Women and Substance Abuse
Women and Substance Abuse
Women and Substance Abuse
Even today people are still failing to recognize the ever rising use of substances among women,
again because of stigmas the people hold against women. If you think about it, drinking was
always the male role, but people never seemed to look at what was going on behind the scenes
of the “male culture”. Now when people are finally taking a look and caring about the issues
surrounding women, research is showing the women’s substance use and men’s substance use
are slowly becoming closer in comparable rates. But the question is, were they always close and
are women just finally looking past the stigma of public-disclosure?
In 2004 and study was done on alcohol use and it showed that 85% of females between 14 and
24 were using alcohol in excess to the Canadian guidelines and that 15% of young women (18-
19) and 11% of women (20-24) reported frequent heavy drinking.
There are many issues which can arise in regards to the substance use of women. Not only do
these issues effect the women herself, but if she has any children the consequences can
seriously affect the child(ren). Research shows that women who are heavy and frequent
abusers are at risk for accelerated health issues than men with such problems as liver disease,
cardiac problems, and damage to the stomach, brain damage, hypertension and addiction. It is
stated that women are more likely to develop cirrhosis of the liver after 13 years of heavy abuse
compared to 22 years for males. Heavy drinking in early years can also accelerate the
development of cancer in the later years. Cancers such as breast, mouth, pharynx, oesophagus,
colon, rectum and the liver are some of the potential problems. Chronic drinking can also result
in osteoporosis because of the compromise it makes to bone quality.
Women with substance use disorders also run the risk of harming their child during and even
after pregnancy. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is just one of the many issues that can
arise if substances are used during pregnancy. In 2001 reports from the Canadian Community
Health Survey showed that 12-14% of women used alcohol in their last pregnancy. The issues of
substance abuse in women with children can stem off into an almost infinite list of sub
categories such as not being able to provide for their children, CAS involvement, single
parenting etc.
Other problems that can contribute to women’s substance abuse are physical/sexual/emotional
abuse, influence by peers and family, mental illness and culture to just name a few.
As you can see, the needs of women with SUD are great. By paying close attention the issues at
hand with a woman suffering from a SUD we can identify these needs in relation the problems
each individual has. People need to recognize that women’s needs are different from those of
others, being able to look at the roles in which a woman plays in her life, and setting gender-
appropriate treatment is vital.
Women with SUD should be educated into the harmful effects on their health, consequences of
their substance abuse including the consequences that can affect their children, prevention and
harm reduction techniques.
Being able to address all the needs of women is vital for recovery to be possible. If the needs
are not met then barriers to treatment are significantly higher and recovery is less likely. Some
of these barriers can include being afraid of losing their child, struggling to overcome the stigma
of discloser, co-dependency in their partner, feeling secluded from society and the punishment
from authorities (CAS, police, courts etc.). These barriers can be seen on three different levels:
systemic, program and personal/social. At the systemic level the barriers can be that of
undermined mothering policies and the needs of the mother and the child are often polarized
thinking of the two separately. At the program level such barriers can be admission time with
the need to stay abstinent for a certain amount of days (usually 3). This may not be a realistic
goal taking into consideration the housing and the unmet basic needs of the women who
continues to use as a means to cope. Also child services and treatment do not usually
collaborate and the woman who does not enter treatment soon enough may run the risk of
losing their child to CAS. And on the personal level women may not feel supported by their
family and peers and have trouble leaving their children in the care of other. Violent partners
who do not want the woman in treatment can also pose a threat on this level. And women are
always caught in the fear of having to choose between their child and treatment.
In regards to prevention and treatment, there are very few places in Canada which service both
the mother and the child. But for women who do not have the tie to a child there are many
services available ranging from outpatient counselling, to rehab centers and abuse groups, self-
esteem workshops and many more. As stated before the woman and child were often viewed
separately and society took more of a child or fetus centered approach with focusing on the
well being of the child and disregarding the overall health of the mother.
Today a mother/women centered approach is ideal as it places emphasis on the health of the
woman pre, during and after pregnancy. Studies have shown that women who have their
children through the stay of treatment have a much higher rate of completing treatment and
the motivation for change is much greater.
Harm reduction is another approach for women who are pregnant in which one would help to
attend to the basic needs of the woman to hopefully meet the basic needs and therefore
reducing the consequences that may arise in pregnancy such as malnutrition. Counsellors need
to be aware that this approach may be best suited for some individuals instead of complete
abstinence.
Then they have the collaborative approach which involves both harm reduction and a women
centered handle on things. Motivational interviewing and women being viewed as the center of
their own lives is ideal in this approach.
These models can also be used in women who are not pregnant and do not have a child.
The Nation Treatment Strategy states that there are 5 “tiers” essential in support of women
with SUD’s.
Again women’s needs are much different than those of others and need to be viewed that way
in order for the best treatment possible. As you can see the needs and issues of women with
SUD’s can come to be very complex and the stigma which has been around for many years
needs to be broken in order for women to feel safe about the disclosure of a substance use
disorder. I will list below some of the programs and services available to women in Canada
(specifically the GTA).