NERAF - Women's page

New- Womens only Groups

Sunderland

Mondays, 12-2pm. 4, Toward Road, Sunderland.

Are you interested in developing & being involved in a Woman's only group? Please contact Caroline on 07765 214410.

NERAF in conjunction with Wearside Women in Need

Washington

Fridays, 10-12pm. NECA, Speculation Place, Washington.

Are you interested in developing & being involved in a Woman's only group? Please contact Dee on 07917 748534

NERAF in conjunction with NECA

WOMENS SERVICE IN NEWCASTLE OPENING SOON

Why women drink.
Women turn to alcohol for all sorts of reasons. Here are some reasons why we started to drink regularly:

• Alcohol is a legal drug so it couldn't be dangerous.
• Pressures of family life.
• Pressures of work.
• Money worries.
• Confidence.
• Depression.
• Lack of self esteem.
• Violent partner.

Women who use alcohol to lift depression are making the situation worse because alcohol is a depressive drug.

Reasons why we wouldn't ask for help
Frightened of social services being involved. Frightened of having children taken away. Stigma attached to women's drinking were secret drinkers & didn't want rest of family to know. Shame on rest of family. Wasn't honest to myself about my problem because I led a normal family life. Felt too embarrassed to ask for help. Didn't know where to get help. Didn't want other people see them accessing services. Worked full time & would find it hard keeping appointments (most services are 9-5 & closed at weekends). Childcare costs. Traveling from rural areas. Most women would prefer women only services.

It is estimated that one in six women in Britain drink enough to put their health at risk.

How much is too much?
Government guidelines state that men should drink no more than three to four units per day and women no more than two to three units per day. However, some medical experts believe these levels are too high, and recommend no more than three units a day for men and two a day for women. Either way, you should not "save up" the units over the week and use them to binge at the weekend.

Units for women
The reason that the limits for women are less than for men is because the body composition of women has less water than men. Therefore, even if a man and woman are of similar size and weight, the woman will tend to get drunk faster. Women can also develop liver disease at lower levels of drinking than men.

Strength and units
The strength of an alcoholic drink is indicated by the percentage of alcohol by volume (ABV).

A unit is 8 grams of pure alcohol, regardless of the amount of liquid it’s contained in.

The number of units in one litre of any drink is equal to the ABV. So a 500ml can of 8% ABV lager contains 4 units.

View more facts here

To view this article in full from BUPA click here - http://hcd2.bupa.co.ukl