European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 24, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Texas  Many it Tott a to  min of.  life after alcohol. For women by Sandy Rovner the Washington Post with her first words she brought cheers and tears to her  name is  said the ebullient Texas slate treasurer Lam an  the nearly 600 delegates to the first National conference in alcohol is a woman s Issue in Washington. O.c., sounded like the thousands at the Atlanta Omni Center cheering. Somo weeping Many responding with the traditional alcoholics Anonymous Welcome. Ann Richards who became a household name Atler her witty keynote address at the democratic convention in Atlanta is less Well known to the general Public As he supreme pal Rooss of recovering alcoholics in Tho United Stales but the magic of her personality is the same and when i in lied treatment she told them i was certain i d never be funny  Richards. 54, recently celebrated her eighth birthday of sobriety As it is called within the growing Amily of recovering alcoholics. In 1990 she will run Tor governor of tews. The message she brought to the meeting in Washington was simple there really is life alter alcohol. It is no Accident thai Sigma and shame Are the major characteristics of a woman alcoholic. Since the Law of Romulus in ancient Rome when 1he two offences in women that warranted capital punishment were adultery and drunkenness it has been a societal truism that As alcoholism expert or. Sheila 8. Blum puts it the hand  Cradle should t be  for three years now she association of Junior leagues Awe men s organization has been conducting a Survey across the United states and Canada of 463 alcohol authorities 596 ate Ohol treatment centers and 1,487 gatekeepers clergy physicians Law enforcement and social service Agency personnel to determine perceptions needs and facilities Tor alcoholic women. Although the Survey was geared mostly to Urban areas and did not attempt to be a statistically representative Sample the findings in this largest Survey of its kind were even More compelling than the Lew experts in this Field had anticipated. For example Junior league interviewers found a Strong perception among gatekeepers although not among physicians thai women alcoholics were using illegal drugs in increasing numbers along with their alcoholism. To no one s Surprise the surveyors Lound thai women were under represented in treatment programs they sound that the three major barriers to a woman alcoholic seeking Ireat men included her own personal denial of the problem her responsibility for care of dependent children along with the fear that she would lose her children it she Wen into treatment and a denial of her illness by the woman s family. Nevertheless what literature there is suggests that confrontation by a woman s family a la Betty Ford and Ann Richards is still the principal Way women do get into treatment alcoholic women face special problems. Men. Noted Blume in her address More commonly gel Inlo treatment through Drunken driving programs the criminal Justice system and employee assistance programs. These Are overwhelmingly male although some eap groups Are making efforts to reach women. One example Blume noted was new York s off track Belling system most of whose employees Are female. The woman who headed the employee assistance program discovered brat they were not finding alcohol problems in women although she suspected they were present. One week she inserted a Little slip in the pay Paekel re Hding every employee that we Are particularly interested in helping women with ate Ohol problems she was literally flooded with women responding Brume said. And you know what every one of those women though that Little slip was Only in her pay  the league s Survey Analysed and interpreted by a team headed by North Dakota psychologist Sharon Wilsnack also had some serious questions about the role of physicians. In this Survey and similar ones conducted in individual communities doctors ended to miss alcoholism in their patients. Richards Lold the group thai she had once mentioned to her doctor that i think i might have a drinking  he said Well How much do you drink and of course we know now that you be vhf ask an alcoholic How Modi you drink so gearing up As Best i could i said. Wen you know i drink As much As three realty big Vodka martinis before dinner and he said of. You Don t have to worry about that. I drink that much " in act. Women alcoholics May wan drink less than their male counter parts. For reasons still not completely understood but at least in part related to Tower Levels of body water in females h lakes less alcohol to make a woman sicker quicker. Despite new information linking a predisposition to alcoholism to a genetic actor and despite wide recognition thai alcoholism is a disease rather than a weakness of will these factors have yet to be applied in the Public perception to women. Said Richards Many alcoholics especially women labor through Trie with a tremendous sense of shame a fundamental belief that they Are bad people that somehow they could have or should have slopped the drinking if Only they had been belter people. For Many women alcoholics the sense of shame is even More profound because there la a feeling of violating our traditional primary role As nurturers. Alcoholism she said is a woman b Issue and a Man s Issue and a children s Issue and As Long As we stigmatize the disease rather than recognize it As the terrible and cunning and secret illness that it is we condemn All its victims to hiding from help and living lives of desperate self deception and  Erma Bombeck a Miv Fei by vol Mhz Vahi huh in Erma Bombeck is on vacation. This column originally appeared in july 1983 i d like to Lalk to you about America s Symbol of jus Lico. To be honest with you. I never really looked at her statue perched atop the Montgomery county courthouse Back in Ohio until one Day when i was in my 30s As i came Oul of the courthouse one Alvernoon Allie buying a dog License i glanced up at her and my hear skipped a boat. Note was a woman wearing a caftan sporting upper Aims that could Ian Brazil and looking like she had. Eaten every Pigeon thai came within Arm s length. I figured her for about 40. At thai moment the statue of Justice became my role Model. I began to fantasize about How great it would a when i reached her age. I would ride in on my longevity wearing a Blindfold when i was near a scale i did t want to Sec however something happened to me on the Way to 40 and 50. Linda Evans came along. So did Joan Collins and Linda Gray older women who defied the very fiber of Justice not to mention Gravity. Of. I did t mind the Mother daughter hand comparison tests where you tried to guess who had done the most dishes or the Oil of olay ads where the Ages on their to shirts were the same As my thigh measurements. But when 1 saw a rear View of Raquel Welch at age 41 in a swimsuit on the cover of life Magazine i quit lying to myself. There is no Justice hovering Over courthouses or the supreme court or anywhere else. She s a myth like her twin sister the statue of Liberty. Here s a woman wearing the same Nightgown with a 35-foot Waist a d loot Mouth and an Ami that holds seven tourists on a curved stairway. When was the last time you met a miss America with those measurements the statue of Liberty Mother of exiles. They got that part right i paid a visit to my original role Model a couple of weeks ago. She is still there on lop of the Montgomery county courthouse holding the scale and beckoning me to follow in her righteous loot tips. As i stood there i fail a splatter on my Cheek irom a Pigeon. I was t surprised. I Mink they re right about women. We re our own worst enemies. Page 16 the stars and stripes monday october 24.1988