The Invisible Alcoholics: Women and Alcohol Abuse

by Marian Sandmaier

This book focuses on the growing, but largely misunderstood, problem of women's alcohol abuse. Sandmaier reveals the many unique reasons why women drink, why treatments designed for men won't work for women and why women alcoholics experience more depression, dual drug addiction and suicide than alcoholic men. The book has been updated to reflect current research, with an aim to burying deep-seated cultural stereotypes, such as that drinking women are sexually uncontrolled and female alcoholics who are abandoned by their mates turn to the bottle for solace. Sandmaier also addresses new legal issues drinking women face in the 90s, including the prosecution of pregnant alcoholic women for giving drugs to the unborn babies and the correlation between alcohol and date rape. Of special interest is the up-to-date resource listing of activist groups, organizational information sources and a new "further reading" list.

350 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1980