More than five million women have what's known as "Alcohol Use Disorder."
Whether it's a casual drink with friends, or a "Bad Moms" style house party, there's no doubt many women love, and even crave their "mommy juice". That’s a drink or two that takes the edge off a long, hectic day.
“You feel like you deserve something. And wine becomes that something,” said mom, Annie Grace. The 39-year-old said that drinking habit started at work. “I actually got taken aside one day and told the bar is kind of like the golf course. That's where all the deals happen.”
In her book "This Naked Mind,” the mother of three describes how her relationship with alcohol got to a point where there was never a reason not to drink about four glasses of wine a night. “It was around 2-3pm in the afternoon saying "it's almost five!" and then being able to pour that glass of wine,” she said.
Grace didn't consider herself an alcoholic. But, she said she was of tired living with the guilt she felt. “I basically made a list of every reason I drank and just looked it up, learned everything I could, and at the end of the year, it was if my conscious desire to drink less and my unconscious conditioning around alcohol had gone away.”
Approximately 5.3 million women in the U.S. have alcohol use disorder or "AUD", a condition in which they are unable to stop or control their alcohol use. Women who consume more than three drinks a day or more than seven a week are at higher risk for A.U.D.
But Grace said she was able to take back that control and kick her emotional dependence on alcohol once she realized she didn't need it to relax, work, or socialize. While she hasn't had a sip in three years, she doesn't like to say she doesn't drink.
