Binge Drinking By Women Up In Connecticut

Is it the stress? Is it that their husband's are dumb asses? Binge drinking rates in CT rose nearly 14% with the largest increases among women drinkers.Connecticut's drinking rates are now above the national average. The national rate for heavy and binge drinking by adults is 56% and in Connecticut the rate is 65.3%, according to The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.

Women showed a must faster escalation in binge drinking compared to men. Between 2005 and 2012, rates rose 17.5% for women compared to 4.9% for men. Some of the survey data from some counties in Connecticut are showing that one in five adults is a binge drinker.

At the top of the list were Litchfield and Middlesex counties and near the bottom were New Haven and Hartford counties.

According to the News-Times, Patricia Rehmer, senior vice president for Behavioral Health for Hartford HealthCare and former state commissioner of mental health and addiction services said, "Women have increasing responsibilities at work and home, and they want to do it all, and they're under pressure. A glass of wine at night can become a bottle very quickly." 

She went on to say that the trend is the same with opioids as well. Nationwide, the study showed that drinking rates are highest in many affluent areas.

Rehmer went on to say, "We need to do more early screening and educating around risk factors like family, history, stress, and genetics to open up the conversation."