It is not as difficult for a man to get rid of alcohol addiction as it is for an ordinary woman to give up alcohol. In recent years, female alcoholism has become widespread. Young women, who previously could not be forced to get drunk, are more and more attracted to drinking.
This is a sensitive category of society, it is difficult to tolerate an unstable situation, stress and everyday problems. But a woman is a mother, the foundation of the family and the educator of the young generation, so this epidemic must be prevented.
Formation of female alcoholism problem
Just 20 years ago, female alcoholics made up a small percentage of people who drank and avoided seeking treatment for alcoholism. They were ashamed of their illness and hid it. Gradually, more representatives of the fair sex began to ask for help. Now their percentage compared to male alcoholics has increased a lot. There is an increase in the number of women drinkers seeking recovery. The trouble is, quitting drinking isn't that easy. Forcing yourself to live sober isn't easy.
Many women continue to drink alone and hide their alcohol addiction. Men and women are at a disadvantage when they are alcoholics. In society, men who drink are judged less than women. A woman supports her alcoholic husband. She hopes she can help him stop drinking. A husband can leave his alcoholic wife who shames him and sets a bad example for his children. Native children will not want to see their mother lying around drunk and forgotten.
The idea that female alcoholism is incurable has become stronger. The roots of this myth lie in the society's negative evaluation of female drunkenness, and the woman's long-term silence about her problem, the disease being ignored. Condemnation of female intoxication prevents the rapid initiation of treatment and reduces its effectiveness. A woman's quick involvement in addiction, which quickly leads to her personal degradation, also plays a role.
Many serious complications from alcohol abuse make it difficult to make the right decision to seek treatment. If one could get her friend to stop drinking by wishing her well, the recovery rate would be higher. Unfortunately, this is not possible. He should give up alcohol himself. And help should include making drinkers aware of their addiction.
Why do women start drinking?
Psychological or emotional reasons lead a girl or woman to drink. He is emotional, it is easier to hurt his soul, he experiences life events more strongly. You don't have to be a dysfunctional marginalized woman to begin with. Even outwardly successful representatives of the fairer sex suffer from alcoholism from time to time and cannot stop drinking on their own. The main reasons for the initiation of abuse are:
- Unstable life, lack of finances, pressure from superiors and colleagues at work or stressful situations related to the elderly generation of the family living nearby.
- Worrying about the relationship with your spouse, his lack of attention, betrayal, rudeness, often being away from home.
- Not being able to spend free time, feeling bored, not having hobbies.
- Absence of family, work during the day, and idleness in the evenings.
- Loneliness, especially sudden: the death of a husband, his departure or the loss of other loved ones.
- Insomnia, the desire to normalize sleep.
- Dieting, an attempt to suppress hunger with food restrictions.
- Heredity, alcoholism among ancestors.
- Menopause, an increase in physical and mental disorders 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 an adult, absorption of alcohol occurs faster. The enzyme that helps break down alcohol is less active, female sex hormones are not compatible with alcohol breakdown products.
Due to the peculiarities of physiology and emotional sphere, a woman can become addicted to alcohol twice as fast. When a man is in the initial stages of alcoholism, just getting involved in drinking, a woman already feels a noticeable need for alcohol.
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 approaches to treatment.
- Stage I.An attraction to alcohol arises and develops. A woman gets good feelings from 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. Looking for a reason and suitable company. Observing a woman, you can see her atypical behavior and drinking more often. He explains it by saying that he feels bad, or that he wants to rest, or that he is worried about problems - family or work.
He cannot objectively assess that drinking is happening more often and that he refuses to give up. He reacts sharply to comments and refuses to analyze his behavior. Conflicts with those who want to force him to stay sober. To stop the pressure from the outside, the woman begins to drink secretly.
- Stage II. Mental dependence has already been formed, the mood depends on whether the woman is drunk or not. Physical dependence is formed, hangover begins in alcoholics. He often drinks a little every day, less often he drinks for many days, after which there is a break. But quitting drinking is already very difficult.
A woman's body begins to fade quickly. External signs of persistent alcoholism appear. An untidy appearance, attempts to hide gray under decorative cosmetics, bags under the eyes, a puffy face reveal a woman who drinks. His voice becomes hoarse and hoarse. Aggressiveness, hysteria, tearfulness, reluctance to take responsibility, distance from loved ones are shown in the behavior. She is sexually active and has gynecological diseases. Memory weakens, lethargy and hand tremors appear.
- III stage.Physical dependence has developed, it is difficult for a woman to work without alcohol. Irreversible changes 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 decline of intelligence, delirium tremens, toxic hepatitis, cirrhosis of the liver, renal failure, chronic pancreatitis, risk of heart attack and stroke. The risk of poisoning from alcohol substitutes is quite high.
It is almost impossible to return to sober life. Drinking has become a way of life, personality is destroyed. He lost his job and nearly all of his loved ones, who had given up hope of seeing him sober. He 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 help. The desire to give up alcohol should be formed on its own with the support of loved ones. He should not be left alone and listen to accusations. Patience is required from your loved ones. A girl should be helped by her parents, especially her mother.
In the first two stages of the disease, he can understand that alcohol causes troubles and shameful actions. It is also necessary to understand that alcohol does not solve his problems, but rather aggravates them. We need to help the woman understand that she is harming herself and her relationship. It is necessary to show that it is still possible to improve life, to explain that all is not lost, because he is able to think and be aware of himself.
No need to waste time going to traditional doctors and quacks. They promise to sober up a person in one or more short treatments. Neither the price of such services nor the popularity of advertising guarantee success.
When the consent for treatment is obtained, the woman must go to the hospital, which provides assistance to drug addiction patients. Getting rid of alcohol addiction is a complex and long 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 of the drug hospital choose a complex of individual treatment measures based on the characteristics of each woman admitted for treatment. The following are used during treatment:
- Preparations for detoxification and rapid removal of alcohol breakdown products from the body.
- Drugs specializing in the formation of aversion to alcohol.
- Medicines for the correction of disorders caused by alcohol abuse (cardiological, neurological, endocrinological, psychiatric spectrum and other acquired pathologies).
- Complex psychotherapy, help of a psychologist, participation in group and individual classes for solving personal problems and emotional relaxation.
- Sustained blockade of opioid receptors. Supportive coding, hypnotherapy. These methods should only be used in conjunction with other medical and psychotherapeutic interventions. Isolated exposure has virtually no effect, as the motivation for sobriety outside complex therapy quickly disappears.
What makes a woman sober?
The most important factor that drives a woman to return to sobriety is acceptance by loved ones. A person often recovers to hold a grudge against someone, trying to prove that he is not completely lost. And women are trying to get sober again for some important purpose. It is important for them to see that people believe in them.
For a patient with alcoholism, the motivation for sobriety may be the desire to feel loved and desired again.A woman wants to start a family and she should show herself in a good way. When she meets someone she likes, she wants to start a family and realize herself as a mother. This also prompts you to give up alcohol.
Experts also note that alcoholic women fear serious illness or death as a result of alcoholism. This fear is less pronounced in men who drink, for whom this stimulus may not work.
A woman, wishing to remain healthy and feminine, can overcome the difficulties of the recovery period. It's important to know that unlike monotonous drinking, which ultimately ends in an equally tragic end, recovery will give you a full and varied life. The experience of hundreds of thousands of women who have already recovered from alcoholism proves this.