The typical alcoholic woman is above average in intelligence, in her forties, married with two children. She started drinking socially in high school or college. Although frequently incapacitated, she can fabricate a story skillfully and thus conceal her true physical condition. She often attributes her alcoholism to connubial stress, boredeom, or depression. A large percentage of the women give family histories of alcoholism. Most female drinkers would demur at the appelation of “alcoholic” and that makes their treatment all the more difficult.
