Growing alcohol problem affecting middle-aged women on the northern beaches

New figures show a higher number of women on Sydney’s northern beaches are becoming problem drinkers.

NEW figures show a higher number of peninsula women are becoming problem drinkers.

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NEW figures show a higher number of peninsula women are becoming problem drinkers.

More females in the North Sydney area are needing hospital treatment after drinking alcohol – 709 per 100,000 – compared with the NSW as a whole – 548 per 100,000.

And according to one local expert, anecdotal evidence shows many of these patients are middle-aged women.

Generic photo of woman drinking a glass of wine with bottle sitting on table 10/96. People / Situation / Alcohol

Meanwhile, the number of hospitalisations caused by the use of the drug ice has increased fourfold in four years, according to health bosses.

Although the statistics provided by the Sydney North Primary Health Network (SNPHN) do not specify age groups, NSW data points towards an increasing number of women aged 45-59 being hospitalised after drinking excessively.

Easy access to alcohol, high levels of postnatal depression, rental stress and youth mental health issues are among the triggers, according to one peninsula health expert.

This week, the SNPHN announced it was offering free psychological counselling and rehabilitation day programs to help people overcome drug dependence, manage mental illness and prevent relapse.

It comes after the rise in not just alcohol-related hospital admissions, but those affected by drugs, in particular ice, with the number of people hospitalised for methamphetamine use jumping from six per 100,000 in 2009-10, to 24.5 per 100,000 in 2014-15.

But while there was a significant rise in ice-related hospital admissions, numbers were still lower in the northern Sydney area, than across the state as a whole, according to SNPHN Commissioning and Partnerships general manager David Grant, who is responsible for delivering new services for the network.

Close-up profile view of a woman's lips drinking from a bottled beer

He said along with hospital admission statistics produced by the Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence, Health Statistics NSW and NSW Ministry of Health, the SNPHN had extensively consulted with GPs, consumers, local service providers, allied health providers, carers and community members to get a true picture of the situation in the health district, which includes the northern beaches, Mosman, North Sydney, Hornsby, Hunters Hill, Ku-ring-gai, Lane Cove, Ryde and Willoughby.

Mr Grant said they had found the number of people with drinking and drug problems was on the rise, and there was concern about the increase of middle-aged women drinking.

“We are seeing high rates of women and middle-aged women across the northern Sydney region being hospitalised due to alcohol,” Mr Grant said.

He said the free drink and drug counselling was based at two-day centres, one in Chatswood, and one on the northern beaches, paid for with $1 million of additional federal money.

The Chatswood centre, run by Odyssey House Community Services, is already up and running, while the location of the northern beaches centre will be announced in the next couple of months.

Mr Grant said the northern beaches was an affluent area but drugs and alcohol affected people from “all walks of life and across all the demographics”, so he hoped those in need would take up the free help.

He said the SNPHN was also ploughing money into the Sydney Drug Education and Counselling Centre in Manly, to assist those aged 14-25 with drug, alcohol and mental health issues.

To access support, go to odysseyhouse.com.au.

Young people needing help can visit sdecc.org.au.