Let’s see the difference between a functional person and an alcoholic person in the exact same circumstances who thinks they are functional.  If you aren’t familiar with the experience of being alcoholic, you may not understand how this could get so bad.  Or, if you are actively in denial about being alcoholic yourself, you may have plenty of excuses ready to dispute the truth.  Take a look at how the following scenario differs with and without addiction.

Scenario #1:

With Alcoholism:  A few extra bills come in the mail one week.  Julie really needs to stock up on her secret alcohol stash for the next few days and they also need to get groceries.  Her husband asks that she control her spending this week until their next round of paychecks come in.  They will be OK but it will be close.  She promises her husband she’ll be careful.  She goes to the pantry to see if she can squeeze out meals from what she has, plus buy a few regular items like milk and juice to make it look like she got some groceries for the week.  Then she plans to use the money she would have spent on a regular grocery trip on her alcohol for the week.

Without Alcoholism:  A few extra bills come in the mail one week.  Julie really needs to get groceries.  Her husband asks that she control her spending this week until their next round of paychecks come in.  They will be OK but it will be close.  She promises her husband she’ll be careful.  She goes to the pantry to see if she can squeeze out meals from what she has.

The Difference Between Alcoholism and Sobriety

The first scenario sets up a conflict between doing what the family needs (getting groceries) and what the alcoholic wife needs (filling up her secret alcohol stash).  She doesn’t just dig in the pantry to reduce her grocery bill and get some other essentials.  She created a deception of having gotten some groceries by getting a few essential “high profile” items, but actually got less than she probably needed to.  She needed to be sure there was enough money left for her alcohol rather than being sure there was enough money to not bounce any checks or feed her family sufficiently.

This is the process of an alcoholic who maybe goes to work and takes care of her family most of the time (or at least it appears that way).  But in a desperate family moment, she puts her alcoholism ahead of the financial safety net.  If she were not alcoholic, she wouldn’t have the alcoholic thinking trying to sway her against the more logical family-oriented choice.  Alcoholic thinking is self-serving - it makes excuses, deceives, and keep secrets so that it can keep surviving.  It divides families deeply because it goes against
cooperation and trust.

If you thought the above scenario was a little too familiar or you suspect this is happening with a friend, you may be discovering an alcoholic addiction in the works.  Alcohol rehab can detangle the alcoholic thinking that distorts the way a person sees the world.  Alcohol rehab usually offers family services as well.  You can see from the scenario above that the husband and wife would need some marital therapy.  Also the husband would need some help and support understanding the nature of alcoholism.  The wife may need to be in
more than just alcohol rehab to settle into sobriety.  She will likely need some form of aftercare, maybe some outpatient alcohol treatment, and a support group.

Functional Doesn’t Mean Living A Good Life

Just because you haven’t gotten arrested and you still have your job doesn’t mean you aren’t an alcoholic.  If you drink frequently, spend a lot of time protected and caring for your stash, and your decisions are impaired by your use, you may have alcoholism.  It’s important to get alcohol treatment sooner rather than later.  Find out more about alcoholism before you have a deep family problem.

If you’ve been through depression, PTSD, or a great deal of loss, it wouldn’t be surprising that you might turn to alcohol.  A life that seems difficult almost all the time can become so draining.  Everything else that you could strive for and accomplish seems too difficult to think about.  You drink to survive each day.

Trauma In Childhood Can Lead To Women With Alcoholism

So many women with alcoholism have experienced trauma in their lives.  They have often been raped, been sexually molested, or beaten by partners.  They have often witness or been around other serious family problems such as domestic violence, suicide, and drug or alcohol addiction.

When it comes to coping with emotions, children usually do what they know and what they see.  If a young girl watches her mother get beaten regularly or is in the room when her younger sister gets molested, she is going to cope in some way that reflects her family culture.

She might block it all out, going into over-protection mode, or try to distract the family from facing it all.  This may depend a lot on what the adults or siblings do.  No matter what she chooses, it all keeps her from being authentic and learning to trust.

Alcohol Treatment Is Needed For Dual Diagnosis Issues

Alcoholism is often something that a person can’t overcome on their own.  Yes, there are certainly examples of people who have taken it into their own hands and truly restored their life and health.  But for most, this isn’t the case.  When a woman turns to alcohol to cope with life trauma, alcohol rehab and other support strategies are often needed.

