There is a common belief that female alcoholism cannot be completely overcome. We decided to check whether this myth has a scientific basis.
The assertion that female alcoholism is incurable is extremely popular in our country and is passed on from mouth to mouth. Parents scare their daughters with it, and husbands scare their wives, trying to limit their alcohol consumption. This phrase even formed the basis of several jokes And jokes, for example, “Women’s alcoholism is incurable, but men’s is inevitable” and “The expression “women’s alcoholism is incurable” is sexist, it should be said: “Women’s alcoholism is much more effective than men’s.” Raise question, is this statement true, and many drug addicts clinics, however, they note that this is mostly a myth. Service users ask about this questions And answers. This topic also appears in the media: there was a story about it Channel One, wrote "Komsomolskaya Pravda" and some other publications.
Despite the fact that the statement we are interested in is quite popular, ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases) does not classify female alcoholism as a separate disease. Accordingly, it should not be significantly different from a man’s. So where did this myth come from?
One of the most important factors influencing the success of treatment for alcoholism is timely access to doctors. The sooner the patient begins treatment, the faster and easier it is to overcome the disease. Women apply men seek medical help less often and do so at later, more advanced stages, because they are ashamed of their painful addiction and, if they have children, they are afraid of problems with the guardianship authorities. Society is more critical of female alcoholics than of male alcoholics. In addition, women often do not have time to attend regular sessions with a doctor or therapy groups due to work and household responsibilities.
Besides, research showed that alcoholism in women is more often accompanied by mental and psychological problems, which means that for successful treatment they more often require concomitant therapy. Exists opinionthat treatment of alcoholism in women is more effective if it takes place in all-female groups, since, being with people of the same sex, women feel more comfortable and are more willing to share personal experiences, which also led to alcohol addiction. Scientists converge in the opinion that in many cases of treatment of alcoholism in women, a gender-oriented approach is necessary. This primarily applies to pregnant women, those who have been sexually abused, and women with eating disorders.
At the same time, women in general become alcoholics less often than men. According to statistics WHO, there are several times more men suffering from alcoholism than women. The same proportion holds true for those for whom alcoholism has become fatal: in 2018, about 3 million people worldwide died from excessive drinking, and three quarters of them were men. It is logical to assume that if alcoholism in women, unlike men, had not been cured, the distribution would have been somewhat different.
Some time ago, even in scientific circles there was opinionthat women, although they start drinking at a later age, become addicted faster than men. This was called the telescopic effect. However, these conclusions were based on a relatively small sample. Later, two studies were conducted in the United States ten years apart. The age of onset of alcohol use, the time from first use to dependence, and the time from the formation of dependence to the start of treatment were analyzed. Patients of five different age groups took part in the study. As a result, scientists summarized The results of these two studies did not find sufficient evidence for the existence of a telescopic effect in women.
However, alcohol does affect women's and men's bodies differently. So, for example, women getting drunk faster than men, and this is due not only to the difference in weight. The fact is that the female body contains less water and more fat than the male body. Alcohol dissolves in water and, accordingly, loses concentration faster. On the contrary, it accumulates in adipose tissue. In addition, women produce less alcohol dehydrogenase, an enzyme that breaks down alcohol. Therefore, one dose of alcohol for a man is equivalent to two doses for women (with the same height and weight).
In addition, some researchers claimthat the sensitivity of the female body to alcohol changes depending on the phase of the menstrual cycle. After ovulation and before the onset of menstruation, due to fluctuations in the levels of the hormones estrogen and progesterone in the female body, alcohol is processed more slowly, which means its concentration in the blood is higher for the same amount drunk. However, scientists have not yet reached a consensus on this matter.
Alcohol is more dangerous for women's health than for men's. In female alcoholics problems with the heart, blood vessels and nervous system may appear earlier than in men. The same applies to liver cirrhosis. In addition, some researchers talk about dependencies between regular consumption of even one drink of alcohol per day and an increased likelihood of developing breast cancer. Moreover, the higher the dose, the higher the probability. Do not forget that alcohol is extremely negative influences on the female reproductive system, and not only during pregnancy. Regular consumption of alcohol disrupts hormonal balance, disrupts the menstrual cycle and negatively affects the ability to conceive.
Thus, alcohol really has a stronger negative effect on the female body than on the male body. In addition, women often need specialized gender-specific treatment and accompanying psychotherapy. However, there is no evidence or more or less serious arguments in favor of the fact that female alcoholism is incurable.
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