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Women in Recovery: The Spiritual Part of the Program

© Geraldine Wagner

In this age of instant information access, facts are at our fingertips. Here are a few facts about women and alcohoism.

Yes, alcohol is still the drug of choice among our teenagers.

Our young people, particularly college students, are resorting more often to what is called "binge drinking."

Drunk driving continues to take too many lives each year on our highways.

But women are perhaps more affected by alcoholism than ever before.

As one woman in recovery likes to say, "Alcoholism doesn't just run in my family, it practically gallops."

Like many women like her, she is married to an alcoholic. She is also the adult child of an alcoholic parent, and the grandchild of alcoholic grandparents. At least one of her children suffers from the disease of alcoholism. And she recently discovered that she herself likes to drink a little more than she wants to admit.

One thing is different about this woman, however. She is seeking recovery from all facets of this systemic disease.

According to a 1996 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse conducted by the US Department of Health & Human Services, 44% of females ages 12 or older reported using alcohol within the past month.

Alcohol use is highest among women between 26 and 34 years of age. If they are single, divorced or separated, they are more likely to drink heavily.

Of these women, 8.7% are binge drinkers (defined as five or more drinks on one occasion); and 1.9% drink heavily (five or more drinks on one occasion, at least five days in the past month)

Compared with men, women with drinking problems also are at increased risk for depression, low self-esteem, alcohol-related physical problems, marital discord or divorce, spouses with alcohol problems, a history of sexual abuse, and drinking in response to life crises.

Thus, these more than 4 million women need treatment for drug problems before they become an even more gruesome statistic. According to a March, 1996 Journal of the American Medical Association news release, the death rate among women alcoholics is higher than among males because of their increased risk for suicide, alcohol-related accidents, cirrhosis and hepatitis.

All this means that nearly four million American women ages 18 and older can be classified as alcoholic or problem drinkers. Of these women, 58% are between the ages of 18 and 29.

Women with alcohol problems are less likely than men to seek help initially in alcoholism or other chemical dependency services; instead, women prefer consulting physicians or mental health clinics staff, settings in which their drinking problem is less likely to be diagnosed.

But when the woman is ready to confront her disease, whether it is

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