Kirkpatrick seeks help for tough battle; good for her

The first thing I thought when Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick announced Wednesday she will get treatment for alcohol dependence was, “Good for her.”

Kirkpatrick, 69, a Democrat who represents Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District, took a fall. She’ll recover from her injuries with physical therapy.

She also revealed in a statement the underlying cause of her fall: “Beginning next week, I will receive treatment that I have struggled to ask for, to treat my alcohol dependence.”

Statistics confirm what women who reach for a glass of wine when we get home from work already know. More of us are drinking, and we’re drinking more. We’re not the first women to drink, but we may be the first to do it so openly, with our boozy Bunco nights, drinky book clubs and happy hours.

Many of us live at a punishing pace. We’re anxious about money, our kids and parents, and adjusting to aging bodies, empty nests and mounting pressure at work.

It’s easy to pour yourself a half glass of wine while making dinner, and then another.

(Women also tend to underestimate how much we drink. It was one glass of wine. OK, so it was a Very. Big. Glass.)

A little wine is good for us, we say. We keep an eye on it, take 10-day booze breaks, go dry for January and know when we’ve had enough. Some women can’t do that. Something happens, an accident, or a fall. And it can be difficult to admit we need help.

We handle so much that we think we can handle everything. Not this.

“Hard work and determination — which have brought me success in life — have not been enough to win this battle,” Kirkpatrick wrote.

She’s a wife, mother, grandmother and representative.

“I know I must get better in order to do my best in each of these roles,” Kirkpatrick wrote.

Good for her.