The first experience with alcohol in most cases is positive. Cheerful company with many 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 stops for a festive glass of wine, while someone tries to recreate for themselves with the help of alcohol the lightness of mood that was in the first experience. It happens that a person cannot stop drinking at the very beginning for other reasons. Alcoholic beverages seek to forget problems or prove something to oneself and one's friends. Alcohol often replaces the emptiness associated with the loss of a loved one or the fact that one cannot find oneself in life.
Women find it especially difficult to tolerate alcohol. They are attracted to drinking faster. The female body recovers very quickly, the chemical reactions in the brain change, the blood circulation is disturbed. Once you start drinking alcohol at an early age, you can become a chronic alcoholic by the age of three.
The alcoholic never admits his illness
A few bottles of beer in the evening in the company. First on the weekends, then after work. The phrase that can often be heard from a drinking woman: "I'm not an alcoholic, I can always stop, " sounds after each drink of a new dose of alcohol.
According to the women who stopped drinking, they did not see anything terrible at this stage during the period when they succumbed to the disease. Filling the emptiness and the increasingly frequent depression, they switched from light alcohol to heavy alcohol. Vodka became a constant companion for the evening. Lack of alcohol causes apathy, some have a tendency to commit suicide. Only a glass of vodka can bring them back to the country they want to live in.
The next stage is when alcohol is consumed in such quantities that a person loses his memory. The poisoning of the body is becoming more severe. After reaching this level, the woman no longer remembers who she drank with yesterday, what she said to the people around her, what she actually did.
At this stage, the woman will no longer be able to give up drinking alone without support. And the reason is not only in the physiology and the body's requirement for a new dose of alcohol. And because the company 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, but because everyone around is in the same state.
Expert opinion: "Peculiarities of female alcoholism. Is there a difference between female and male alcoholism? "
What happens to the body on a physical level
With alcohol dependence, irreversible changes occur in the body. But mostly in the brain, kidneys and liver. Also, the hormonal system and reproductive organs are severely affected. A drinking woman can no longer tolerate and give birth to a child, if the treatment and detoxification of the body does not pass and if she gives birth, then such children most often get sick. Their genetic code is altered in the womb by alcohol.
In some cases, this is not noticeable externally, 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. In the first hours of his life, when the alcohol stopped flowing from his mother's blood, he began to writhe. These babies scream without interruption and cannot 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 sexual intercourse in general. The health of the unborn baby depends not only on the mother, but also on the father, who passes on to them the genetic code modified by alcohol.
Why don't alcoholics stop drinking? Because they do not see themselves from the outside, the disease is generally not perceived by the disease. A week without vodka becomes practically impossible. However, this is not related to the disease, but is called: "there is reason to celebrate. " However, the reason is simply sucked out of the finger.
Such people can no longer give up drinking alone. They blame everyone for their failed life - husband, wife, parents, bosses. Everyone is to blame for their illness, except themselves. Their world is gray and joyless without a new portion of alcohol, they see no point in looking for 100 grams of vodka or a bottle of beer.
What to do and how to cure a woman of alcoholism
Dose reduction is not a treatment option. You will not be able to give up alcohol gradually. You should stop drinking abruptly and immediately and never return to alcohol. This requires remarkable will and very serious support from loved ones.
Although history may know when a woman stopped drinking alone, they are extremely rare. What's the catch? It will not be possible to simply remove alcohol from life. In its place must come something that brings joy and pleasure. A psychologist will help you find this "thing". Maybe this will have to find a new job that will please and bring money. Or it will be enough to find a new hobby, a hobby.
A healthy lifestyle is popular. Exercise and vigorous exercise can cause the same rush of adrenaline as alcohol. In addition, the immediate environment is changing. And instead of swollen faces with disgusting fumes, the people around are bursting with health. Gym, swimming pool, jogging in the stadium in the morning - all this for most women can replace alcohol.
What to expect when you throw alcohol
The first days there will be a strong desire to drink. Irritability, anger, desire to kill someone - all this is alcohol. Breakdown by relatives, children, parents. And if they can't withstand the stress, they can't provide support, then the alcoholic will drink again.
If you want to stop drinking, make this process painless. Go to the clinic. In addition to relieving the stress and pain of your family, they will help you go through the adjustment process more easily.
An experienced psychologist who specializes in alcohol dependence will help you find the reasons that make you drink. His help and participation will be difficult to overestimate, because it is he who can find a substitute for alcohol, help to find, help to get out of depression.
If it turns out that you have stopped drinking alone, wait. Remember that there are no ex-alcoholics. Every company of people who drink alcohol should do the tenth time. 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 happen if you have the support and will to live.
What happens to alcoholic beverages and why is it difficult to give them up? Because, decomposing in the body, alcohol gives an extraordinary influx of energy. And if at that moment some joyful event happens, it is "anchored" with the intake of alcohol.
In simple words - a person does not stop drinking just because he tries to provoke those feelings when everything was high. Even if he no longer remembers which event preceded the intake of alcohol, he continues to try to recreate this mood, the feeling of happiness.
But this is only the beginning. In addition, alcohol and breakdown products penetrate nerve cells, destroying them and creating new stable connections. At this point, one can no longer stop drinking just because one physically needs alcohol. Relieves depression, eliminates trembling of the limbs (trembling of the hands), dilates blood vessels.
The next stage is overeating. It is no longer possible to give up drinking in this state alone. Here you need a specialist who can take you out of overeating, perform detoxification and prescribe treatment. Will withdrawal from hard drinking be a way out and will one be able to stop drinking at the same time? No. Additional psychological treatment is needed.