Collection:LPB

Genre: Newsmagazine

Place Covered: Monroe, Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana

Copyright Holder: Louisiana Educational Television Authority

Date Issued: 1987-04-12

Duration: 00:26:22

Subjects: Women | Substance abuse | ALCOHOLISM

Contributors:

• Masingale, Sonya Host
• Thompson, Edith Interviewee
• Chandler, Gerry Interviewee
• Brooks, Barbara Interviewee
• Duckworth, Deborah Interviewee

This episode of the series “Folks” from April 12, 1987, focuses on the silent suffering of the woman alcoholic. First, Sonya Masingale interviews six recovering alcoholics, who discuss the impact of their alcohol abuse on their lives and the double standard for female alcoholics. Next, she profiles the work of the Community Alcohol Recovery Program (CARP) in Monroe, Louisiana, and their efforts to establish a non-profit residential facility for female alcoholics. She interviews: Edith Thompson, a substance abuse counselor; Gerry Chandler, CARP board member; and Barbara Brooks, CARP financial director. Then, Masingale shares the characteristics of woman alcoholics. Lastly, Masingale conducts an in-studio interview with Deborah Duckworth, a substance abuse counselor at the Silkworth Center at Parkland Hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She discusses: the high rate of dual dependency for alcohol and prescription drugs; the double standard for women alcoholics; the low number of black female alcoholics seeking treatment; society not recognizing alcoholism as a disease; and the warning signs of alcoholism.