The first experience with alcohol in most cases is positive. Cheerful company with lots of different alcoholic drinks or a glass of wine with a friend, the first glass of champagne and the first kiss. For all women, the path to alcoholism begins differently, but at the same time, in the same way.
Someone stands with a festive glass of wine, and someone tries to re-create the lightness of mood with the help of alcohol, as it was in the first experience. It happens that a person cannot stop drinking at the very beginning for other reasons. Alcoholic beverages require forgetting about problems or using them to prove something to yourself and your friends. Alcohol often replaces the void associated with the loss of a loved one or the fact that a person could not be found in life.
Women find alcohol particularly difficult to tolerate. They get into drinks faster. The female body regenerates very quickly, chemical reactions in the brain change, and blood circulation is disturbed. By starting to drink alcohol at a young age, you can become a chronic alcoholic by the age of three.
An alcoholic never admits his illness
A few bottles of beer in the evening in the company. First on weekends, then after work. The phrase, which can often be heard from a woman who drinks, "I’m not an alcoholic, I can always stop, " sounds after each new dose of alcohol.
According to the women who stopped drinking, during the period when they succumbed to the disease, they did not see anything terrible at this stage. Filling the void and the increasingly frequent depression, they switched from light to heavy alcohol. Vodka became a constant companion of the evening. Lack of alcohol causes apathy, some have suicidal tendencies. Only a glass of vodka can bring them back to the country where they want to live.
The next stage is when alcohol is consumed in such quantity that a person loses memory. Poisoning the body is getting harder. Reaching this level, the woman no longer remembers who she drank with yesterday, what she told the people around her, what she was basically doing.
At this stage, the woman will no longer be able to stop drinking alone, without support. And the reason is not only in the physiology and the body's need for a new dose of alcohol. And because the society that gathers around him is the same. It is impossible to break this cycle, because everyone around considers such a life normal. And not because it is so, but because everyone around is in the same state.
Expert opinion: "Features of female alcoholism. Is there a difference between female and male alcoholism? "
What happens to the body on a physical level
In addition to alcohol dependence, irreversible changes occur throughout the body. But mostly in the brain, kidneys and liver. Also, the hormonal system and reproductive organs are severely affected. A woman who drinks can no longer bear and give birth to a child, if she does not undergo treatment and detoxification of the organism, and if she gives birth, then such children are usually ill. Their genetic code changes in the uterus with alcohol.
In some cases, it is not visible from the outside, but the disease can manifest itself in the first days of life. If the mother drank during pregnancy, the newborn experiences severe withdrawal symptoms - alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Already in the first hours of life, when alcohol stops flowing from his mother's blood, it begins to twist. These babies scream non-stop and can’t live their first hours without sedatives.
As for men, they become incapable of sexual intercourse. Alcohol first causes the inability to conceive because it simply kills the sperm and then reduces the possibility of intercourse in principle. The health of an unborn baby depends not only on the mother, but also on the father, who passes on the genetic code modified by alcohol.
Why don't alcoholics stop drinking? Since they do not see themselves from the outside, the disease is in principle not perceived as a disease. A week without vodka becomes almost impossible. However, it is not associated with the disease, but is called: "there is reason to celebrate". The reason, however, is simply sucked out of the finger.
Such people can no longer stop drinking on their own. They blame anyone for their failed life - husband, wife, parents, bosses. Everyone is to blame for their illness, except themselves. Their world is gray and without joy without a new portion of alcohol, they see no point in anything but looking for 100 grams of vodka or a bottle of beer.
What to do and how to cure a woman from alcoholism
Dose reduction is not a treatment option. You will not be able to gradually give up alcohol. You must abruptly and immediately stop drinking and never return to alcohol. This requires exceptional willpower and very serious support from loved ones.
Although history may know when a woman stopped drinking on her own, they are extremely rare. what's the catch? It will not be possible to simply remove alcohol from life. In its place should come something that will bring joy and satisfaction. A psychologist will help you find this "something". Maybe this will have to find a new job that will satisfy and bring in money. Or it will be enough to find a new hobby, a hobby.
A healthy lifestyle is popular. Sport and vigorous exercise can cause the same rush of adrenaline as alcohol. In addition, the immediate environment is changing. And instead of swollen faces from disgusting fumes, people around are bursting with health. Gym, swimming pool, jogging in the stadium in the morning - all this can be replaced by alcohol for most women.
What to expect when throwing away alcohol
In the first days, there will be a strong desire to drink. Irritability, anger, the desire to kill someone - it's all alcohol. Disintegration into relatives, children, parents. And if they can't stand the stress, they can't provide support, then the alcoholic will drink again.
If you have a desire to stop drinking, make this process painless. Go to the clinic. In addition to relieving your family's stress and pain, you will find it easier to go through the adjustment process.
An experienced psychologist who specializes in alcohol addiction will help you find the reasons why you want to drink. His help and participation will be hard to overestimate, because he is the one who can find a substitute for alcohol, help to find, help to get out of depression.
If it turns out that you stopped drinking on your own, wait. Remember, there are no former alcoholics. Every society of people who drink alcohol should go the tenth way. You will have to change the environment and find ways on your own. In no case do not get lost, do not drink a bottle of beer. Remember how it all started - with just one bottle, one sip.
It is difficult for an alcoholic to change his life, especially for a woman. But it can be done if you have the support and will to live.
What about alcoholic beverages and why are they hard to refuse? Because, decomposing in the body, alcohol gives an extraordinary burst of energy. And if a happy event happens at this moment, it is "anchored" by drinking alcohol.
In simple words - a man does not stop drinking just because he tries to provoke those sensations when everything was at his height. Even if he no longer remembers what happened before drinking alcohol, he continues to try to recreate that mood, the feeling of happiness.
But that’s just the beginning. Furthermore, alcohol and breakdown products penetrate nerve cells, destroying them and creating new stable connections. At this point, a person can no longer stop drinking just because he physically needs alcohol. Relieves depression, eliminates limb tremors (trembling hands), dilates blood vessels.
The next stage is drunkenness. It is no longer possible to stop drinking alone in this condition. Here you need a specialist who will get you out of intoxication, perform detoxification and prescribe treatment. Will weaning from heavy drinking be a way out and will the person be able to stop drinking at the same time? no. Further psychological treatment is needed.