Abstract This well-researched paper examines the findings published in numerous medical journals regarding the issue of women and drug addiction. This paper compares the results found in various tests and surveys between men and women addicted to drugs. According to one report, women are significantly more likely than men to have a diagnosis of panic disorders prior to their getting involved in heavy drug use. Another article suggests, that although drug abuse in men is still more prevalent than in women, women are in fact catching up to their male counterparts. This paper discusses the correlation between drug addiction and depression as well as suicide, in both men and women. The writer of this paper contends and explains the lack of support and rehabilitation services that are primarily geared towards women.
Table of Contents:
Gender Affects Relationships Between Drug Abuse and Psychiatric
Women and Substance Abuse
Men and Women May Process Cocaine Cues Differently
In Harms Way: Suicide in America
Relational Systems Change
Predominantly Female Caseloads: Identifying Organizational Correlates in Private Substance Abuse Treatment Centers
Prevalence and Motives for Illicit Use of Prescription Stimulants in an Undergraduate Student Sample
Validation of a System of Classifying Female Substance Abusers on the Basis of Personality and Motivational Risk Factors for Substance Abuse
References
From the Paper "With the huge percentage of private drug dependence treatment facilities dwarfing those run by government at various levels, it seems highly appropriate that gender-specific programming should be investigated, and in this article, some results of those inquiries are available. First, since women generally rely more on government-subsidized insurance, and private facilities are less likely to provide those funds, women are at a disadvantage in private centers. Secondly, private facilities rely in many cases on "fee-for-service" payers, again putting women at a disadvantage. Thirdly, private centers can chose which groups, and genders, to market to, based on demands and trends, which is "perhaps to the detriment of minority groups, like women," the article continues."
