A Word Before Heading Out to Happy Hour

August 7, 2009 by blackgirlgrown
Filed under health and wellness, work/life balance

Yes, ladies. We work hard and some of us play harder. We can match wits with men on nearly every level in the workplace, in the gym, and on the field.

Except when it comes to drinking. Many of us have learned the hard way that you can’t drink like a man. For most of us. this was a harmless message that only required a day’s sleep and plenty of aspirin the next day. But for some, the consequences have become deadly.

The Huffington Post reports on the rise in women drinkers and DUIs (Driving Under the Influence) charges against women.

“Younger women feel more empowered, more equal to men, and have been beginning to exhibit the same uninhibited behaviors as men,” said Chris Cochran of the California Office of Traffic Safety.

Indeed. As women, we believe firmly in our equality with men. But we’re also picking up their bad habits.

Federal studies:

One federal study found that the number of women who reported abusing alcohol (having at least four drinks in a day) rose from 1.5 percent to 2.6 percent over the 10-year period that ended in 2002. For women ages 30 to 44, Schuler’s age group, the number more than doubled, from 1.5 percent to 3.3 percent.

The federal government is looking for you:

The problem has caught the attention of the federal government. The Transportation Department’s annual crackdown on drunken driving, which begins later this month, will focus on women.

Of course we’re stressed out of our minds!:

“Our society has taught us that women have an extra burden to be the perfect mothers and perfect wives and perfect daughters and perfect everything,” Levounis said. “They tend to go to great lengths to keep everything intact from an external viewpoint while internally, they are in ruins.”

In the current recession, women’s incomes have become more important because so many men have lost their jobs, experts say. Men are helping out more at home, but working mothers still have the bulk of the child rearing responsibilities.

“Because of that, they have a bigger burden then most men do,” said clinical psychologist Carol Goldman. “We have to look at the pressures on women these days. They have to be the supermom.”

Best advice: