About Alcoholism - Alcoholism Information, Research and Treatment

The woman alcoholic bears a double burden--the general stigma of alcoholism and the additional popular assumption that a female drinker indulges in amoral behavior--said Ruth P. Oakley, MD, director of the John L. Norris Clinic for Alcoholism of Rochester [N.Y.] State Hospital. The 1972 admission statistics at the clinic indicate that the ratio of women to men has reached 1:2.2. Fulltime housewives do not predominate; among the widely varying occupations, there is a preponderance of nurses and teachers. Three Roman Catholic nuns, one of them black, were among the admissions.