Alcohol is known to have harmful and long-term effects on the body, but it may not be as common knowledge that alcohol as a drug can be as harmful as illegal substances such as heroin.
In many cases, alcohol addiction can often be overlooked due to alcohol’s high availability across most of the modern world.
However, it is vital to remember that alcohol is an addictive substance and can cause serious (and sometimes irreversible) consequences when consumed regularly and in the long-term.
This blog post aims to explore alcohol addiction in relation to women’s health, including how the effects of alcohol may vary between men and women, as well as in general.
These first two subheadings outline the effects of alcohol more broadly, but more specific examples regarding gender are described later in the blog post.
Depending on the individual, their history with alcohol consumption, and their history of alcohol addiction in general, the physical health effects of an alcohol use disorder and alcohol consumption in general can vary massively.
Most of these effects will occur during a withdrawal i.e., when an individual stops consuming the substance, but most can occur during any period of extended alcohol consumption.
Common physical heath effects include:
This list is not extensive, and there are countless different effects that an individual can experience as a result of alcohol consumption.
In serious cases, studies have linked chronic heavy alcohol use to premature death (1) and other life-threatening conditions.
Any effects that an individual notices as a result of their own alcohol consumption or the consumption of others should be mentioned as part of their rehabilitation referral programme.
In general, alcohol is known to be a depressant substance, both in terms of the way that it affects the body, but also in terms of its effect on an individual’s mood and emotions.
One study linked heavy alcohol use to poor mental well-being, including a loss of sense of control, lower life satisfaction, and psychological distress (2).
As well as the general lowering quality of important aspects of mental health, alcohol use can be linked to specific mental health issues such as depression (3).
Addiction itself is considered to be a mental health condition, making it a vicious cycle for individuals struggling with an alcohol addiction.
Often, individuals turn to alcohol as a coping mechanism for various situations that they may be dealing with in their life, but this can become exponentially worse as the individual’s consumption of alcohol increases to match the stresses of this.
As can be seen from the previous paragraphs, an alcohol addiction can have long-term effects on an individual – all of which can vary from person to person depending on their history with addiction and their regular consumption.
Another quality of alcohol that makes it such a dangerous substance is its physically addictive quality.
Aside from the physical effects, a physically addictive substance means that the substance becomes a part of the body’s everyday functioning due to its regular presence in the body.
Not only does this make an individual’s tolerance increase over time, but it also makes the withdrawal process more difficult in some cases.
Once alcohol has entered the system over a long period of time and regularly, it means that the body will struggle to function without its presence.
This can lead to some serious health issues if improperly managed during withdrawal and can often require medical interventions with other substances that have addictive qualities of their own.
During an alcohol withdrawal, more serious cases may require the prescription of other drugs to overcome some of the negative effects that the individual may experience.
For an alcohol withdrawal, Librium is a common drug that can be administered to support the individual’s physical and mental well-being.
Classified as a benzodiazepine (another type of physically addictive substance), Librium is generally prescribed as an anxiety medication or as a relaxant before surgery.
However, it also has applications in the field of addiction, often being prescribed as a treatment for acute alcohol withdrawal.
This can greatly mitigate the individual’s experience of alcohol withdrawal symptoms, some of which can cause great discomfort and, in some cases, cause lifelong health problems.
Through Rehab 4 Addiction, it is always recommended that individuals seek a form of rehabilitation that follows the three key stages of recovery: detoxification, therapy/rehabilitation, and aftercare.
By following these three stages, an individual is far more likely to progress through an effective and efficient recovery programme, without skipping between different treatments and having an inconsistent programme.
Other forms of therapy such as harm reduction and risk management are less effective as they often allow the issues to arise before dealing with them, something which cannot be applied to addiction – a disorder that worsens exponentially over time.
The following three subheadings describe these keys stages of rehabilitation further, as well as describing how these stages may be presented in the case of an alcohol addiction.
The detoxification process is the first stage of rehabilitation for any substance, as it involves the withdrawal from that substance, allowing for the individual to have greater focus for the remainder of their rehabilitation journey.
As mentioned previously, an alcohol withdrawal may be more complex than non-physically addictive substances due to the potential need for medical intervention and symptom management.
However, this does not make it unnecessary.
An individual must complete a detox session, completely withdrawing from the substance, before continuing with any further treatments.
Individuals who do not complete their detoxification session before beginning further treatment programmes are less likely to make efficient and effective progress, often extending the time that they must spend in rehabilitation to overcome these issues.
After a detox, individuals are encouraged to progress to further treatment programmes to help with the mental health issues that they may have experienced as a result of addiction.
The types of programmes that an individual will experience will depend on their individual needs and requirements. However, there are some programmes that are recommended to many individuals due to their flexible and tailorable nature.
This is beneficial for rehabilitation for alcohol addiction, as they often vary in severity from person to person and can require a high degree of specialisation depending on the individual case.
