Alcoholism is a chronic persistent dependence of the body on products containing ethyl alcohol. A similar problem has not only a medical, but also an important social aspect.
As popular wisdom says: drinking a woman is doubly scary.
The statistics for Russia and the CIS countries are disappointing: if ten years ago for every hundred male alcoholics there were half as many women, now for every 100 people there are 70 women who drink.
Alcoholism is not always easy to recognize. Learning to correctly identify the problem and find its solution is important not only for the patient himself, but also for his relatives.
Features of female alcoholism
Female alcoholism is fundamentally different from male alcoholism in a number of factors. This is due to the physiological characteristics of the fairer sex. Among the factors:
• Significantly faster addiction to alcohol. For unknown reasons, women get used to alcohol many times faster. In men, the average time for physiological addiction to alcohol occurs after six months to a year of systematic use, in women after 2-3 months.
• Resistance to therapy. Female alcoholism is dangerous because it is resistant to treatment. First of all, the reason for this lies in psychology. An alcoholic, as you know, never immediately recognizes his addiction. The fairer sex is much more difficult to convince that they are sick, and therefore harder to “reach out”. Therapy of alcoholism has an effect only when there is a will and desire for recovery.
• Female alcoholism is fraught with the development of mental disorders. Affective disorders are widespread among women alcoholics (manic episodes with euphoria and high spirits alternate with severe depression). Suicidal attempts are frequent. Ethanol use increases the risk of severe neurosis and even psychosis in the context of schizophrenia, reactive conditions. During a hangover, anxiety is observed.
• Female alcoholism is dangerous for the rapid destruction of the liver. Their liver is arranged in a slightly different way, so hepatocytes (liver cells) are more susceptible to alcohol. As a result - toxic hepatitis, cirrhosis and a likely fatal outcome.
• The long-term consequence of female alcoholism is the effect on future offspring. Even after drinking alcohol for 2-3 years, the risk of having a baby with developmental defects remains.
These are the main differences between female alcoholism. As far as one can judge, in the weaker sex the disease is much more malignant and causes a lot of serious complications.
Causes of Female Alcoholism
Female alcoholism is due to a number of psychological and physiological factors. Women are known to be more emotional, therefore more susceptible to impulsive actions and sudden changes in the emotional background. Among the immediate causes are:
• Depressive states, anxiety, neurosis. Mental problems can be caused by various reasons: loss of work, death in the family, betrayal of the husband, etc. Whatever the root of evil, many seek solace in alcohol. In stressful situations, addiction is formed many times faster, this is proven. A vicious circle arises: to relax and forget, a woman drinks alcohol, but, as already found out, ethanol has only a temporary sedative effect and will become much worse in the morning. What is the way out? Obviously, the patient will again reach for the bottle.
• Lack of normal leisure. Lack of leisure and hobby, banal boredom often lead to a bottle. Regrettably, often because of their own weakness, people often start drinking.
• Unrealization in the family plan. A woman - first of all, a mother, the keeper of the hearth, is so instituted by nature, and only then - a worker, a business woman, etc. The genes of any representative of the beautiful half of humanity have a maternity program. Failure in the family sphere leads to dissatisfaction. Not always the woman herself is aware of this, dissatisfaction can be hidden at a subconscious level. Often this causes alcoholism and drug addiction among women 25-35 years old.
• Menopause. During peak hormonal conditions, an increased susceptibility to emotional factors occurs.
There are purely physiological aspects of the problem:
• Reduced ethanol metabolism. The female body is not adapted for the rapid processing of alcohol. For this reason, ethyl alcohol lingers too long in the body and poisons it, providing a longer intoxicating effect.
• Significant intoxicating effect due to the rapid absorption of alcohol through the walls of the intestines, also due to the structure of the liver, women require small doses of alcohol for the onset of intoxication.
• Bad heredity. The presence of alcoholics among the closest relatives increases the risk of developing addiction in the offspring by 2–3 times.
Signs of alcoholism in women
Alcoholism refers to psychophysiological pathologies. Often the woman herself has no idea at what point her illness began. The patient will deny everything. At such a moment, responsibility for the fate of the patient lies with the next of kin.
When you need to be anxious and what are the symptoms of the disease:
• The desire to constantly and systematically drink. With and without reason, a sick woman tends to use ethanol. Moreover, it does not matter what kind of alcohol is involved. In advanced stages, we can even talk about technical alcohol-containing liquids.
• A sharp lack of criticism of her condition: a sick woman simply cannot accept the fact of the presence of the disease. At first, this happens due to misunderstanding, and later due to shame, banal unwillingness.
• Disorders of appetite. Alcoholics most often drink alcohol without snacking, since the main reason for drinking alcohol is the desire to get drunk. Psychological dependence over time develops into a physiological one.
• Changes in appearance. The liver can not cope with such a "pressure", as well as the kidneys begin to fail. As a result, the woman loses her appearance: bags under the eyes appear, the face becomes swollen, the extremities swell, the stomach increases in size.
• Tremor of the limbs.
• Emotional disturbances: lack of initiative, lack of reaction to external stimuli, lack of emotionality.
• Behavioral disorders. A person changes before his eyes: he becomes irritable, rude, evil.
• Cognitive impairment. Alcoholics have reduced memory, a sharp drop in intelligence. Thought processes slow down.
• The urge to drink alone.
Based on the signs of female alcoholism, we can formulate some recommendations on how to distinguish alcoholism from a healthy desire to drink and relax:
• The desire to drink alone.
• A systematic desire to drink alcohol.
• Drinking alcohol without a snack.
• Alcohol-related behavior change.
Female alcoholism treatment
The first and most important step towards treating alcoholism is recognizing the problem. This is the most difficult task for the patient. It is important not to put pressure on the person, since the effect will be exactly the opposite. This problem must be solved together with family members and a qualified psychologist and / or psychotherapist (which is preferable).
For the direct treatment of alcoholism, special medications and “binders” are prescribed. Hypnotherapy ("coding") gives good results.
The treatment should be comprehensive and, in addition, it should be carried out only by qualified doctors, psychiatrists, narcologists, psychotherapists.
Is it possible to get rid of female alcoholism once and for all?
Many people are worried about whether there are former alcoholics and is it possible to get rid of alcoholism once and for all? The answer to this question depends on the willpower of the patient himself and his desire. Sincerely wanting to get rid of the addiction, a woman has every chance to defeat the disease and live a full life. The risk of relapse tends to zero if the woman is in a warm family environment (family support is of great importance) and avoids stressful situations to the maximum. Only then can we hope for a complete and unconditional surrender of the disease.
