According to the World Health Organization, the problem of drunkenness and alcoholism around the world has taken a threatening character. For Belarus, she is one of the most relevant.At the beginning of 2010, the use of alcohol per capita reached 12 liters of absolute alcohol. The threshold, after which the irreversible change in the nation gene pool begins, according to WHO, is 8 liters. Of particular concern is the constant growth of drunkenness and alcoholism among women, children and adolescents.
What is female alcoholism, its causes and consequences
Alcoholism -This is a chronic disease caused by the systematic use of alcohol, characterized by a stable dependence on them.
Female alcoholism is by nature no different from the male, but the tendency of its growth causes a significant fear. If two decades ago the ratio of female alcohol-golism to the male was 1:12, after ten years 1: 7, then it is currently approaching 1: 4.
There are several causes and factors that contribute to the introduction of women to alcohol. The main of them:
Biological factors:
Hereditary predisposition-If until recently 25-30%were allotted on it, now this factor sometimes reaches 70-90%. Moreover, in women, hereditary burden is more common than in men.
Menstrual cycle-The so-called premenstrual stress often predicts to consume alcohol, produces the effect of relief relief, acting soothing, as a therapeutic factor, and as a result there is an addiction and addiction to alcohol.
The toxic effect of alcohol-Due to the fact that in the female body, the water content is 10% less than in the male, then when using the same dose of alcohol in men, the concentration of alcohol in the blood (on kg. Masses) is less than in women, it follows that the toxic effect of alcohol in women is stronger.
Socio-psychological factors:
Early mental trauma in childhood-Poor education, beatings, vulgarity of affection, warmth, the presence of an alcoholic in the family (father, mother, brother), the death of loved ones, all kinds of disappointments, treason or loved one, loneliness, ugly external, etc. - Factors pushing a woman to drown out these troubles with alcohol.The development of alcoholism is carried out in several stages.
At the first stage(stage of mental failure) - alcohol becomes a constantly necessary means to cheer yourself up, feel confident and free, forget about troubles and hardships, alleviate contacts with others, and emotionally discharge. The craving for alcohol becomes complicated, mental dependence is formed.
At the second stage(stage of physical dependence) - drinking alcohol is systematic, regardless of life situations. There is an increase in the tolerant (stability) of the body to alcohol, leading to a significant increase in the number of alcohol taken and loss of control over their dose. The protective gag is lost. The attraction is comparable to hunger and thirst. The absence of alcohol causes ill disorders.
At the third stage(stage of alcohol degradation) - Lost control of the dose. Severe personal degradation is growing with the disappearance of emotional attachments, a sense of duty and responsibility.
A feature of female alcoholism is that it is formed later than in men-at 26-27 years old, but progresses faster.
If a man is drunk on average in 16 years, then the woman is in 10 years. According to narcologists, "with female alcoholism, mental degradation occurs twice as fast, as well as many times faster than in men, the mass of the brain substance decreases."
The effect of alcohol on the female body
The abuse of alcoholic beverages quickly affects the state of the female body.Metabolic disorders are manifested:
- Tendency to obesity or exhaustion.
- The face becomes puffy, blood vessels also expand on the nose and cheeks.
- The function of internal organs is impaired.
- Alcoholic cardiacopathy (heart defeat), alcoholic hepatitis, and so, and cirrhosis of the liver are developing.
- Gastritis, esophagitis, pancreatitis, arterial hypertension, and damage to the nervous system are accompanied by alcoholism.
- The reproductive system suffers.
In the future mother of an alcoholic, the risk of miscarriage increases by 2-4 times. The intrauterine effect of alcohol leads to the appearance of a number of problems - from congenital malformations to neurological disorders and developmental disorders.
In children born from parents suffering from alcoholism, an al-Gater fetal syndrome can be observed. They find increased psychomotor excitability, the lag of physical and mental development, various vices of internal organs and an hour-body of the body.
With female alcoholism, everything collapses: a woman cannot monitor the household, does not make children, does not care for her husband and thereby destroy the family.
Treatment of alcoholism
Alcoholism, like any other disease, must be treated: to treat for a long time, seriously and necessarily with the help of narcologists.
In a biological sense, alcoholism is an incurable disease. This means that there is no medical tool that would return the sick ability to control alcohol consumption. The patient is doomed to alcoholism either to a progressive deterioration in health, social status and death, or on full sobriety.
Nevertheless, women who nevertheless turned for help can not only out-of-and-up from alcohol dependence, and start a new life.
Treatment of a patient with alcoholism does not look like treatment, for example, a patient with pneumonia and is that a person learned to live without drinking alcohol at all.
Various methods are used to treat alcohol dependence: drug therapy, psychotherapy and social rehabilitation.
Treatment begins with a stop of drunkenness (“relief of binge”) and treatment of withdrawal (hangover) syndrome. Residents of Minsk can receive such assistance in various structures of the Minsk City Narcological Dispensary, including Anonymous (tel. 292-31-03).
If the course of alcoholism is complicated by convulsive syndrome or psychosis, treatment should be carried out in the Republican Clinical Psychiatric Hospital.
After the cessation of alcohol consumption, psychotherapists, psychologists, as well as specially prepared parapsyalists (patients with alcoholism with a long experience of sobriety) should be included to help the patient with alcoholism. An important role in this work is played by the community of anonymous alcoholics (voluntary unification of patients with alcoholism who want to achieve sustainable sobriety).
Work with relatives of the patient is necessarily carried out, with her family, since during the years of drunkenness various undesirable processes are taking place in the family, relations between family members are complicated.
Prevention of female alcoholism
The prevention of alcoholism in general and female, in particular, should be active, focused on identifying people in need.
It suggests: on the one hand, control over the production and consumption of alcohol at different levels-state, macro-and micro-social, family, individual; On the other hand, the early identification of persons who abuse alcohol and the provision of their corresponding medical and psychological assistance.
Prevention refers to the prevention of the development of the disease or a limitation of its progression. Prevention can be divided into three levels: primary, secondary, tertiary.
- Primary prevention- aimed at the initial prevention of problems related to alcohol consumption; It should cover primarily children, adolescents, girls and boys, pregnant women.
- Secondary prevention- aimed at the early recognition of the alcohol problem in the family, a specific individual. During this period, it is advisable to identify the causes of beginning alcoholization for the purpose of timely correction. Psychocorrectional work is also carried out with family members.
- Tertiary preventionIt is aimed at restricting the already developing progression of the disease, the prevention of exacerbations and the use of those medical and social measures that minimize harm to persons who use alcohol and their immediate environment.
In preventive anti -alcohol measures, it is also important:
- Training in resistance skills in situations associated with alcohol use, the risk of developing dependence and relapse.
- Propaganda of a healthy lifestyle and the prevention of alcohol disorders.
Women as wishes:
Discuss your spiritual experiences only with specialists, and not with friends who can often rejoice that they are not only alone.
Those who have (or there were) drinking relatives, especially masculine in the family, be extremely careful in relations with alcohol and at any stage try to control themselves.
Try to organize your personal life one way or another! Know that a healthy and sober family is the greatest happiness and wealth in this world!
In cases of any problems with alcohol, it should not be lost time for consultations and help to specialists.
