More women seeking help in relation to alcohol related issues in Donegal

The number of people contacting Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) this year in January has increased significantly. The organisation has also reported that more women are seeking support for "problem drinking" and attending AA meetings. 

Based in Letterkenny, the Chief Executive of Alcohol Forum Ireland, Paula Leonard, said it is a positive sign that people are looking for help and are looking for help in such numbers and urged anyone who is experiencing difficulty to reach out to a myriad of services that are available across the county.  

She said: “Addiction services run by the HSE, and the community and voluntary sector also see a rise in number in January. Services are concerned about the numbers of people seeking help and rightly so.”  

Ms Leonard said there are great community alcohol and drug addiction services in the county and encouraged people to reach out: “You will get a warm, friendly welcome from a service that you can trust.”

Speaking about the increase in the number of women seeking help in relation to alcohol related issues, she added that women often use alcohol for self-medicating. 

Ms Leonard said a lot of men and women presenting to adult services have dual diagnosis which may mean in cases that there is an issue with both mental health and addiction issues. 

“Trauma is related to addiction but for women the figures are much higher. We know women who attend addiction services have high rates of PTSD -  at least 30%, while some research would indicate it to be as high as 60%. We know that many women who access addiction services have experienced lifetime trauma which could include physical, sexual or gender abuse. It is estimated that 80% of women who attend addiction services have experienced some type of lifetime trauma.”

She said it is vitally important that people understand that trauma and experience of abuse increases a person’s risk of alcohol-related problems in adulthood. She added there is a significant difference between men and women in this regard. 

“We also need to have trauma related services. We are moving in the right direction but there is still a long way to go,” she said. 

She said that in January people often go to their GP in relation to addiction issues and then fail to attend their appointments: “I feel it is very important that people would look for help, if they tell a friend or a family member - tell someone that you are going on this journey so that they might encourage you to have that courage to show up for your first appointment.”

The pandemic did have a role to play in the significant increase in numbers of people presenting with alcohol related issues: “What we saw during the pandemic was very different drinking patterns so people drank at home some people drank on their own which is always a worry. Some research shows people were drinking for reasons of loneliness, stress and anxiety. All of those reasons for drinking are worrying and can be problematic for people. You can fall into very dangerous habits.”

Nationally and globally there was an increase in the number of people suffering from alcohol related liver disease. Alcohol related deaths also increased in the past number of years. 

She said that many are just coming to terms with the trauma and grief related to the pandemic: “More and more people are now talking about alcohol causing problems in their lives. We are seeing people abstaining from alcohol and making better choices among adults and teenagers. We need to support that, services need to support that, communications and media need to support that - you don’t need to hit rock bottom to look for help.”

She said that the understanding that people need to hit rock bottom to look for help isn’t true and that anyone who feels that alcohol is an issue in their lives should contact services via phone, online or the manner that best suits you. 

It is often only considered that the person who is suffering from the addiction seek help. However, Ms Leonard says it is imperative that those who live with and are negatively impacted by alcohol realise that there are services in the county that can help and support them. 

“Here in Donegal, Alcohol Forum Ireland we have brilliant programmes that support family members. You don’t have to be the person with the addiction to suffer from the issue and people should be encouraged to speak about it - to look for help and support in that area really makes a huge difference to families and family life.”