Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
In this episode of Wake Up Look Up, Zach Weihrauch addresses the rising issue of alcohol abuse among middle-aged women, particularly mothers, exploring the dangers of "mommy drinking culture" and emphasizing the need for the church to offer support and healing for those struggling with excessive drinking while encouraging healthier ways to manage stress and turn to God for comfort.
Creators & Guests
What is Wake Up, Look Up?
Check out new episodes of our daily podcast, Wake Up, Look Up, with Zach Weihrauch as he interprets what's happening in our world through the lens of the gospel.
[Applause]
[Music]
hello everyone thanks for listening to
wake up lookup a podcast or we connect
events happening in real time to the
Gospel of Jesus Christ I'm Zack wrock
and in this episode we're asking the
question is Mommy drinking too much uh
this was prompted by an article in the
Wall Street Journal recently by a woman
named Erica Anderson who was talking
through her own struggle with what I
think she would describe as functional
alcoholism for mothers she talks about
how she was using alcohol to decompress
and to relieve her stress until she
realized that she was drinking a bottle
of wine a night up to three or four
times times a week now Erica is since
sober and is now commenting on the state
uh of middle-age women drinking because
the numbers are overwhelmingly tell us
telling us it's on the rise like for
example let me just hit you with some of
these stats uh the number of women who
have died due to alcohol related issues
in the last 5 years is up
34% uh if you look at women between the
ages of 40 and 64 and don't look at
death just look at alcohol rated
hospital visits the number is up
56% one in five women over drink based
on the US standards of what is an okay
AC an acceptable amount of alcohol to
drink which by the way the US is way
higher than Europe or Australia or other
Western countries so we're already at a
high standard one in five women are over
drinking that standard in fact the
number of women drinking five drinks in
a row Within a twow we period is growing
almost double the rate of men drinking
the same amount in the same time period
another way of saying this is that women
particularly middle-aged women
particularly mothers are drinking more
than they ever have and this is a
problem it's also a problem not a lot of
people are talking about it's also a
problem that you see advertised in a
number of places as we see aprons and
t-shirts calling wine Mommy juice and
say saying it's wine o00 book clubs uh
paintting sips there are a lot of
efforts to get women drinking and
they're working and it's a problem for a
couple of reasons the Bible tells us
that drunkenness is never okay that's
because drunkenness is putting yourself
under the control of something other
than God no matter who you are when
you've had too much to drink whether
you're angry or quiet depressive or
jubilant you're going to end up doing
something you regret hurting yourself or
hurting someone one else as Christians
we should never be putting ourselves
under the control of anyone other than
God but it's also a problem because
alcohol uh usage that is excessive tends
to mask what's really going on Erica
talks about in her article about her how
her drinking was to deal with stress but
of course alcohol isn't dealing with
stress it's just kicking the can down
the street instead of thinking about how
stressed you are or dealing with
practical real world Solutions you're
just taking your mind off of it into
such a state that you don't think about
it that night and then when you wake up
the next day the stress is still there
and you're hung over and you're not in a
better place it's also keeping us from
going other places with our stress like
for example as Christians turning to God
instead going to God in prayer and
acknowledging that what we can't control
he does it keeps us from opening up into
real friendships with people who can
give us real counsel and encouragement
and support it's probably keeping us
also from tangible action which will
actually change our circumstances and
lead us to a to actual change instead of
just delaying the anxiety to the next
day in other words drinking excessively
isn't good for anyone but it's
especially not good for women who are
doing it at a higher rate not to mention
the fact that Mom is often the pillar of
the family we're all leaning on her and
if she's not doing well none of us are
doing well so maybe this episode is a
wakeup call to you are you drinking too
much is it time for you to get help
listen in the church I hope that for
women who say hey I might have a problem
here uh we're not going to be a place of
shame or judgment or guilt but a place
of hope a place of healing and I hope a
place of increasing sobriety hey thanks
so much for watching this video while
you're here we'd love to ask you to hit
subscribe or a like so you get future
content if you listen to the audio
version too make sure you leave a review
and a comment that really helps consider
sharing it on social media and helping
us get the word out and hey while you're
here check out all the other content
that Christ Community Chapel is putting
out including the videos that are around
me right now
[Music]