Some of these treatment programmes include:
Not every individual will specifically experience these treatments during their time in rehabilitation, but they may experience elements of these forms of treatment.
If there are some treatments or therapies that an individual beginning the rehabilitation process feels would be beneficial, then it is important that these are mentioned as soon as possible when beginning the referral process.
As the third and final stage, aftercare is something that many people overlook.
However, it should be considered as one of the most important stages, as it allows time for individuals to process what they have learned and practised in rehabilitation.
For an alcohol addiction aftercare programme, this is especially important as it will reduce the risk of an individual relapsing.
In many cases, individuals are assigned to an aftercare support officer or a rehabilitation specialist, as the individual can have regular meetings with these specialists, allowing for progress checks and further support to be offered if is needed.
Research into the specific effects of alcohol on women have been long overlooked, with the majority of studies on the topic using solely male sample groups.
It is only as recently as the late 80s and 90s that women have been the focus of more research into alcohol addiction (4).
This highlights a gap in the research that serves as a focus point for any planned and future studies into female alcohol addiction.
However, there are some differences in alcohol use and addiction that have been highlighted within existing and recent research.
In general, it is agreed that women drink less alcohol and have fewer alcohol-related problems than men (5). However, this does not account for the different reasons why men and women may consume large quantities of alcohol, nor the effects that they may experience as a result of this.
The same study found that women were more likely to experience negative health effects as a result of alcohol at a lower exposure than men, as well as experiencing greater cognitive and motor impairment when consuming alcohol.
In addition, there are gender-unique impacts of an alcohol addiction that women may have to consider more greatly than when compared to men. Some of these impacts are covered across the following subheadings.
It is a common and well-known fact that individuals should not consume alcohol while they are carrying a child.
During a pregnancy, the mother is responsible for producing all the sustenance that their child will need through the mother’s body.
This means that anything that the mother consumes while pregnant can also be taken in by the child.
When it comes to alcohol, this can be a serious issue, leading to the chance of the foetus developing an alcohol addiction within the womb and therefore suffering from withdrawal once the mother has given birth.
Studies have also shown that the consumption of alcohol during pregnancy can lead to impaired growth, lifelong developmental issues, and the chance of a stillbirth (6).
Any individual who is struggling with an alcohol addiction and finds that they are pregnant should seek medical support as soon as possible in order to preserve the life of both the individual and their unborn child.
Fertility is an issue that has long been linked to alcohol consumption, with both men and women’s fertility reducing as a result of heavy and long-term drinking.
One study looked at the fertility and pregnancy complications within a small sample of women, finding that high alcohol consumption within their sample was associated with an increased risk of infertility and a decreased number of births (7).
Individuals who have struggled with an alcohol addiction in the past should seek medical advice and support if they decide that they want to try for a baby as the complications of this are greatly increased with the heavy consumption of alcohol.
Every individual is different, and so no two rehabilitation programmes will be the same. There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to rehabilitative care.
When receiving a referral to rehab through Rehab 4 Addiction, we will take into account everything that the individual has disclosed to a member of our friendly and professional team, ensuring that the programme that we recommend is the most suitable that is available.
To find out how we can help you or someone you know, give our addiction support hotline a call today on 0800 140 4690.
[1] Schmidt, W. and Popham, R.E., 1975. Heavy alcohol consumption and physical health problems: a review of the epidemiological evidence. Drug and alcohol dependence, 1(1), pp.27-50.
[2] Mäkelä, P., Raitasalo, K. and Wahlbeck, K., 2015. Mental health and alcohol use: a cross-sectional study of the Finnish general population. The European Journal of Public Health, 25(2), pp.225-231.
[3] Ning, K., Gondek, D., Patalay, P. and Ploubidis, G.B., 2020. The association between early life mental health and alcohol use behaviours in adulthood: A systematic review. PloS one, 15(2), p.e0228667.
[4] Greenfield, S.F., 2002. Women and alcohol use disorders. Harvard review of psychiatry, 10(2), pp.76-85.
[5] Nolen-Hoeksema, S., 2004. Gender differences in risk factors and consequences for alcohol use and problems. Clinical psychology review, 24(8), pp.981-1010.
[6] DeJong, K., Olyaei, A.M.Y. and Lo, J.O., 2019. Alcohol use in pregnancy. Clinical obstetrics and gynecology, 62(1), pp.142-155.
[7] Eggert, J., Theobald, H. and Engfeldt, P., 2004. Effects of alcohol consumption on female fertility during an 18-year period. Fertility and sterility, 81(2), pp.379-383.
Boris is our editor-in-chief at Rehab 4 Addiction. Boris is an addiction expert with more than 20 years in the field. His expertise covers a broad of topics relating to addiction, rehab and recovery. Boris is an addiction therapist and assists in the alcohol detox and rehab process. Boris has been featured on a variety of websites, including the BBC, Verywell Mind and Healthline. You can connect with Boris online at LinkedIn or X.com.
