Women Process Alcohol Differently Than Men
Did you know that 1 in 12 men have an alcohol use disorder (AUD), but 1 in 25 women have the same disorder that was fueled by the pandemic of 2020. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association states that there was a 14% increase in alcohol consumption compared to 2019 with a 17% increase for women. Alcoholic liver disease and alcoholic hepatitis rose sharply in young women in their 20’s and 30’s, according to liver specialize Dr. Jessica Millinger.
Women metabolize alcohol differently than men. It seems to affect them differently and they have to take into consideration that they cannot drink as much as men; in fact, half as much. Source
It’s not just alcohol that plagues families. The American family has changed. It seems as if everyone knows someone who has substance abuse disorder or worse, someone who has died from it. In fact, substance abuse (illicit drugs) disorders affect 48.7 million people nationwide according to USA Today. In 2022, there were 108,490 drug-related deaths. Of the 82,234 opioid-related deaths, 70,601 of them involved the deadly fentanyl, according to the National Safety Council.
While it sounds unusual, results from a new survey show, 2/3 of people said they or someone in their family has experienced addiction or overdose. In a nationally representative sample of 1.327 US adults who responded to survey questions online or by phone July 11-19, 19% of people reported a personal experience with addiction and 62% (!) said a family member had experienced addiction. Source: WebMD.
Educating About Addiction Stigma
These deaths could have been avoided if more people had sought help and learned more about the possibilities of recovery, and the dangers of long-term drug usage. But in this country, there is a stigma about seeking treatment for drug abuse. (only one in ten does so). Many families are embarrassed to admit what they perceive as shortcomings within their own families. It’s as if addiction is a sign of moral weakness and these so-called addicts are judged for their habits when in actuality, many have co-occurring mental health disorders as well as genes making them prone to substance abuse disorders.
To rid society of substance abuse disorders is a tall order. However, Vanderbilt University Center for Research is pairing with Nashville’s Mending Hearts, a recovery-based therapeutic community for women facing addiction and co-occurring mental health disorders such as trauma, anxiety, to document research on addiction. This is the second year that Mending Hearts is sponsoring National Women Touched by Addiction Day on July 23rd to educate the community on the stigma of addiction.
National Women Touched By Addiction: The Ramifications
On this day, women will get the help they need in a safe space and be able to discuss their addictions rather than keeping them as their families’ “dirty little secrets.”
Why is NWTBA just geared to women? Because women are expected to run the family even if they work outside the home. The housekeeping falls to them in a disproportionate way, the kids’ activities, buying birthday gifts for friends, etc. It’s harder for them to relax because the so-called “second shift,” a term coined by sociologist Arlie Hochschild, of homework, meals, starts when they walk in the front door! She may be grabbing what Mick Jagger calls “Mother’s Little Helper” to cope.
And if the mother has an addicted child, it’s usually she who suggests therapy for the family. It’s possible she feels like a failure because she can’t get the child to stop doing drugs; she can no longer control him as she did when he was a child. She is given advice by her close friends to let the child “hit rock bottom” which goes against her parenting protective instincts. If she follows that advice, the child could die!
If the child has a sibling, that brother or sister most likely is resentful of the attention that the unhealthy one receives. The sibling feels slighted. The home life is chaotic, even traumatic. Objects and money go missing. If the one with substance abuse disorder is on the street and using, and has a child of his own, then the sober parents may be expected to care for the grandson because of the addicted one’s negligent behaviors. Or the child’s child may be placed in foster care system, as 40% of children are, because of a parent’s abuse of drugs or alcohol. More than 2.6 million children are raised by grand-parents, aunts, uncles, who step forward for them when the abusive parents cannot.
National Women Touched by Addiction Day is for any woman who has felt the effects of addiction, not just because she may be abusing drugs/alcohol herself, but because she is feeling the effects through others. Like an octopus with many tentacles, addiction grabs hold of many lives! Because of addiction’s overwhelming influence on society, this annual event is trying to put a dent in the stigma of addiction so women can open up about their issues and not be ashamed. #mendinghearts#oneFingerOneFamily. Email: info@mendedhearts.org. 866-416-1909.
Wesley Cullen Davidson
Wesley Cullen Davidson is an award-winning freelance writer and journalist specializing in parenting. Currently, she is targeting her writing about recovery to parents whose children have substance abuse disorders.