The fair sex, having received male social roles, took over male bad habits. With what persistence women fought in the 20th century to expand their own rights and powers. Suffragettes, feminists, emancipation - what kind of movements were there. Now, in many ways, women have become on a par with men - they run companies, international organizations and states, drive cars, planes and spaceships.
… a woman needs an average of three years to develop alcohol dependence, while a man can develop the disease for decades
The fair sex received male social roles, activity and responsibility. At the same time, the ladies also adopted the negative aspects of "male" behavior, including alcoholic behavior. And now they also drink on a par with men. Alcoholism, which for a long time was considered a primordially masculine misfortune, is becoming more and more feminine.
Now in Moscow it has increased to 1: 4. And in Europe and the USA, this figure already reaches 1: 3 - 1: 2.
The problem of women drinking has become overgrown with a huge number of misconceptions and outright myths that make it difficult to see the true face of the problem. Let's try to understand some of the intricacies of the relationship "woman - alcohol".
The term "female alcoholism"
This is the very first misconception. In the International Classification of Diseases of the 10th revision, such a disease does not exist. It would be more correct to talk about “alcoholism in women”. Yes, the course of this pathology in the fairer sex has its own characteristics, but there is no reason to say that this is an independent disease.
The drinking woman is a downsized loser
In fact, not only bums in the train station can have problems with alcohol, but also very successful women. Suffice it to recall the high-profile alcohol scandals around actress Lindsay Lohan and singer Britney Spears. It is difficult to call them failed and weak-willed. Another question is that regular alcohol abuse gradually destroys the personality, and after a few years the cool business woman differs from the same train station bum with exceptionally expensive makeup and clothes. Nothing else.
Genetics plays a decisive role in the development of alcoholism in women
Up to 76 percent of relatives of women who drink drink also drink. The daughter of a drinking woman has a 4 times higher risk of developing alcoholism than her son.
Women get drunk with "noble" drinks
Women get drunk faster
But this statement is true. Indeed, an average of three years is enough for a woman to develop addiction, while a man can develop the disease for decades. This is due to the peculiarities of the structure of the female body. Less water content in the body than men and less body weight lead to the fact that, all other things being equal, a higher concentration of alcohol appears in the blood. In addition, cyclical fluctuations in the hormonal background also affect - during premenstrual syndrome, when many women experience tension, irritability, anxiety, alcohol is better absorbed from the stomach, which leads to greater intoxication at the end of the menstrual cycle.
Alcoholism in women develops later - on average at 26 years old, while in men - at 23 years old.
But the disease in women progresses faster, and they are forced to seek treatment after 7 years, while men "hold out" more than twice as long - 16 years.
Hard drinking is the lot of men
In fact, this is the lot of women, oddly enough. For men, regular use of alcohol is more typical, but among women who drink, in 82 percent of cases, there is the same "periodic form of abuse", which is colloquially called binge. They can last for 1-2 months, then alternating with the same long "light" intervals.
Women try to fight stress with alcohol
In fact, this is a masculine way to relieve tension. Women are usually stressed by stress. And, as studies show, among working family women, the percentage of alcohol abusers is the lowest, but among childless housewives it is obscenely high. This does not mean that all housewives drink, but the fact that permanent idleness multiplied by loneliness within four walls pushes to alcohol - a fact.
Women drink alone
Indeed, a man most often drinks outside the home, and in the overwhelming majority of cases he definitely needs a company and a reason (often the reason is simply the presence of a company). Due to social and psychological taboos, a woman hides her drunkenness, so she drinks on the sly, at home, so that no one can see. Moreover, the process itself is spontaneous - a "short circuit" occurs in the brain, a woman puts herself on a glass and only then thinks about what happened.
Alcoholism is more severe in women than in men
In women suffering from alcohol dependence, somatic disorders (damage to the liver, heart, blood vessels, endocrine glands) rapidly develop.
In women who drink, their periods stop 10-15 years earlier than in non-drinkers, signs of aging appear faster.
Female alcoholism is incurable
In fact, any alcoholism is incurable by definition. This diagnosis is acquired for life. You can only quit drinking, and remission will last exactly as long as alcohol does not enter the body. The very first sip of alcohol will lead to a breakdown into the abyss of the disease. Observations show that the treatment of alcohol-dependent women is even more successful than the treatment of men. The natural endurance of the body allows patients to go into long-term remission. But the same endurance can play a cruel joke on a woman - seeming well-being, minimal positive dynamics are already considered recovery, and a rare representative of the fair sex brings the course of treatment to its logical conclusion.
Drinking woman just doesn't want to give up her bad habit
In fact, in the overwhelming majority of cases, she physically cannot do this, because alcoholism is not a bad habit, but a serious illness. Ethyl alcohol is built into the metabolism once and for all, and if there is a physical dependence on alcohol, only a doctor can help to overcome it. And only a few can get rid of psychological dependence on their own.
