Discuss the concept of women and alcoholism. What differences exist between the genders with regard ...

In the past, women have consumed less alcohol and had fewer alcohol-related problems than men. Now a greater percentage of women are choosing to drink and to drink heavily.
Studies are now indicating that there are now almost as many women as men who become alcoholics.
There appear to be differences between men and women when it comes to alcohol abuse. These are listed and explained below.
1. Women attribute the onset of problem drinking to a specific life stress or traumatic event more frequently than men.
2. Women's alcoholism starts later and progresses more quickly than men's; this phenomenon is called 'telescoping."
3. Women tend to be prescribed mood-altering drugs more often than men; women thus face the risks of drug interaction or cross-tolerance more often.
4. Men not addicted to alcohol tend to divorce their spouses who are addicted nine times more often than they do their spouses without an alcohol addiction; women addicted to alcohol are thus not as likely to have a family support system to aid them in their recovery.
5. Women addicted to alcohol do not tend to receive as much social support as men in their treatment and recovery.
6. Unmarried, divorced, or single-parent women tend to have significant economic problems that may make entry into a treatment program especially difficult.