For ongoing dedicated researchers in the field, focused and targeted funding opportunities will need to be available to support the development of gender-responsive interventions for WWUD (El-Bassel and Strathdee, 2015). Women’s substance use is often embedded within personal relationships and many WWUD have overlapping sex and drug use networks that increase their potential exposure to HIV and hepatitis C (El-Bassel, 2012). As compared with men, women more often initiate substance drug metabolism drugs use with a partner and are subsequently more likely to share injecting equipment (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2015). In this relational context of substance use, women are often exposed to intimate partner violence and experience trauma (Devries et al., 2014; Sullivan and Holt, 2008). Consequently, gender-based violence should be a priority focus for research on WWUD. Additionally, trauma-informed treatment approaches are urgently needed, but currently underutilized.
NIDA should beware of funding companies that violate people’s privacy
- Be ready to answer questions so you’ll have more time to go over any points you want to focus on.
- Thus, any relationship that enables a woman to continue to abuse substances or threatens her safety becomes a therapeutic issue between a counselor and a female client.
- When women decide to end significant relationships, counselors should realize that ending these significant relationships is a real loss that must be mourned while new attachments are being created.
- Comprehensive treatment programs should include medical detoxification, behavioral therapy and support groups tailored to women’s experiences.
- Diuretics, laxatives, emetics, stimulants, heroin, tobacco, and thyroid hormone may be attractive to a woman with anorexia or bulimia because of their weight-loss potential or their ability to facilitate vomiting (Bulik and Sullivan 1998).
The authors suggested that different results may have transpired if they had examined the role of gender and race in client–counselor relationships in individual substance abuse counseling versus group therapy. Research focused specifically on client–counselor race and gender composition in women’s treatment is lacking. Experiences of AOD use and homelessness interact bidirectionally to prevent women from accessing and engaging effectively in treatment, perpetuating the cycle of disadvantage, and hindering efforts of recovery (5, 45). Despite recognition of the barriers faced by women living with homelessness and SUD, there remains little research into this experience from the perspective of those who live it. Kneck et al.’s study exploring women who experienced homelessness engagement with health services in Sweden is one exception (46). They identified three themes which underscored these women’s capacity to access services.
A Personalized Plan Is Key to Overcoming Substance Use
Patients get symptomatic relief and counseling (sometimes called social detox or social model detox) or undergo medication-assisted treatment to help manage drug cravings. In addition, patients are prepared for continued care, which typically includes arrangements for substance abuse treatment. Figure 1 delineates major systems-level barriers to women’s substance use outcomes and treatment engagement, including public policies, access issues, criminalization/incarceration, migration, and human rights issues, including sex trafficking. On a structural level, for example, one must consider the impact of sex trafficking on women’s experiences of substance use.
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We also present findings from the focus group recorded in real-time, using the novel method of digital illustration. This study highlights key factors impacting on help-seeking and access to treatment for addiction faced by women at risk of homelessness. The findings of this study highlight important areas of consideration for clinicians and service-providers working with women who experience addiction, as well as informing future research directions for this priority population. Many women who use substances may have mental health problems (depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, or paroxysmal anxiety); according to statistics, women addicts often contemplate suicide or are victims of suicidal actions [2,64].
Our experiences with the focus group also reflect suggestions that a person-centered approach to care (56, 58) and the engagement of the user in treatment services at every level is crucial. Social and cultural barriers to addiction treatment included multiple levels of illiteracy, socially constructed gender roles, and the chaotic nature of participants’ lifestyles. Barriers were further reinforced in the face of treatment staff limited understanding vanderburgh house of their circumstances. Primary care providers need to support their female patients by providing treatment referrals. Social workers, therapists, and other medical professionals need to help women with substance use issues find childcare, eldercare, and other support, so they can put those obligations aside responsibly and get into treatment. For example, women and men sometimes use drugs for different reasons and respond to them differently.
