The National Institutes group activities for substance abuse of Health Office of Research on Women’s Health defined sex as biological differences between females and males, and gender is defined as socially determined roles that vary across cultures and overtime 2. The World Health Organization (WHO) definition 3 of gender is the result of socially constructed ideas about the behavior, actions, and roles a particular sex performs. In relation to assessing and treating women’s medical issues, a gender perspective is required, transcending anatomical and biological aspects concerning health and sickness through life.
A limitation of the current study is the search for materials for analysis in only one database of scientific articles. However, this was dictated by the desire to check the resources available in PubMed, considered one of the most valuable databases. Comparing the data obtained with resources from other databases may be of interest for a separate article on a similar topic. The authors declare no conflict of interest, and the funders had no role in the design of the study, data collection, analyses, and interpretation, in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results. The emotions that Linda referred to were the negative views the women perceived from others, but when they used meth, the emotions were subsided, ultimately increasing their self-esteem. Chloe, 18 years old, had been raped a few years earlier and never reported it or received any counseling.
In addition, women report social stigma as a barrier to treatment in personal and professional contexts 46. Women who seek treatment pointed to the limitations of gender-sensitive treatment programs that may not consider their increased domestic responsibilities. At the same time, during the selection process, it was noted that some identified barriers and needs could be considered challenges, which are much more difficult to reduce than the searched needs and barriers.
Stigmatization
The challenges identified in the countries where egalitarianism in terms of access to treatment and equal rights for women struggling with drug abuse problems seem to be both relevant and, unfortunately, a much-neglected social norm. As it turns out, the challenges are still education about health needs, both in terms of medical help for this group and in terms of introducing appropriate preventive interventions, bringing in empathetic, non-stigmatizing providers willing to fully commit to helping this group 24. At the same time, therapists’ high level of training and egalitarianism are advocated, especially by African-American women suffering from addiction 25. In addition, for women living in poorer neighborhoods, an indicated challenge is the so-called “domino effect,” i.e., despite the favorable completion intermediate familial subtype of therapy, recurring difficulties in returning to fulfilling social roles related to past experiences 23. In contrast, for women living in remote, peripheral rural areas, challenges include marketing efforts to distribute painkillers that encourage the use of such drugs, including strong painkillers, the unproblematic prescribing of potent painkillers by rural doctors, and at the same time, limited treatment options 36.
Examples of Sex and Gender Influences in Smoking Cessation
This section explores the lives of the women after they were exposed as drug users what percentage of homeless are mentally ill or addicted and as they faced different types of criticism. As discussed, some of these women did not feel normal before using drugs, but felt more normal while using. Other women used drugs as an attempt to prevent themselves from being stigmatized for what they felt were shortcomings.
- Beyond the stigma of being a drug-user, women can feel the burden of multiple stigmas, such as poverty, minority status, unemployment, transgender identification, and older age (Connera & Rosen, 2008; Lyons et al., 2015; Roberts, 1991).
- Individual factors situate stigma within individual characteristics, including identity processes, age, and stigma course (e.g., substance use stage).
- For example, women who live in areas with no public transportation cannot get to needed services, and women who do not have a phone cannot make appointments or receive a call back when they leave messages (Boeri, 2013; Luck et al., 2004).
- Psychologists have a substantial opportunity to address stigma experienced by targets via clinical care.
- These sub-themes represent social control agents in the sense that they influence the women to control their drug use (in this case methamphetamine) or become drug-free.
Helping Women Suffering from Drug Addiction: Needs, Barriers, and Challenges
Goffman (1963) further explains the limitations and boundaries of what actually defines stigmatization as well as the underlying social functions of stigmatization, such as social control. The literature on the impact of gender on drug use and access to services informs the analysis of their recovery efforts. At the individual level among perceivers, contact with people living with stigmatized statuses can prevent and reduce prejudice.
Both discredited and discreditable stigma are negotiated through “impression management” (Goffman, 1959). Individuals with hidden stigma “may expend much energy to ensure that stigma-related ‘leakages’ do not occur” (Pachankis, 2007, 335). Yet, while they try to fit into “normal” or conventional society, they also struggle with feelings of insecurity, isolation and anxiety (Hetrick & Martin, 1987). In society’s eyes, women are expected to be dainty, fragile and made of sugar and spice and everything nice. From birth, swaddled in pink blankets, women are expected to adhere to their strictly outlined gender role, and when they don’t, they are judged harshly for breaking the norm.
While the NIH is working to strengthen research on sex/gender differences across domains of health, current evidence is limited; for the purpose of this report, male and female subjects identify as such across both sex and gender. As in the case of medical and psychiatric comorbidity, also, social consequences are more severe for women than for men. Women experience more stigma than men 109; substance use has been more disapproved for women than for men, mainly in some cultures, as Latin 110. The social consequences of addiction in women are more relevant in the family, for example, with higher rates of divorce compared to addicted men 111.
They can speak out against neighborhood movements that oppose evidence-based services for people with SUDs by writing op-eds for their local newspapers, sharing their thoughts via social media, and engaging in conversation with their neighbors. Given their expertise in mental and behavioral health, psychologists are uniquely positioned to play a frontline role in addressing stigma within the current opioid epidemic as well as within co-occurring and future substance use crises. They can leverage what they’ve learned within other contexts, including theoretical blueprints and evidence-based stigma-reduction tools, to make swift and effective progress toward understanding and addressing stigma. To set this stage for this agenda, key concepts are introduced related to stigma and SUDs, and evidence is reviewed regarding associations between stigma and substance use-related outcomes. The Recovery Village aims to improve the quality of life for people struggling with substance use or mental health disorder with fact-based content about the nature of behavioral health conditions, treatment options and their related outcomes.
As the case of alcohol, nicotine plasma concentrations are higher among women than in men and these concentrations are achieved more quickly. This phenomenon is more intense in women taking estrogen contraceptives, but not if they are taking progesterone-based contraceptives 31. Similar to many other women, Beth was able to prevent people from suspecting she was using drugs because she maintained her reputation as being a good mother. Many of the women started using drugs to help themselves recover from a break-up or separation from their significant others.