Women of Substance raise awareness

Chapel Hill resident Prue Meehan is taking to the Internet to take a stand against alcoholism.

About two weeks ago, Meehan launched the web site, Women of Substance, to help raise awareness about alcoholism among affluent women.

She said preparations for the website have been under way for more than a year.

Meehan decided to start Women of Substance after several of her friends died of alcohol-related illnesses in the last 10 to 15 years, she said.

“It’s a silent problem,” she said. “People don’t talk about it.”

In the past, Meehan, formerly president of the Mental Health Association in Orange County, helped sponsor a study of alcoholism in retirement communities and created a scholarship for the UNC School of Social Work.

Libbie Hough, client strategist and business development leader for the Orange County marketing company Comma, helped Meehan create her website.

Hough said her background in social work and mental health issues has led her to select marketing projects that are meaningful to her.

“We tend to think of these women having everything they need,” she said. “But it’s that very construct that keeps them from getting the help they need.”

Meehan said that she hopes families will benefit from the information on the website, which includes alcoholism symptoms and true stories of women who have struggled with the disease.

According to a 2005 report from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, half of all children in the United States live in a household where a parent or other adult uses tobacco, drinks heavily or uses illicit drugs.

Children of parents who suffer from substance abuse problems often bear the burden of family responsibilities, and they are more likely to abuse alcohol or drugs themselves.

The report states that substance abusers are also at a greater risk for job instability, work injuries or accidents and long-term unemployment.

Meehan said it is important to find the right treatment for alcoholism.

“The drinker has to take ownership of the problems,” she said.

Meehan said she wants to help the women help themselves by providing information that many women don’t have or know how to find.

She has also thought about creating a chat room that would allow those struggling with alcoholism to share their concerns, she said.

Many self-help groups are coed, she said, and many women don’t feel comfortable in that kind of environment.
“It’s such a difficult subject,” she said.

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