Addiction to liquor on the rise among women

Mangalore Today News Network

July 31, 2017: It is seen that with inrease in nubers of women addicted to liquor than ever before, more are seeking help and  in need of support.

The rising numbers have prompted Nimhans to open a full-fledged de-addiction centre for women. It is the only de-addiction centre for women in the country in the government sector, and has been operational for about a year now. Of the 20 to 25 women addicts the hospital receives a month, two-thirds are alcohol addicts. At any given point, it has at least five or six inpatients.

"In the last five years, the number of women seeking treatment for alcohol addiction has been 254. In 15 years since the 1990s, it was just 75," said Dr Pratima Murthy, professor of psychiatry who heads the Centre for Addiction Medicine, Nimhans.

The number of women who have sought de-addiction in the last five years is 400. Many refuse hospital admission and treatment because of the stigma associated with drinking among women.

Familial responsibilities and financial constraints also keep them away from treatment, Dr Murthy said. The numbers are indicative of a much larger problem.

Social drinking   : Urban women drink socially, and things sometimes get out of hand."Women drink with their partners. There is a lot of peer pressure and curiosity when it comes to urban women," said Dr Rajini P, deputy director of mental health.

Addiction is also caused by biological vulnerability, with the tendency running in families. Most women addicts are middle-aged. They begin drinking when they are 20, and the habit becomes an addiction when they are between 30 and 40 years. It continues into their late 50s, doctors said. Divorces, emotional and relationship problems, depression and lack of support are cited as reasons for addiction.

Why they drink : Family problems push rural women to drink, and at least some of them come to Bengaluru seeking treatment.

"We have five patients and all of them are from rural Karnataka. They come from poor backgrounds," said Dr Naveen Jayaram, consultant psychiatrist, Sakra World Hospital. Dr Ambanna Gowda, consultant, internal medicine, Fortis Hospital, said women and men are equally addicted in the villages. Many BBMP workers also approach him for treatment.

Rural women are poor, face family problems, and their work involves physical labour. They take to drink watching their husbands drinking.

Addicted women approach physicians with physical ailments such as liver failure, hepatitis and neurological weakness. They don’t disclose their drinking. Doctors don’t usually ask if they have a drinking problem."After diagnosis, when we see that their problems do not fit into certain categories of disease, we ask if they drink. It is only after they trust the doctor that they open up," said Dr Ambanna Gowda.

Dr Pratima said earlier women used to approach doctors with neuropsychiatric problems and dementia, but now they complain of mood and anxiety problems. "This means they are seeking help early," she said.  help centers are there specially for women too in other places of Karnataka.