Alcohol dependence

This article is an exploration of women and alcoholism. 

Alcohol is a favourite drug for many people, and women may be having more problems with alcohol than many of us would like to think. Journalist Ann Dowsett Johnston spent a year talking with women, and learned that there is a global rise in women's drinking-what one eminent researcher calls a "global epidemic." For Canadian women, rates of risky drinking rose significantly for in recent years. (Risky drinking is defined as four drinks or more on at least one occasion in the past week.) Women drink to ease ease anxiety, deal with trauma, and much more. Risky drinking leads to a wide variety of short and long-term health challenges. Is this a new problem, or are we just becoming aware of it? What's the role of alcohol marketing? How can we help women define the blurry line between social drinking and alcohol addiction? 

In this webinar, CWHN Executive Director Anne Rochon Ford interviewed Dowsett Johnston about her research, including questions and comments from viewers.

The first pan-Canadian guidelines for low-risk alcohol drinking. The guidelines are intended to provide consistent, evidence-informed recommendations to Canadians and to encourage a culture of moderation. The guidelines for women and men differ substantially. For example, to reduce your long-term health risks, they advice drinking no more than: 10 drinks a week for women, with no more than 2 drinks a day most days, and 15 drinks a week for men, with no more than 3 drinks a day most days.

Slide presentation exploring the recommendations in the SOGC Alcohol Use and Pregnancy Consensus Clinical Guidelines. This session held on April 19, 2011 provided the opportunity to unpack the myths and realities related to harms associated with drinking in pregnancy, and explore the practices recommended by the SOGC. Janet Walker is the Leader Quality Outcomes, Perinatal Services BC. Nancy Poole is Director of the British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health, Provincial Consultant for Women and Substance Use Issues, BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre Leader of the Network Action Team on FASD Prevention, Canada Northwest FASD Research Network, and one of 13 authors of the SOGC Guidelines.

A list of print and multimedia resources related to prevention of heavy alcohol use by girls and young women, for practitioners, girls’ group programmers, and anyone else who may find these resources helpful. Presents current resources for starting a conversation about drinking with girls using video clips, becoming aware of the influences on girls’ alcohol use, and the health risks of early and heavy drinking, and offering holistic, girl-centered, health promotion/prevention programming.

Discusses research that looked at the relationship between alcohol and substance use in women who experience intimate partner violence and treatment interventions made available in transition houses or shelters.

Provides information and resources to help guide people with substance use issues through the process of understanding more about the impacts of problem alcohol or drug use behaviour and treatments.

Provides information and recommendations about alcohol problems and treatment that may be of use in Inuit communities. Includes explanations about causes and types of alcohol problems, counselling methods, treatment choices and training needs.

Identifies best practices related treatment and rehabilitation for seniors with substance use problems, and specialized substance abuse treatment programs for seniors in Canada.