You can be a woman, have a perfect plastic, success, a good career … and however struggle with alcoholism. On Konbini, Noémie Lenoir delivered a testimony without fuss on his addiction.
Under his image, the feeling of being the “most horrible” of women
His shift towards alcoholism begins as for many with a festive consumption at the age of 19, with his friends. But little by little, the model discovers that alcohol is part of her daily life.
“The day I realized that it was no longer normal, it was when I was alone at home and that I opened my rosé bottles”she says.
Little by little, the model, who experienced a career of success and a fulfilled private life before 30 years old, sink in the alcoholism from which she does not get out. “”I hated myself “ she delivers.
“”Inside, I was the most horrible woman in the world for me (despite her title of “most beautiful woman in the world” editor’s note). I felt unnecessary, I felt zero, the alcohol really supported this feeling “, she says. “I had no one to talk about it (…) so I was lying with people who drank, like me”.
In 2010, she attempted suicide. “”I got out of there and I said to myself: I am an alcoholic ” she concedes today.
A disease that does not target only men in hassle
Very often, this disease is not the caricature that we want to make of it, often to say that we are far away … For Noémie Lenoir, alcoholism was the answer to a discomfort it fed. “”Addiction is a cry. This anger, I had had it for a very long time, since at home it was not going. I had an alcoholic dad, a mother who was in depression. I fought against this and to anesthetize all of this, I consumed alcohol.“”
But when she wants to get out, another difficulty is emerging. “It’s complicated to understand someone who can’t stop. We’re going to tell him :: Go ahead, it’s good, have a little will, it’s not that complicated to stop ! “. But these words are of no use. Noémie Lenoir therefore decides to talk to a shrink, who teaches her to find the strength to get out of it … and to talk about it.
Alcohol A case (also) of women
If the confession of Noémie Lenoir is today important, it is because it allows to move away from the clichés of alcoholism. Yes, the woman can also be the victim of this addiction, even if she displays a real success outside.
In a recent article, Doctor William Lowenstein, addictologist, returned to the notable differences between male and female alcoholism. If men consume alcohol for often social reasons-conviviality, stress management or professional integration-women can use it for more intimate reasons, often related to personal discomfort. “This excessive consumption of alcohol is sometimes linked to a disorder of self -image or a femininity disorder”, explained Doctor William Lowenstein. “Thus, alcohol abuse can go hand in hand with family or marital violence. Women then protect this oppression by consuming with the partner or alone to try to survivevre. “
But not all of them are confronted with situations of mistreatment. Today, some women also drink for their own pleasure or to deal with everyday pressure. “”There is a sharp increase in the abusive consumption of alcohol in 30-50 year olds “, underlines our specialist. “It is the Business Woman syndrome of the stressed upper framework that decompresses with the friends after the job or which discovers” binge-drinking “, a massive alcoholization on a single evening in episodically. Women lead today several lives at the same time. They are mothers, women, married and sometimes mistresses”.
“We are far from the image of the alcoholic woman of formerly, necessarily tormented actress, dangerous woman or bad life!”.
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But this less visible female alcoholism would also be even more destructive.
- Socially, alcohol addiction remains more stigmatized in women than in men. “”A drunk woman who consumes too much alcohol is even more badly perceived than a man “ underlined the expert, evoking persistent guilt and a threat to the status of “good mother”. This shame often delays the request for help and therefore medical management;
- Biologically, women are also more vulnerable. In equal quantity, their blood alcohol level is higher, slower elimination, in particular due to a smaller liver, a greater fat mass and, possibly, a different digestive absorption;
- Finally, in the long term, they develop more early liver (steatosis, fibrosis, cirrhosis) and neurological damage.
We do not heal alcoholism, but we can get better
Aware of all that she has gone through, Noémie Lenoir thus intends to make her truth heard. At 45, she also admits staying on her guard. “I am told: it’s been a long time since you have drunk, you are no longer an alcoholic! If, I am an alcoholic and I will be all my life. And it is not a shame. It is not a pride either, it is a disease”she concluded for people who like she would struggle with alcohol. A salutary development.