Includes bibliographical references and index.

"Alisa, 42, found herself in an Emergency Room in southern California, with no recollection of how she had gotten there. Her problem started many years earlier when, bored and unsatisfied in her marriage and role as a stay-at-home mother of two school-aged children and feeling isolated from her close family in Boston, she began drinking alcohol just to "have fun" and be social. She had found some friends, mostly other moms from her children's elementary school, with whom she could go out for drinks and enjoy herself. Over time, she developed a habit of going out to run errands once her kids were settled in and doing their homework after school, and would stop into a local bar by herself to have a few drinks before going home"-- Provided by publisher.