How wine affects women differently than men

(WCPO) - Women are drinking more wine now than any time in recent history.

Whether it's a girls' night out, happy hour or just a couch date with a friend, more women are getting together to enjoy a glass or two of wine.

Some women call it "mommy juice," or "mommy's time out."

There are Facebook groups with hundreds of thousands of members called "Mom's Who Need Wine" and "OMG I So Need a Glass of Wine" or "I'm Gonna' Sell My Kids"

If you're a "Scandal" fan, you would recognize Olivia Pope's infamous wine glass. It's sold out.

Between 1999 and 2008 the number of young women in the emergency room for being dangerously intoxicated rose 52 percent

Gallup polls show the more educated and well off a woman is, the more likely she is to drink. Two-thirds of American women are drinking regularly, whether it's rewarding or relaxing.

Doctor Stephen Strakowski, chair of the Psychiatry Department at UC Health's Neuroscience Institute, explained the effects of wine on women.

"It activates the reward center so if you've had a difficult day, it's a nice balance to encourage the reward to make you feel more positive." Strakowski said.

Jill Meyer was a stay-at-home-mom who raised four kids in Delhi Township. Her mommy time was meeting her girlfriends for Bunco.

"You give so much of yourself to your kids that you look forward to the time you can sit down with just adults and have a glass of wine and unwind," Meyer said.

Many women agree that with wine comes sharing.

"Women when they drink they tend to open up more and share their life stories," Meyer said. "Where maybe if they didn't have the glass of wine they may not have the tendency to be so open, but the wine just sort of relaxes us and we get to share things in our heart."