Women's Alcohol Program - What To Know   by Ben Pate

in Health / Diseases and Conditions    (submitted 2012-02-21)

It is estimated that only six percent of woman actually receive the necessary addiction treatment that they need. This is due to many reasons. For those women who do seek treatment it's often not successful. Women with addiction often need dual diagnosis services, which are not offered at every drug rehab. Most women suffering from a substance abuse problem have a co-occurring mental illness or trauma from childhood or beyond. In addition, many women have children and are not able to leave them to enter treatment. Due to lack of alcohol program for women and dual diagnosis programs many women are unable to get the help they so desperately need.

Specialized Care

Women who suffer from addiction often have a co-occurring mental condition. This can vary from eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, ED-NOS, or even binge eating disorder to post-traumatic stress disorder. No matter the disorder, it is very important that addiction treatment for women get to the root of the addiction. Recovery from an addiction cannot be successful if the behaviors or feelings that are the underlying root cause of the addiction are not dealt with. For example, if a woman who suffered from sexual abuse as a child does not work through the pain and guilt and anxiety surrounding that event in her childhood, she will continue to use drugs or alcohol to escape those memories, feelings, and pain. The best solution is dual diagnosis.

Single Parents

Some women who have developed an addiction to drugs or alcohol must also have to content with the fact that they are single parents. These unfortunate people are in the situation of deciding between their own recovery, and looking out for their child. Hopefully, they realize that the best thing for the child is that their mother gets clean and sober. Luckily, there are many rehabilitation centers available to women that offer daycare services free of charge. This is an excellent resource for women who did not think they would be able to get treatment because of their need to watch their child.

Dangers Of Addiction

Addiction is an indiscriminate disease, it brings with it guilt and shame. However, addiction has underlying causes, and unless these causes are explored and dealt with, recovery is virtually impossible. For women and especially mothers, they are scared to enter treatment facilities or they don't have the resources. Many states have finally realized that it is actually cheaper and more beneficial to send an addicted mother to treatment then to take her children away and put her in jail. Hopefully this will lead to more rehab centers offering child care and other resources to addicted women.

About the Author

It is vital for a person dealing with an addiction to drugs or alcohol to immediately seek medical treatment and counseling. This is especially true for women with children that are single. If they do not they could face serious consequences. They could end up dead or in jail, or even have their children taken from them. There are now many womens alochol program out there that cater to individuals in these scenarios. They offer free daycare programs many times so it is easier to attend treatment. There are also now many dual diagnosis rehabilitation that can help women not only deal with their drug addictions, but with the underlying problems that caused an addiction in the first place.