All levels of alcohol treatment will address the actual experience of being addicted to alcohol.  The physical addiction, the psychological addiction, any withdrawal symptoms, and all the social and functional aspects of alcoholism.  For women, it is especially important for alcohol treatment counselors to look into a possible dual diagnosis for depression, PTSD, anxiety, or other mental illness.  Since many women enter alcoholism through an emotionally painful pathway, the chances are good they will need more than just straight alcohol rehab.

Womens Alcohol Rehab Treats Both Mental Illness And Alcoholism

An alcohol rehab for women will be sure to look deeper into a woman’s emotional health.  The alcohol treatment professionals understand how women and alcoholism go together.  They use research supported treatment methods to treat both the alcoholism and any mental illness.

Of course, when the alcoholism is being managed, the woman’s relapse issues are often tied in with her mental illness issues.  Consistent use of community resources, alcohol treatment centers, mental health professionals, and support from family and friends can help a woman faced with alcoholism and mental illness.

It’s often a very bumpy road for these women, but it’s hard to blame them for just trying to get by.  People usually do the best they can.  Unfortunately, sometimes alcoholism is what gets them through their trauma.  A women’s alcohol treatment facility can be a trusted source of help and support for women trying to survive each day.

You may have heard the joke that women are often alcohol “lightweights”.  Well, this actually does have some truth to it.  It also means that women can get addicted to alcohol and suffer long term health problems more readily than men.  Sadly, many women don’t seek alcohol rehab right away, allowing more time for alcohol to do serious damage.  Learn why you might be at risk for trouble if you are a woman and a heavy drinker. 

Different Body Types Mean Alcohol Has Different Effect

Women metabolize alcohol differently than men do.  They generally have a higher percentage of fat than men do.  This means a woman’s body has less water than a man’s body.  When a woman drinks an alcoholic beverage, the alcohol is less diluted as it circulates around.  The impact is stronger and can be done with fewer beverages. 

Women also genreally have less of an enzyme that helps metabolize alcohol in the digestive system.  The hormonal cycles of women can affect how quickly a woman becomes intoxicated.  Any sort of hormone-related medication would have similar effects. 

Long Term Health Problems From Alcohol

As you could guess by now, a woman gets a bigger bang for her buck when it comes to drinking alcohol.  The serious problem is that her health also takes a bigger hit and in less time.  When a person’s general health and well being goes into decline, there seems to be a domino effect with more serious health problems. 

Heart problems affect circulation, circulation affects blood pressure, blood pressure affects activity level, activity level affects mood, mood affects appetite, etc, etc.  This can be bad enough when caused by less controlled factors like genetics or injury.  When a woman continues to drink while the deterioration progresses, it can seem like problems are never ending. 

Lifelong Affects of Alcohol Addiction

Unfortunately, many women do not make the connection between their heavy drinking and health problems until the situation is bad.  While many conditions can improve when drinking stops, some health problems are not reversible.  Another problem with gaining sobriety is that women face a significant stigma with seeking alcohol treatment.  Women are supposed to have fun and party, but they are also chastised as being weak when looking for help. 

In the end, heavy alcohol use will negatively affect a woman’s physical health, mental health, and social involvement.  Since these are all vital aspects of a woman’s life, her entire life direction and sense of purpose can be smothered by an addiction.

Alcohol Rehab Can Help Better Later Than Never

Alcohol rehab can provide hope for your health as a woman.  Even if you have seen some serious changes in your health, any amount of sobriety is better than none at all.  When you stop drinking, your body can have its best shot at restoring itself.  It’s not too late - alcohol rehab is your hope for a healthy future.  You can enjoy your life with healthier habits and renewed hope when you go to alcohol rehab.

On the surface, it may be hard to make an obvious connection between alcoholism and heart disease.  Everyone is more familiar with the effects alcohol has on the liver and on a person’s behaviors.  Heart and blood problems are definite risks of alcoholism, even though it may not get as much attention. 

If you ever needed a reason to go to alcohol rehab (or help a woman do this), then stop and listen to your heart.  Keep in mind that heart disease is a huge but often overlooked health risk for women.  This is going to sound pretty serious for a while, but there is hope - stay tuned until the end of the post.

Alcohol is the second leading cause of cardiomyopathy in the United States (blocked arteries are first).  If left untreated, heart failure can lead to worsened heart functioning and even death.  Unfortunately, heart failure due to alcoholism is often not diagnosed until it is in advanced stages.

Irregular heart rhythms called arrhythmias are also common among alcoholics.  These often happen after episodes of binge drinking.  As the heart continues to sustain damage with continuous heavy drinking, these arrhythmias can become part of a general cardiomyopathy.  And has mentioned above, these can be life threatening when left untreated.

