she is lying somewhere drunk and has forgotten about them.
There has been a growing opinion that female alcoholism is incurable. The roots of this myth lie in society's negative assessment of female drunkenness and the fact that a woman is silent about her problem for a long time and the disease is neglected. Condemnation of female drunkenness hinders the rapid initiation of treatment and makes it less effective. The woman's rapid dependence also plays a role, which soon leads to personal degradation.
Many serious complications resulting from alcohol abuse make it difficult to make an informed decision about treatment. If someone could get their girlfriend to stop drinking by wishing her well, the recovery rate would be higher. Unfortunately this is not possible. She has to 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, she is easier to hurt psychologically, she experiences life events more strongly. It doesn't necessarily have to be a dysfunctional marginalized woman. Even outwardly 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 a troubled life, lack of finances, pressure from superiors and work colleagues or the older generation of the family living nearby.
- Worries about the relationship with your spouse, lack of attention on his part, betrayal, rudeness, frequent absences from home.
- Inability to spend free time, 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 man, his departure or the loss of other loved ones.
- Insomnia, desire to normalize sleep.
- Diet, an attempt to suppress hunger through 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 due to the characteristics of her body. Body weight is lower than that of a man, alcohol absorption occurs more quickly. The enzyme that helps break down alcohol is less active; Female sex hormones are incompatible with the breakdown products of alcohol.
Due to the physiological and emotional peculiarities, a woman can become addicted to alcohol twice as quickly. When a man is in the initial stages of alcoholism and is just starting to drink, a woman already feels a noticeable craving for alcohol.
Stages of alcoholism
They are the same for men and women. The classification into stages helps to assess the severity of the disease and the complications that arise at this stage. To find a patient with alcoholism in one stage or another, different treatment approaches are required.
- Stage IAn attraction to alcohol arises and develops. A woman feels pleasant sensations while drinking and wants to repeat them. This is how psychological dependency arises. 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. If you observe a woman, you may notice her atypical behavior and more frequent drinking. She explains this by feeling bad or wanting to relax or worried about problems - family or work.
She cannot objectively assess the frequency of alcohol consumption and refuses to stop. He reacts sharply to comments and refuses to analyze his behavior. Conflicts with those who want to force her to stay sober. In order to stop the pressure from outside, the woman begins to drink secretly.
- Stage II.Psychological dependence has already formed, the mood depends on whether the woman drank or not. Physical dependence develops and the alcoholic begins to get a hangover. She often drinks a little every day, less often she goes on a binge lasting several days, after which she takes a break. But stopping drinking is very difficult.
The female body begins to fade quickly. External signs of persistent alcoholism appear. An unkempt appearance, attempts to hide a gray complexion under decorative cosmetics, bags under the eyes and a swollen face betray a woman who drinks. Her voice becomes rough and hoarse. The behavior shows aggressiveness, hysteria, tearfulness, unwillingness to take responsibility and alienation from loved ones. She becomes sexually promiscuous and has gynecological diseases. Memory declines, lethargy and hand tremors appear.
- Stage III.Physical dependence has developed; it is difficult for a woman to do without alcohol. Irreversible changes have occurred in the body. Significant mental disorders and internal organs occur.
Disorders characteristic of this stage include: alcoholic encephalopathy, polyneuropathy, persistent loss of 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.
A return to a sober life is nearly impossible. Drinking has already become a way of life, your personality is being destroyed. She lost her job and almost all of her loved ones who despaired of seeing her sober. She has no interests other than alcohol.
When should treatment start?
To begin treatment, a woman must understand that she is addicted. Compulsory treatment will not bring any benefit. The desire to stop drinking should be developed on your own with the support of loved ones. She shouldn't be left alone and shouldn't listen to 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 can see that alcohol leads to anger and shameful actions. One must also understand that alcoholic drinks do not solve their problems, but only make them worse. We must help a woman realize that she is harming herself and her relationships. It should be shown that it is still possible to improve life and explained that all is not lost since she is able to think and be self-aware.
You don't need to waste time turning to traditional healers and charlatans. They promise to get a person sober in one or more short treatments. Neither the price of such services nor the popularity of the advertising guarantee success.
If consent to treatment is given, the woman must go to a hospital where she will provide assistance to patients being treated with drugs. Getting rid of alcohol addiction is a complex and lengthy process. It should only be carried out by a specialist using complex methods: medication and psychotherapeutic.
What is medical care?
Treatment methods for female alcoholism are very diverse. The specialists of the drug hospital select an individual package of treatment measures based on the characteristics of each woman admitted for treatment. The treatment uses:
- Preparations for detoxification and rapid removal of alcohol breakdown products from the body.
- Drugs specializing in the formation of an aversion to alcohol.
- Drugs for the correction of disorders resulting from alcohol abuse (cardiological, neurological, endocrinological, psychiatric spectrum and other acquired pathologies).
- Complex psychotherapy, help from a psychologist, attending group and individual courses to solve personal problems and provide emotional relief.
- Maintenance blocking of opioid receptors. Supportive coding, hypnotherapy. These methods should only be used in combination with other medical and psychotherapeutic interventions. Isolated exposure has practically no effect, since motivation for sobriety quickly wanes outside of complex therapy.
What motivates a woman to be sober?
The most important factor that prepares a woman to return to a sober life is acceptance from her loved ones. A man often resorts to annoying someone and proving that he is not completely lost. And women try to get sober for some important reason. 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 wanted again.A woman wants to start a family and needs to put her best foot forward. When she meets someone she likes, she feels the desire to get married and fulfill herself as a mother. This also motivates you to give up alcohol.
Experts also point out that alcoholic women are afraid of serious illness or death as a result of alcoholism. This fear is less pronounced in men who drink; This stimulus may not work for them.
Desiring to remain healthy and feminine, a woman is able to overcome the difficulties of the recovery period. It is important to know that recovery gives you a full and varied life, unlike monotonous bouts that ultimately end just as tragically. This is proven by the experience of hundreds of thousands of women who have already overcome alcoholism.