It is not as difficult for a man to get rid of alcohol addiction as it is for an average woman to stop drinking alcohol. Female alcoholism has become widespread in recent years. Young 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 bear unstable situations, stress and daily problems. But a woman is a mother, the foundation of a family and an educator of the young generation, so it is necessary to stop this epidemic.
The formation of the problem of female alcoholism
Just 20 years ago, female alcoholics made up a small proportion of people who drank and avoided seeking anti-alcohol treatment. They are ashamed of their illness and hide it. Gradually, more and more representatives of the fair sex began to seek help. Now the percentage of them in contact with male alcoholics has increased a lot. There is an increase in the number of female drinkers who want to recover. The difficulty is that quitting drinking is not that easy. It is not easy to force yourself to live calmly.
Many women continue to drink alone and hide their alcoholism. Men and women are at a disadvantage when they become alcoholics. In society, men who drink are valued less than women. A woman supports her alcoholic husband. He wishes he could help him stop drinking. And a husband can leave his drunken wife, who shames him and sets a bad example for his children. Native children will not want to see their mother when she is lying somewhere drunk and has forgotten about them.
The opinion has become stronger that female alcoholism cannot be cured. The root of this myth is in the negative assessment of female drunkenness by society and in the fact that a woman remains silent about her problem for a long time, and the disease becomes ignored. Condemnation of female intoxication interferes with the rapid initiation of treatment and makes it less effective. A woman's rapid involvement in addiction, which soon leads to personal deterioration, also plays a role.
Many serious complications from alcohol abuse make it difficult to make the right decision to seek treatment. If someone can get their girlfriend to stop drinking by saying goodbye, the recovery rate will be higher. Unfortunately this is not possible. He must quit alcohol himself. And help should consist of making drinkers aware of their addiction.
Why do women start drinking?
Psychological or emotional reasons cause a girl or woman to drink. He's emotional, he's easier to hurt mentally, he experiences life events more strongly. It doesn't have to be a dysfunctional marginalized woman to begin with. 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 initiation of abuse are:
- A stressful situation due to an uncertain life, lack of finances, pressure from superiors and colleagues at work or older generations of family living nearby.
- Concerns about the relationship with your partner, lack of attention on his part, betrayal, rudeness, frequent absences at home.
- Inability to spend free time, feeling bored, lack of hobbies.
- Less family, busy working during the day and empty in the evening.
- Loneliness, especially sudden: the death of a husband, his departure or the loss of another loved one.
- Insomnia, the desire to normalize sleep.
- Dieting, an attempt to suppress hunger with food restriction.
- Heredity, alcoholism among ancestors.
- Menopause, an increase in physical and mental illness 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. Weight less than men, alcohol absorption occurs faster. Enzymes that help break down alcohol are less active; female sex hormones are incompatible with alcohol breakdown products.
Due to the physiological characteristics and the emotional sphere, a woman can become dependent on alcohol twice as fast. When a man is in the early stages of alcoholism, only engaged in drinking, a woman already feels a significant need for alcohol.
Level 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 patients with alcoholism at one stage or another requires a different treatment approach.
- Stage I.The attraction to alcohol arises and develops. A woman gets a pleasant sensation from drinking and wants to repeat it. This is how mental dependence appears. A woman has a desire to find herself in a situation where she can drink more often. He is looking for the right cause and company. Observing a woman, you can see her atypical behavior and drinking more often. He explains this by saying that he feels bad or wants to rest, or worries about problems - family or work.
He cannot objectively assess that drinking has become more frequent and refuses to stop. He reacts sharply to comments and refuses to analyze his behavior. Conflict with those who want to force him to remain conscious. To stop the pressure from the outside, the woman started drinking secretly.
- Stage II.Mental dependence has already formed, the mood depends on whether the woman is drunk or not. A form of physical dependence, alcoholics begin to experience hangovers. He often drinks a little every day, less often he has a multi-day party, after which there is a break. But stopping drinking is already very difficult.
The woman's body quickly began to fade. External signs of alcoholism continue to appear. An untidy appearance, an attempt to hide gray skin under decorative cosmetics, bags under the eyes, and a swollen face reveal a woman who drinks. His voice became rough and hoarse. The behavior shows aggression, hysteria, tearfulness, irresponsibility, and alienation from loved ones. He became sexually promiscuous and had gynecological diseases. Memory is getting weaker, lethargy and trembling hands.
- Stage 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 disturbances in the mental sphere and in the internal organs.
Among the features of this level of disorder: alcoholic encephalopathy, polyneuropathy, persistent decline in intelligence, delirium tremens, toxic hepatitis, cirrhosis of the liver, kidney failure, chronic pancreatitis, risk of heart attack and stroke. The risk of poisoning from alcohol substitutes is very high.
Returning to a quiet life is almost impossible. Drinking has become a way of life, personality is getting destroyed. He lost his job and almost everyone he loved, who were desperate to see him come to his senses. He has no other interests than alcohol.
When to start treatment
To start treatment, a woman must understand that she is dependent. Forced treatment will not help. The desire to stop drinking should be formed by oneself with the support of loved ones. He should not be left alone or 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, he can realize that alcohol leads to problems and shameful actions. It is also necessary to understand that alcoholic beverages do not solve the problems, but only worsen them. We need to help a woman realize that she is endangering herself and her relationship. It should be shown that it is still possible to improve life, explain that not everything is lost, because he can reason and realize himself.
No need to waste time going to traditional healers and scammers. They promise to get someone sober in one or more short treatments. Neither the price of such services nor the popularity of advertising guarantees success.
When consent for treatment is received, the woman must go to the hospital where they provide assistance to drug treatment patients. Getting rid of alcohol addiction is a complex and long process. It should only be carried out by a specialist doctor, using complex methods: medicine and psychotherapy.
What is medical care?
Treatment methods for female alcoholism are very diverse. Specialists in drug treatment hospitals choose a set of individual 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.
- A drug that specializes in the formation of aversion to alcohol.
- Medicines for the correction of disorders due to alcohol abuse (cardiology, neurology, endocrinology, psychiatric spectrum and other acquired pathologies).
- Complex psychotherapy, help from a psychologist, attending group and individual classes to solve personal problems and relieve emotions.
- Blockade of maintenance of opioid receptors. Coding support, hypnotherapy. This method should be used only in combination with other medical and psychotherapeutic interventions. Isolated exposure has almost no effect, because the motivation for sobriety outside of complex therapy quickly disappears.
What drives a woman to become conscious?
The most important factor that determines a woman to return to a healthy life is acceptance by loved ones. A man often recovers to insult someone, trying to prove that he is not completely lost. And women are trying to become conscious again for some important purpose. It is important for them to see that people believe in them.
The incentive for sobriety for patients with alcohol can be the desire to feel loved and desired again.A woman wants to build a family, and she needs to show her best side. When she meets someone she likes, she has the desire to get married and realizes herself as a mother. This also encourages you to stop drinking alcohol.
Experts also note that female alcoholics fear serious illness or death from alcoholism. In men who drink, this fear is less pronounced; for them this stimulation may not work.
A woman, in her desire to remain healthy and feminine, can overcome the difficulties of the recovery period. It is important to know that, unlike a boring party that eventually ends in the same tragic way, recovery will give you a full and varied life. The experience of hundreds of thousands of women who have gotten rid of alcohol proves this.