Chennai

“When we met her, she admitted that she could not go to Tasmac to purchase alcohol following her husband’s death and was unable to let go of her addiction,” said Dr R Mani, in charge, Rajaji Deaddiction Centre, Voluntary Health Services (VHS) Multi Specialty Hospital and Research Institute, during the centre’s silver jubilee celebrations. 

With alcohol consumption becoming common among women nowadays, deaddiction centres are beginning to devise strategies to treat them as well, a factor which was not considered essential a few years ago. Stating that the numbers have increased, Dr Lakshmi Vijayakumar, Head, Department of Psychiatry at the Institute, said, “Around 10 years ago, we would see only one or two cases a year. However, we now get over 10 cases.” 

Due to the stigma behind alcohol consumption among women, they tend to seek help only when they are in an extreme stage, unlike the case among men. “Though the numbers are increasing, it is a concept that is still frowned upon. Women are ashamed to admit that they drink and more often than not, their first drink would have been given to them by their husbands,” added Dr Vijayakumar. 

With binge drinking over the weekends slowly becoming a common factor among young women, doctors feel the need for more deaddiction centres to focus on treating them as well. “Some of the centres are not prepared to treat women. Female counsellors and provisions for admitting female alcoholics should be made available in all centres,” said P Simon, a health expert. 

LIQUOR, THE KILLER

• Tamil Nadu has the title of ‘the most number of Road Traffic Accidents’ (14 per cent of all road accidents in India) to its name, one third of which, are a result of alcohol consumption.
• An estimate of over seven million in the state consumes alcohol daily (80 percent of who consume hard liquor).
• In urban slums, it was found that the first exposure to alcohol was seen among youngsters between the ages of 16 and 20. 
• It has been seen that in India, every 15 minutes, there is a death due to alcohol consumption.
• According to the World Health Organisation, India has seen an increase of almost 38 percent in alcohol consumption with 3.3 million alcohol attributed deaths.

Visit news.dtnext.in to explore our interactive epaper!

Download the DT Next app for more exciting features!

Click here for iOS

Click here for Android