Blood Pressure Raised With Heavy Alcohol Consumption

Binge drinking also causes not only arrhythmias but also a spike in blood pressure.  Continuous patterns of heavy drinking can keep blood pressure raised, which puts added strain on the heart.  As many people know, high blood pressure is a serious condition requiring consistent medical care. 

Unfortunately, many heavy drinkers have a blood pressure “time bomb” ticking inside them.  Stroke, cardiac arrest, and general heart failure are all risks of untreated blood pressure.  As with many of the various heart problems listed here, serious high blood pressure problems may not be diagnosed until there are obvious symptoms or related health problems.  By that time, a great deal of damage may have been done.

Alcohol Treatment and Alcohol Rehab Can Help Reverse The Tide

OK, you made it through all the scary diseases and life threatening problems.  It’s important to keep those all in mind because they are realistic risks for anyone with alcoholism.  But knowing all that also helps you to do something about it.  That’s the hopeful part of all this. 

Do you know a woman who drinks heavily?  This information might give you the courage to speak up and offer some genuine concern about their health.  Alcoholics don’t often want to believe they have a problem with their drinking, but they may have a harder time ignoring physical health problems.  You might have better luck getting your mom or sister to a doctor for a physical ailment than to an alcohol treatment program at first. 

Eventually, alcohol treatment will be needed to help an alcoholic woman cut down her heart health risks.  In many cases, becoming sober can either stop or slow and physical symptoms.  Sometimes, damage is irreversible.  But stopping the damage is at least better than having it continue.  And some physical symptoms may lessen, improving the woman’s quality of life. 

Take this message to heart - if you or a woman you care for needs alcohol treatment, do whatever you can to get her in the door.  Her heart will thank you for it.

People with addictions usually believe there are in control of their drug or alcohol use, that there’s no problem at all.  They may come up with smooth explanations and distracting words, but you can often notice their world falling down around them.  If you know someone like this, they may very well have drug and alcohol treatment in their future.

Family Functioning Goes Downhill With Drug and Alcohol Addiction

Unless you keep completely to yourself and have no living relatives that speak to you, you are likely to have some family around.  People with an addiction usually falter when it comes to parenting responsibilities, marital or dating relationships, and connections with extended family.  They defend their addiction behavior and brush off what others want and need.  This hurts families terribly, especially children who don’t understand. 

Keep in mind that if you had a difficult family upbringing, that foundation may be part of your drinking or drugging problem.  Covering up the emotions from painful memories or thoughts can certainly be fuel for an addiction.  Take a look before you try to forget.  Did someone in your family have a drinking or drugging problem?  Is it still going on today?

Addiction Causes Career Problems

Imagine doing a long shift at work on your toughest day (or night).  Now imagine doing this after a serious hangover or while still high.  Yeah, not so good.  Focus would go out the window, conversation skills would be impaired, and productivity would be lousy.  For the employer, this is a really bad deal all around.  There may be many missed days or days where their worker is present but hardly working. 

Going to happy hour once in a while is one thing.  Letting it bleed into the wee morning hours and having regular hangovers at work is something entirely different.  You may think that drinking after work or with the boss is helping you.  But if it gets out of control or turns into a place where you hide from your family and from work responsibilities, then you may be headed for alcohol rehab some day.  How long can that really continue before things fall apart?

Social Connections Suffer With Worsening Addiction

Good friendships can survive a lot of ups and downs.  And for many people, family will be there for you in your darkest hour.  Unfortunately, addiction really changes people for the worse.  It often makes them rude, impulsive, irresponsible, and self-absorbed.  None of these qualities work well in relationships.

Since an addiction presents itself differently from something like cancer, it may be more difficult for family and friends to rally around.  The addicted person might reject offers of help, accuse others of attacking them, and basically burn bridges left and right.  An addicted person really needs drug treatment.  Unfortunately, they might not have many people still around to help them get there. 

Drug Rehab Offers Hope For Dismal Life Direction

Drug and alcohol rehab can be a scary thought.  Being with strangers, talking about life and problems, maybe even staying away from family and friends.  But what’s worse, being a little uncomfortable for a while or allowing a dangerous addiction to get worse and worse?  Drug treatment isn’t a perfect cure, but it can help restore work dependability, family relationships, and supportive social connections.  When someone’s life suffers in those areas from addiction, drug and alcohol treatment can change your life for the better.