Pandemic May Have Created Nations of Problem Drinkers - Many Are Women Sandee LaMotte - CNN Health
go to original January 26, 2022

For many people, social drinking is a celebrated pastime. At least it was in the good old days - you know, before we began living COVID's nightmare version of Bill Murray's "Groundhog Day."

During the pandemic's repetitive grind, enjoying an occasional glass of wine with the girls has been replaced by Zoom wine hour, or worse, drinking in solitary confinement.

"The data we have shows that drinking is definitely up since the start of the pandemic - around a 14% increase in the number of drinking days per month," said Dr. Sarah Wakeman, medical director of the Substance Use Disorders Initiative at Massachusetts General Hospital.

For women, the numbers are even higher, Wakeman said. "There's actually been a 41% increase in heavy drinking days among women since onset of the pandemic."

Why would more women be turning to drink than men?

"Studies have shown the complexities of balancing home, work and caregiving responsibilities during the pandemic has fallen disproportionately on women," said Dr. Leena Mittal, chief of the women's mental health division in the department of psychiatry at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

"There's also a lot of marketing of new alcohol products targeting women and especially moms," said Mittal, at a time when everyone is watching a lot more TV. Add to that the pre-pandemic "mom wine culture that normalized and, in some ways, even glorified" alcohol, and the line between social drinking and at-risk drinking can quickly "become blurry," she said.

Read the rest at CNN

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