Caring for addiction requires science-backed medical interventions coupled with personalized support that addresses a range of social drivers of health. This sort of holistic, integrated approach is standard for people receiving treatment for cancer, HIV, and other chronic conditions. Like many people with substance use disorders, Maya had absorbed the nihilism transmitted to her by health care providers and the programs that had failed her. Models of treatment had historically been infused with outdated and punitive notions of addiction as an issue of bad behavior and, too often, if a person wasn’t improving, it was deemed to be their fault. Women-only alcohol and drug rehab centers provide gender-specific treatment through customized rehab programs for women with substance abuse problems. Anxiety disorders encompass physiological sensations of nervousness and tension, psychological worry characterized often by apprehension and rumination, and behavioral patterns of avoidance linked to the perceived source of anxiety.
However, caution should be exercised in evaluating pregnancy outcomes based on use of alcohol, drugs, or tobacco during pregnancy and their possible effects on the newborn. Nevertheless, a woman should have support from her substance abuse counselor to meet with her prenatal care provider to discuss these issues. Psychiatric symptoms, drugs of choice, motivation levels, class, race, ethnicity, criminal justice history, addiction severity, and patterns of use are common factors that typically influence or predict retention among clients in general (see Simpson 1997). Among women, several factors have been identified that influence or predict retention. Nonetheless, this is not an exhaustive list of retention conditions or issues, but one that is limited to factors that are evident across several studies or that provide some insight into women’s issues that need further empirical exploration. Knowledge of systems and services provides people with the capacity to make informed choices about their own circumstances, this includes when, where and how to access treatment and health services.
Most commonly used for people seeking to overcome addiction to alcohol or opioids, medication assisted treatment (MAT) helps relieve the cravings and symptoms of withdrawal experienced when quitting the substance. Studies show that MAT reduces the risk of relapse and prevents the risk of overdose. It is typically employed along with psychotherapy to help people understand what drew them into addiction and help them find more productive ways of solving life problems.
Trauma survivors sometimes use alcohol and drugs to medicate the pain of trauma and consequently are perceived as “treatment failures” because their trauma experience is misunderstood or not identified (Covington 2008a rev., 1999a). In an outcome study comparing women with and without PTSD in treatment for substance use disorders, the authors found that individuals with both PTSD and substance use disorders relapsed more quickly and that PTSD was a predictor of relapse (Brown et al. 1996). The need for ongoing evaluation of co-occurring disorders is critical because both substance abuse and substance withdrawal can mimic or mask co-occurring psychiatric disorders. The client’s internal turmoil can result in overwhelming affect and chaotic behavior that creates heavy demands for providers.
An educational and/or treatment plan should result from an assessment that is integrated with the mother’s treatment plan. Because so many of the children who are included in treatment with their mothers have emotional or developmental problems, there is a real need for child specialists on staff (Conners et al. 2004; CSAT 2000b). A linkage to programs for children with special needs and children with disabilities would be an asset in providing the services these children need. A woman’s successful experience in other life areas and her level of confidence in the treatment process appear important to staying in treatment. Kelly, Blacksin, and Mason (2001) compared two groups of women—a group that completed treatment and another group that did not—to ascertain factors affecting substance abuse treatment completion.
This can be a result of the hormonal changes and stresses that occur during pregnancy, some medications given during pregnancy or delivery, the stresses of labor and delivery, the challenges and hormonal changes with lactation, and adjusting to and bonding with a newborn (Grella 1997). Women with co-occurring disorders sometimes avoid early prenatal care, have difficulty complying with healthcare providers’ instructions, and are unable to plan for their babies or care for them when they arrive. According to the literature, women with anxiety disorders or personality disorders have a greater risk of postpartum depression (Grella 1997), and mood disorders affect treatment outcome among pregnant women who are drug dependent (Fitzsimons et al. 2007). More outcome research is needed to evaluate the role of co-occurring disorders among pregnant women and the impact of treatment for co-occurring disorders on prenatal and postnatal care. The use of alcohol and drugs increases the likelihood of contracting STDs, including HIV/AIDS.
