Alcohol Abuse and Treatment

Opinions vary on the definition of alcohol abuse. Abuse can be regular usage that is turning into a dependency. Abuse can also be binge drinking; consuming a large quantity of alcohol in a very short amount of time, but not necessarily every day. Some believe that more than one drink a day for most women is too much. A standard drink is generally considered to be 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits. It is generally believed that on any given day, a woman should have no more than 2 drinks, and that a woman should not drink every day. However, defining abuse is difficult because the pattern of drinking is an important determinant of alcohol-related consequences. So, while data is often collected in terms of the " average number of drinks per week," one drink taken each day may have different consequences than seven drinks taken on a Saturday night.

It is estimated that of the 15.1 million alcohol-abusing or alcohol-dependent individuals in the United States, approximately 4.6 million (nearly one-third) are women. Women also represent 25% of alcoholism clients in traditional treatment centers in the United States. Women are less likely than men to use or abuse alcohol; however, death rates among female alcoholics are 50 to 100 percent higher than those of their male counterparts.