Women
Women with addiction issues are often better at hiding their symptoms because of social pressures. A mother who stays home with her children may hide daytime drinking or the use of anxiolytics to protect her marriage. Heavy drinking among men is often more socially acceptable, so women tend to be more secretive about their drinking, particularly if they have families or careers to protect. Addiction makes women more vulnerable to sexual assault and domestic abuse.
Posted under Alcohol
Even Light Alcohol Use Can Increase Risk of Breast Cancer
How alcohol consumption affects your health has long been a debate among medical experts. Recent findings in a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association might encourage those at risk for breast cancer to analyze whether even a small amount of alcohol consumption could help or hinder their health. Continue Reading
Posted under Sex Addiction
5 Myths About Women and Sex Addiction
In the media, men are the primary subject of discussions surrounding sex addiction, while women largely go unnoticed. Even beyond the media, scientific research and sex addiction treatment have focused almost exclusively on the way men experience sexually compulsive behavior.
Posted under Alcoholism
The Secret Lives of Alcoholic Moms
She’s hardworking and successful. She’s attentive to her family’s needs. She volunteers in the community and the PTA. Despite all of her accomplishments, this “perfect” woman may be hiding a painful secret: She’s an alcoholic.
Posted under Sex Addiction
Women Sexting More than Men, Suggests Study, Despite Committed Relationships
Which word is the most commonly accessed on the Internet? It’s "sex," reflecting what many call epidemic- levels of pornography and sexual addictions. An estimated 12 percent of all Internet pages are pornographic, and more than 420 million individual pages exist with pornographic material on them. Continue Reading
Posted under Sex Addiction
Increasing Numbers of Women Admitting Pornography Addiction
Pornography addiction doesn’t just destroy the lives and families of males. A 2006 report in the Internet Filter Review said that for every ten women, around six may view pornography and 17 percent may be addicted.
More women are admitting to viewing Internet pornography as a way to escape restless feelings, anxiousness or to combat boredom, and more are becoming addicted in what was once stereotyped as a male problem. In a recent article from the U.K. Mail & Guardian, a 21-year old woman described almost missing a job interview so she could view a saved pornographic clip on her computer. Continue Reading
Posted under Gambling
Compulsive Gambling Reaching Epic Proportions for Women
Gambling is no longer just a man’s sport. While gambling in general has boomed in part because of the popularity of online gambling, the increasing number of women gamblers is drawing attention. In a show aired by cable network A&E in 2009, the popularity growth of women involved in compulsive gambling was examined. Whereas women only represented three percent of compulsive gamblers just 10 years ago, today that number has climbed to more than 46%.
Posted under Cocaine
Study Finds Female Rats Prefer Cocaine Over Food
A new study reveals surprising results: When given a choice between sweets and cocaine, male rats prefer sweets, and female rats prefer cocaine. Researchers presented the results at the November 2010 meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego, California.
Posted under Women
Alcohol Consumption Linked to Breast Cancer Subtypes
It is well known that alcohol can contribute to the risk of developing cancer, especially breast cancer among women. Some studies have suggested that a woman’s alcohol consumption affects her hormonally, putting her at a greater risk of developing hormonally-driven types of breast cancer. Yet little research had been done on the relationships between women’s alcohol consumption and the risk of various breast cancer subtypes. As reported in the latest issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have conducted the first study measuring postmenopausal women’s risk of breast cancer subtypes based on their alcohol consumption levels. The researchers discovered that postmenopausal women drinkers have an increased risk of lobular and hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.
Posted under Women
Drug Exposure Threatening Lives of Women and Children in Afghanistan
The health of many women and children in Afghanistan is at great risk because of passive exposure to heroin and other drugs, according to a new study commissioned by the U.S. Department of State and jointly led by two University of Florida drug addiction experts.
Posted under Alcoholism
Hiding Alcoholism: The High-Functioning Alcoholic
By Leslie Thompson
Alcoholism is a debilitating disease that affects almost 18 million Americans. Unlike other types of addictions where symptoms are obvious because of physical signs or ailments, alcoholism is an illness that can go undetected. Recently Diane Schuler—the Long Island mother who drove the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway, killing herself along with seven other people—was found to be under the influence of alcohol and marijuana.
Her family insists she wasn’t a drinker, but she had a large amount of undigested alcohol in her stomach at the time of the accident, along with traces of the active ingredient of marijuana. Was she harboring a secret addiction? We may never know the truth of what happened that day, but it has become apparent that more and more men and women are successfully hiding their addiction from family and friends.
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The Addiction Primer
Everything you need to know to help a loved one struggling with addiction, from the writers and editors of Everything Addiction.
