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California Drug Rehab - Hope for Alcohol and Drug AddictionAlcohol Abuse Continues to Rise Among College Women
By Hugh C. McBride
Increased enrollment rates for female college students indicates that more and more women are taking advantage of the opportunities that are offered by our nation’s institutions of higher learning.
But reports of rising rates of alcohol abuse within this same population are causing considerable concern that many young women are jeopardizing their health at the same time that they should be preparing for the brightest possible future.
The topic of dangerous drinking was addressed by Simone Pathe in a March 10 article in The Bates Student, the student newspaper of Bates College:
College is so conducive to developing bad drinking habits that the more higher education one receives, the more likely one is to develop alcoholism, according to Health Center Psychologist Dr. Wendy Kjeldgaard. …
Most students drink for social reasons and not because of depression or mental illness and many students believe that their peers drink more than they do. …
The academic consequences of abusing alcohol can be more long-term than Sunday morning hangovers that delay arrival at the library. Cognitive disruptions can persist for up to 30 days after drinking, and [legal citations] will remain on personal records permanently – not a risk you want to take in today’s job market.
The many problems related to alcohol abuse can plague both men and women, but Pathe noted that female students are putting themselves at increasing risk due to rising rates of dangerous drinking within that population.
“For the first time, more than half of college students with drinking problems are women,” Pathe wrote, “partly because it is more acceptable for women to be heavy drinkers and partly because more alcohol industry advertisements target them.”
A Continuing Problem
Though troubling, the increasing prevalence of alcohol abuse among college women is neither a new nor a recently discovered phenomenon. In an article that appeared in the June 8, 1994 edition of The New York Times, writer William Celis III reported on a Columbia University study that found alcohol abuse to have increased threefold over the preceding two decades:
The study, conducted by the university Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, said 35 percent of the college women polled last year said they drank to get drunk, compared with 10 percent in 1977. It did not report how often college women engaged in this type of drinking.
"We must respond to this wake-up call," said Judge Pamela Ann Rymer of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and a member of the 17-member commission that produced the report. "It is a calling critical enough to engage us all."
Unfortunately, the wake-up call to which Judge Rymer referred appears to have gone unanswered, as dangerous drinking by college women remains a problem almost 15 years after her observation appeared in the Times.
‘An Alarming Public Health Crisis’
In 2007, the nonprofit National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) released a report that noted a 22 percent increase in binge drinking by college women between 1993 and 2005. The same document reported that 37 percent of college women claimed to have consumed alcohol on at least 10 occasions during the preceding 30 days.
In a release that announced the publication of the report, CASA president Joseph Califano said that his organization’s findings represented “not only a lack of progress, but rather an alarming public health crisis on America's college campuses.”
Califano cited “a failure of leadership” by college administrators as a primary cause of the continuing problem of alcohol abuse on campuses, and called for a ban on alcohol advertising in college publications, as well as for more effective enforcement of alcohol consumption laws.
An Attempt to Attract Attention?
Alcohol abuse has occasionally been referred to as a “cry for help,” or a sign that an individual is unwittingly attempting to call attention to co-occurring disorders such as depression, anxiety, or other mental, emotional, or psychological conditions. However, a recent survey of excessive drinking by college women suggests that much alcohol abuse may actually be a misguided attempt to attract positive attention.
“Our research suggests women believe men find excessive drinking sexually attractive and appealing,” Joseph LaBrie, Ph.D., an associate professor of psychology at Loyola Marymount University, said in a March 11 article on the ScienceDaily medical news website. “But it appears this is a giant misperception.”
ScienceDaily provided the following highlights of the Loyola Marymount study on alcohol abuse among college women:
- The survey involved 3,616 college students at two U.S. universities: Loyola Marymount and the University of Washington. The participating students, ages 18 to 25, completed an online survey during the 2007 fall semester.
- The results showed 71 percent of women overestimated the men's actual preference of drinks at any given event.
- Twenty-six percent of women said that men would most likely want to be friends with a woman who drinks five or more drinks and 16 percent said that men would be most sexually attracted to a woman who drank that much alcohol. Both estimates were nearly double what the men actually preferred.
- The researchers noted that the women who overestimated the men's preferences were more likely to engage in excessive drinking.
A Dangerous Practice
Regardless of their reasons for engaging in regular binge drinking and other forms of dangerous drinking, college women who regularly drink to excess are exposing themselves to a wide range of personal and professional damage. Simply put, alcohol abuse among women can have devastating repercussions.
However, there is some good news. In recent years, the field of addiction treatment for women has developed considerably, with a number of effective programs designing specific protocols to address the unique needs of women who are struggling with alcoholism or drug addiction.
If you or someone you know is abusing alcohol or another drug, know that help is available. If you are a college student, your school’s health clinic is a great place to begin educating yourself about the dangers of alcohol abuse and the many treatment options that are available to you.
