Women and Alcohol Addiction: Effects, Stats, and Treatment

While many are able to drink responsibly, alcohol use does pose unique risks to all women. While men are more likely to drink alcohol than women, and to develop problems because of their drinking, women are much more vulnerable to alcohol’s harmful effects. Booze also doesn’t play nice with a lot of medications women may be taking, putting them at risk for a host of dangerous reactions. “Antianxiety pills, like Xanax and Valium, can enhance the effects of alcohol and impair your alertness and ability to balance, putting you at risk for falling,” says Nieca Goldberg, a cardiologist and medical director at the Joan H. Tisch Center for Women’s Health at the NYU Langone Health medical center.

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

• Further, this review only included studies assessing sex differences and not gender differences, per se.
• If you’ve ever found yourself in a dangerous situation because of drinking, you might have a problem with alcohol.
• Contradictory findings on sex differences have been reported in studies that assessed decoding of emotional facial expressions (EFE) in AUD.
• If you’re unhappy with your alcohol use, it’s never too late to consider cutting back or quitting.

This phenomenon causes ovulation to occur out of sync with one’s menstrual cycle. Those who don’t receive treatment for these withdrawal symptoms may die. It’s important to note that the severity of the withdrawal symptoms will differ from one woman women and alcoholism to another. It all depends on the length of the alcohol abuse, the amount that was consumed, and other factors.

Other Health Risks For Women With Alcoholism

• Given the continued high rates of fetal alcohol exposure and the lack of benefit of state-level policies, individual-level prevention and intervention efforts aimed at reducing alcohol use among women of childbearing age and pregnant women may be potent tools to reduce rates of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD).
• Even more, that test could help providers and consumers understand if their alcohol intake, whatever that may be, is placing them at a risk for specific diseases (such as liver or heart disease).
• She adds that more research is necessary to make these tests more accurate and widely available.
• In a recent meta-analysis by Slade and colleagues (2016), temporal trends in alcohol use (any and problematic) and alcohol-related harms were analyzed by birth cohort using data derived from 68 studies (about 75% from the US or Europe).
• There are many possible reasons why alcohol may have more of an effect on women than men.

In another study, women with alcohol addiction who attended treatment stated they were undeserving of support/help (Gunn & Canada, 2015). Though speculative, it is possible that stigma may be a reason that nearly one-third of women who took the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation survey did not answer the alcohol questions. It’s critical to address and break through stigma, because it can make women less likely to admit they have a problem, thereby preventing them from seeking help (Copeland, 1997; Kulesza et al., 2013).

The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation Experience

• Additional research on secondhand harms from alcohol use could be helpful for elucidating gender differences in the risk for alcohol-related consequences.
• American Addiction Centers (AAC) is committed to delivering original, truthful, accurate, unbiased, and medically current information.
• Unfortunately, she may not be able to gauge how drunk she actually is.
• They may not menstruate anymore or may fall into early menopause.
• Changes in hormone levels during the menstrual cycle may also affect how a woman metabolizes alcohol.

That means it takes less time and less alcohol for women to get intoxicated and experience the bad effects of booze. That risk intensifies as we age because the water content in our bodies starts to dwindle even more as we begin to lose muscle mass. The Hormone Connection Dr. Grant is taking a closer look at the role female reproductive hormones (specifically, progesterone) play in alcohol consumption and alcohol sensitivity. Her research suggests that women’s menstrual cycles (and fluctuating hormones) may have a lot to do with when we choose to drink and how much we drink.

• They reported a linear decrease over time in sex ratios for any and problematic alcohol use and alcohol-related problems, with ratios in younger cohorts (e.g., those born 1991–2000) being closer to equal compared to older cohorts (Slade et al, 2016).
• Women are catching up to men when it comes to alcohol consumption –and according to most experts, this isn’t a gender gap we want to close.
• The authors suggested that these trends might be a sign that women who binge-drink even when they are pregnant are more likely to have an alcohol use disorder than other binge-drinkers.
• Large fluctuations in hormonal levels can cause the body to go haywire.
• They highlight the critical importance of the NIH mandate to include women in research and, more importantly, to enroll sufficient women to permit adequately powered analyses of sex differences and similarities.

She may lose her job or may ruin her relationships with her family and friends. Monitoring Risk Currently, healthcare providers rely on self-reporting to assess a person’s risk for alcohol abuse, a process that Dr. Grant says is subjective. “The reality is that alcohol impairs memory, that many people don’t understand what defines a standard drink or they don’t want to disclose what they drink” she adds. “Progesterone has metabolites (products of progesterone metabolism) that interact with brain circuitry the same way alcohol does,” she says. If you or a loved one is struggling with alcohol misuse, contact American Addiction Centers at to learn about women’s rehabs and alcohol treatment programs. Our caring admissions team is available 24/7 to explain treatment options, check insurance coverage, and provide valuable resources to help with your recovery.