Denial of alcoholism presenting bigger risk for women: Experts

Panaji: Experts warn of a rise of alcoholism among women but the bigger issue, they say, is that the problem has largely remained unacknowledged as women with drinking problems are less likely to admit its existence even as the first signs of trouble start popping up.

Fewer women attend Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings due to societal taboo, and probable discouragement from their families, while men with a drinking problem are assisted by their families in reaching out for help.

“Women not seeking medical help does not mean that the problem doesn’t exist. The numbers are high but various factors restrain them from getting help, and they reach the terminal stage of the disease,” said Dr Rajesh Patil, medical superintendent of GMC, who has been associated with AA in Goa for many years. “If I see 10 patients of hematemesis — vomiting of blood — only one or two will be women,” he said.

While shame and stigma hold women back from asking for help, non-cooperation from their families is also a big hurdle as gender discrimination comes into play.

“As we sometimes see in Maharashtra, a girl child is sent to a vernacular school while the son of the family is enrolled in an English-medium school,” said Dr Ashish Deshpande, the founder of Centre for Mental Health Advocacy, Research and Treatment Services. “Families don’t want to spend money on medical treatment of women who according to them are bad,” Deshpande said.

Patil said in Goa, though women’s dominance is evident in various aspects of domestic lives, it somehow does not reflect when it comes to treatment for alcoholism. This phenomenon, Deshpande said, is also evident in matriarchal societies of the Northeast.

Changed marketing strategies of alcohol companies have induced more women, especially the younger ones, to experiment with drinking, the experts said. “Due to the bitter taste of alcohol, women refused to drink liquor for the longest time. But now fruit-flavoured drinks are available,” Deshpande said. “Marketing strategies have been modified to expand the consumer base.”

The media, he said, has also succeeded in selling a particular lifestyle. “Media has been selling a lifestyle that aggrandises alcohol consumption,” he said.

Women, Deshpande said, being physiologically different, are more vulnerable to the effects of all drugs. “Escalation of symptoms is rapid, and women experience more physical damage,” he said. “Recovery is challenging owing to the associated stigma.”

The death rate among women alcoholics, Deshpande said, is higher, by 50-70 %, than in men with a similar problem.

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