`Wine O’Clock' and the midlife crisis: Can Neurofeedback therapy offer a healthier way to cope?
'Wine-O-Clock', is having more dire consequences than previously thought, with studies showing that women between the ages of 40 and 60 are drinking more alcohol than ever before.
Pexels: Elina Sazonova 1850595
CapeTalk's Clarence Ford is joined by Kerry Rudman, founder of Neurofeedback therapy firm Brain Harmonics.
Listen below:
It’s been dubbed “wine o’clock culture” — the 5pm glass that becomes a bottle, the secret sips behind the kitchen door, or the weekend binge that started out as a stress relief ritual.
But a worrying trend reveals that women between the ages of 40 and 60 are drinking more alcohol than their male peers and in some cases, more than ever before.
According to Rudman, founder of Brain Harmonics, this rise in alcohol use is less about partying and more about pressure.
Women are turning to booze to escape the daily pressures of juggling full-time careers, running households, raising kids, managing ageing parents and still being expected to show up with a smile.
She says while the odd glass is fine to 'relax', many women find themselves over doing it:
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"How much do we need to destress? Once we've hit over a bottle are we still destressing?"
- Kerry Rudman, Founder - Brain Harmonics
"A lot of women are in jobs where they're much more responsible and have a lot more pressure than they did before."
- Kerry Rudman, Founder - Brain Harmonics
Rudman suggests that wine-o-clock has become a coping strategy.
Many women have become functional alcoholics, she says.
"There are people who are drinking more than a litre of spirits and then having a bottle of wine on top of that."
- Kerry Rudman, Founder - Brain Harmonics
Rudman, whose company specialises in Neurofeedback therapy, believes that alternative, drug-free therapies should be part of the discussion on helping women better manage stress.
"As soon as we teach your brain how to calm down and not be needing something else to do it for you, it sticks."
- Kerry Rudman, Founder - Brain Harmonics
"As long as you do it consistently, then the new pathways become your new normal."
- Kerry Rudman, Founder - Brain Harmonics