The possible reasons for becoming addicted

Nowadays people get more stress than ever before. We are out of the generation of nine to fivers. We have access to anyone twenty-four hours seven days per week. Even having a barbecue with your family on Sunday you have no guarantee that your boss will not call you and ask to prepare a report urgently. There is no time for rest now. There is no time for sleep now. There is no time for ourselves. Scary? That is just the top of the iceberg.

Changes in gender politics let women equal rights at the world of work, but how much inequality does it cause in household duties! Now they do the same work as a hundred years before, but combine this with the real job! We can say for sure that the problem of substance abuse among moms is usually an overload of stress at both home and work.

The principal reasons for a woman to start drinking are overworking, scenes from favorite films and soap opera where a woman drinks a lot of wine and becomes much happier and some specific psychological traumas (experience of sexual harassment, always seeing one of the family members drunk in childhood, divorce or domestic violence).

The most popular types of addictions

Starting from nicotine, alcohol, drugs, and medications, gambling to shopping, sex or the Internet – addiction may be different. Even the best mother in the world may get addicted or also combine two types of addiction without even being aware that there is more than one problem. Being sick of continually helping her children, her husband, and her parents (if she has ones), a woman tries to find some fun in everyday routine. This is where addiction starts. She may begin with a glass of wine to relax before sleep, or with an hour in front of the computer screen or online shopping or gambling online.  Can end participating in one of the numerous outpatient rehab programs. Sometimes people pay a lot of money to chat about sex online, and this doesn’t matter if they are bibacious or sober. Trouble comes in threes! As we know the most widespread addiction is still substance abuse.

So, can you imagine a good-looking woman in her mid-thirties who has children and works for ten hours five days a week being a drug addicted? Or alcohol addicted? At first thought, it sounds strange. Unfortunately, most people are unable to notice that someone they know is getting addicted to something. Moreover, sometimes when they see this, they try not to admit the fact of the problem trying not to meddle in somebody’s affairs. However, death-bed repentance and resort to the at least outpatient facility may lead to horrendous consequences.

The most common signs of getting addicted

Firstly, it is the lack of interest in previous hobbies and neglecting social and private relationships. An addicted person usually pulls herself away from her usual circle of contacts and start missing essential obligations such as work or taking care of children, parents, pets, etc. Secondly, on the emotional level, a person becomes more irritated, nervous and apathetic to the negative consequences of their actions. Thirdly, the body reacts to any addiction in the form of abrupt change in weight, physical withdrawal symptoms like trembling, vomiting, or sweating, distinct differences in sleeping patterns, which may result into chronic fatigue in the future. Being prone to stress and emotional imbalance, women tend to get addicted more intense than men do.

The most common ways to treat the addiction

Probably it is not the great news that there are two main ways to recover: Inpatient and Outpatient Treatment. The main difference is that while being in Inpatient rehabs, you usually participate in an intensive, residential treatment programme. Which means you are under the supervision of experts within 24 hours. Being in outpatient rehabs allows living a normal life, going to work as if nothing happens.

Having said that women mostly get addicted because having too much stress means that they are often able to visit only in an outpatient rehab center. They still have many domestic chores, and nobody else can do it for them. The most positive thing here is that a woman can see her family and children all the time. This adds her extra forces to wrestle against the temptation to break away and motivates her to continue the treatment while the clinic environment may make her sad, pessimistic and scared.

The main components of any treatment

They are behavioral counseling (both in groups and individually), medications, recovery support to prevent relapse, curing mental health issues (such as depression). If a woman has a severe long-term addiction, she will need special care from doctors, which cannot be provided in a common outpatient treatment center. However, she may have no time to spend this in a medical center. There is a decision. She can start in the clinic to get rid of the substance in her blood. The next step can be meetings with the same addicted mothers in an outpatient rehab center. They will support her and help to let go the resentment because all of them have a similar story and this makes them fellow sufferers. They can understand each other better than phycologists can. Moreover, usually, they aim to become better mothers to their children and can share their small achievements. The additional advantage of outpatient treatment centers is that moms do not have to adapt to normal life again after the treatment.

To sum up, the recovery for busy or single mothers be painful especially on the conditions of the need to combine this with domestic chores and children upbringing. The main thing to recover is the desire to become a better version of yourself. To become a better mother for your children. Not to be a burden on your family. If you have such a problem, new recovery centers can help you to get rid of your addiction on-the-job and with your family.

About the Author

Thanush Poulsen is a Danish lifestyle blogger who carefully investigates the problem of addiction in contemporary society. Traveling around the world, Thanush collects different methods of treatment for specific population groups. Many of his articles include observations and professional recommendations of addiction treatment specialists from all over the globe.