One is that many treatment programs require as a condition of entry a commitment to abstinence— yet that commitment is required before a person can even imagine life without the substance or access the support for doing so. Another is that those caught up in addiction frequently feel too much shame about their problem to share their struggles with anyone else. Yet another is a history of having tried to stop many times before and failed, which can lead a person to believe they don’t have what it takes to succeed in controlling their problem.
• It enables people to maintain their commitment to recovery and optimism about it despite the difficulties. Data indicate that 85 percent of people who struggle with addiction do not seek help. Among those who do, more than 90 percent “fail” within a single year—if the sole measure is abstinence. The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The handling editor declared a shared affiliation with several of the authors DR and SA at the time of review.
For research on WWUD to advance, a pipeline of future experts needs to be adequately trained and supported. For instance, emerging and mid-career investigators will not only need to have opportunities for training, mentorship, and funding to develop careers in the area of women and addiction, they will need active and ongoing support. Ideally, training will need to be multidisciplinary, drawing from the fields of addiction medicine and psychiatry, epidemiology and public health, women’s health, infectious diseases, psychiatry, and trauma. Similarly, a future generation of clinicians will require training in gender-responsive addiction medicine, psychiatry, psychology, and social work to build capacity for treatment and other service provision. All providers, not just addiction specialists, are on the frontline of the burgeoning opioid epidemic and will require adequate training and support to meet treatment demands (Rapoport and Rowley, 2017).
This is a major problem considering substance use can mirror or mask the symptoms of a mental health disorder. Pay gaps, lower wages, less income, or the higher likelihood of women living in poverty prior to substance use disorder onset, can limit the financial resources available to seek services and treatment. Women suffering from substance use disorder will have unique experiences and challenges, displaying different issues and needs that may be essential to address in order for them to achieve and maintain long-term recovery. Now is the moment to turn away from this two-tiered approach, where addiction care bears little resemblance to the rest of medicine, and instead bring addiction treatment fully into health care systems. The physical toll of addiction is compounded by the fact that women’s bodies metabolize drugs differently than men’s, often leading to more severe side effects and a higher risk of overdose.
“We need to have that funding available so we can provide the most vulnerable population with these services, to help them regain their life back and to stop them from possibly going back on the streets,” Baxendale said. Housing partners have been pushing upper levels of government for more support for transitional housing in Thunder Bay due to demands, Bradica said. Now, she volunteers there and helps with cooking, cleaning and yard work, and participates in the art programming. But long wait-lists for detox and treatment and a lack of affordable housing mean people can’t always get the help they need when they’re ready for it, said Bonnie Aggamway, system navigator with EFSNWO.
This publication initially outlines the needs of female drug users and stakeholders who can assist and then presents designed interactions to meet those needs. The current study highlights the value of staff training, human resource capacity building, technical support, and financial resources to provide contraception and other sexual health services. A developed and integrated assistance system that pays attention to and targets women’s concerns has tangible benefits. Valuable findings include indications that strengthening organizational capacity and human resources, adequate technical support, access to financial resources, and public acceptance of these needs and changes in perceptions of women are critical factors for change [21].
It can affect or destroy relationships, derail careers, worsen a pre-existing mental health condition, and damage physical health. One-size-fits-all programs do not consider the particular conditions that any individual faces.Personalized treatment plans are crucial in addressing the unique needs, circumstances, and challenges faced by individuals struggling with substance use disorders. Tailoring mixing zantac and alcohol care to address those factors can take away the oxygen that powers substance abuse. The importance and value of individually tailored treatments for alcohol and drug problems cannot be overstated. It can address the effects of difficult experiences and traumatic memories that often drive substance abuse. This post addresses key reasons why individually tailored treatments are essential.
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