Women alcoholics on the rise

We get 10 cases a year, says Lakshmi Vijaykumar of VHS

The number of women alcoholics has been gradually increasing with time, Lakshmi Vijaykumar, head, department of psychiatry, Voluntary Health Services (VHS), said here on Wednesday.

“From hardly seeing any women alcoholics earlier, we now get about 10 people, a year. Most of them are aged around 30 and were introduced to alcohol by their husbands. But the challenging part is most of them come in an advanced stage due to the stigma involved,” Ms. Vijaykumar said.

Binge drinking

Among women in the 20s, “binge drinking” is a common phenomenon, she said. “They do not drink for four days and then during the weekend, go on binge drinking,” she added.

Addiction at young age

The age at which alcohol consumption begins too has reduced quite a bit, she said.

Also, they have seen quite a few school students coming in for de-addiction from glue smell, petrol smell and whitener.

“This could be dangerous and even at some point affect the central nervous system,” she added.

Ms. Vijaykumar said a report by World Health Organisation shows there has been 38% increase in the consumption of alcohol in the last 10 years.

The Rajaji Centre for De-addiction of VHS plans to honour patients who have stayed out of alcohol as part of the 25th anniversary celebrations to be held on 3 June at the Music Academy.

R. Mani of VHS said, “This is to motivate them to ensure they do not go back to drinking alcohol. We have a patient who has been keeping away from alcohol for 15 years and every year when we award him with a prize he takes a picture with us and treasures it. He says whenever he is tempted to drink, he looks at the photo and decides to stay away.”

Singer S.P. Balasubramanyam will also perform at the programme.