A woman’s body processes alcohol more slowly than a man’s. One drink for a woman has about twice the effect of one for a man. Women are more likely to develop serious diseases like osteoporosis and pancreatitis. These issues will likely happen because liquor will affect a woman’s menstrual cycle. Large fluctuations in hormonal levels can cause the body to go haywire. It can cause vital organs to cease to function properly.

• After an emergency room visit, she was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis at just 31 years old and only ten years of drinking.
• Moreover, “women appear to be more vulnerable than men to many adverse consequences of alcohol use,” NIAAA reports, including a higher risk for alcohol-related liver, brain, and heart damage.
• “There needs to be just more overall public awareness of the concerns around women’s drinking, and I don’t think we’re there yet,” Sugarman said.
• She adds that more research is necessary to make these tests more accurate and widely available.
• In 2019, she returned to UNC-Chapel Hill and finished her degree in women’s and gender studies, even completing a capstone project on the links among sexual violence, trauma and addiction.
• Psychotherapy, self-help groups, and medications are all
  available to help women stop or reduce their drinking.

Instead, it is a combined result of increased acceptance of drinking, including targeted marketing campaigns, and the desire to cope with anxiety and stress among women. It is unclear why more women are developing an AUD, although some addiction experts believe this is caused by increased stress. Cultural roles have changed dramatically for https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/women-and-alcoholism-how-to-recognize-an-addiction/ women in the past 20 years. Many mothers are working a full-time job and raising children alone and turning to alcohol to cope. Because of social stigma, many men are not willing to admit they need help when their drinking gets out of hand. Cultural expectations can lead men to believe they are weak or “less of a man” if they admit defeat.

Addiction Treatment Programs at Promises Behavioral Health

In Cooper’s teenage years, alcohol helped her overcome social anxiety, she said. Then she was sexually assaulted, and a new pattern emerged. “It’s hard to get out of that cycle of shame, drinking and abuse,” Cooper said. This trend parallels the rise in mental health concerns among young women, and researchers worry the long-term effects of the covid-19 pandemic could amplify both patterns. That common image of who is affected by alcohol disorders, echoed throughout pop culture, was misleading over a decade ago when Cooper was in college. In addition to the rise in alcoholism in women, research is also revealing that women are experiencing increases in depression, anxiety, and suicide—add alcohol to the mix and it can be deadly.

This is because the damages outweigh the fun of drinking. When a woman has become an alcoholic, she cannot abstain even when she considers all the problems alcohol has caused in her life. She may get in trouble with the law and get charged with a DUI. She may lose her job or may ruin her relationships with her family and friends. Most women will try to reduce their drinking when they realize it has gone too far.

Effects of Alcohol Use on Women

The few studies that enrolled both men and women did not examine the impact of gender differences. Women in many different cultures enjoy drinking alcohol for a variety of reasons—to celebrate a special occasion, help them feel more sociable, or simply to unwind with family and friends. While many are able to drink responsibly, alcohol use does pose unique risks to all women. While men are more likely to drink alcohol than women, and to develop problems because of their drinking, women are much more vulnerable to alcohol’s harmful effects. As a woman ages, her body will often have a harder time managing alcohol. These problems can be misdiagnosed as age-related problems.

Women are more vulnerable than men to alcohol’s effects, even after drinking smaller amounts. Heavy drinking can lead to increased risk of health problems such as liver disease, brain damage, and breast cancer. Women are as likely as men to recover from alcohol dependence, but women may have more difficulty gaining access to treatment.

Journal of Studies on Alcohol

Psychotherapy, self-help groups, and medications are all
available to help women stop or reduce their drinking. For a long time, professionals believed that women with substance abuse problems were less likely than men to recover from them. Yet limited evidence on the matter was available, because many studies on the outcome of substance abuse treatment conducted before the 1990s enrolled only men.

To ease withdrawal symptoms, patients go through alcohol detox. It’s the psychological symptoms that take the longest to disappear. These symptoms can emerge from nowhere up to several years after someone stops drinking.

Sober-curious: Alcohol-free wine, cocktails and spirits grow in popularity

Alcoholism affects not only the alcoholic but also those around them as well. Risky behavior and moodiness can create negative situations. It can also cause many issues to escalate out of control. Someone who is under the influence of alcohol may say or do things that they normally wouldn’t if they were sober. Women can suffer from a number of unique alcohol-related health risks that do not impact their male counterparts and are more susceptible to several that men do experience.

Companies have jumped on these anxieties by creating kitschy products with phrases like “mommy juice” and “wine o’clock” and even alcohol-bottle-shaped jewelry and bags. Women of all ages are using jokes like these to cope with the anxieties of everyday life and justify their drinking habits. In the early 20th century, drinking was primarily considered a male activity, as women generally stayed out of the public sphere of alcoholism. Women were mostly confined to the home, away from the social drinking scene. The rise of feminism meant women gained access to spaces that were formerly unwelcome to them. Female empowerment also challenged previously gendered beliefs about drinking.

Alcohol consumption can cause early-onset dementia because it causes cognitive abnormalities. This is why many people ‘black out.’ Alcohol can also reduce short-term memory and target higher-executive cognitive functions. These effects are even more pronounced among those who participate in heavy drinking. But even that may be too much for many women, depending on their mental health or family history of drinking, Sugarman said.

The Hormone Connection 
Dr. Grant is taking a closer look at the role female reproductive hormones (specifically, progesterone) play in alcohol consumption and alcohol sensitivity. Her research suggests that women’s menstrual cycles (and fluctuating hormones) may have a lot to do with when we choose to drink and how much we drink. A confidential consultation is the first step to being admitted to most alcohol rehab programs, such as those at Bradford or A Reprieve for Women. A recovery professional conducts an assessment to determine the type of rehab program needed for the person’s situation.

The Importance of Getting Treatment for Alcohol Addiction

Women have lower levels of two enzymes—alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase—that metabolize (break down) alcohol in the stomach and liver. As a result, women absorb more alcohol into their bloodstreams than men. Several biological factors make women more vulnerable to the effects of alcohol than men. Trends suggest that white, employed women are drinking greater amounts of alcohol and with greater frequency. Some of this increase may reflect a greater comfort on the part of women to discuss their drinking. Someone who is addicted to alcohol will continue to drink even if everything else in her life goes wrong.

When a mother drinks, the liquor gets passed on to the baby through the umbilical cord. The effects of the alcohol will then interfere with the baby’s development. Those who are pregnant should abstain from all alcoholic beverages. The intensity of the withdrawal symptoms is the main reason many recovering alcoholics relapse. In fact, relapse is surprisingly common among recovering addicts. Most people will need to go through several relapses before they are able to shake off an alcohol addiction for good.