Depending on the results of their clinical assessments, our Banyan Lake Worth rehab creates individualized treatment programs for patients. One of the major factors that we take into account when creating an addiction treatment plan for a patient is their gender. There are many gender differences in substance use disorders that our specialists and medical team are aware of, which play a hand in the way we treat our female patients versus our male patients. In light of this, we wanted to share some insight into the gender differences in addiction and how it impacts the way substance abuse is treated.

Drug Addiction by Gender

An illicit drug refers to an illegal substance as well as the illegal use of any substance. This includes the use of cocaine, heroin, and other illegal drugs, along with the misuse of prescription drugs. According to research, men are more likely than women to use almost all types of illicit substances, and illicit substance use is more likely to cause emergency room visits or overdose deaths in men than in women.¹

In most age groups, there are higher rates of illicit drug and alcohol use and dependence among men than women.² However, women are just as likely as men to develop a substance use disorder or addiction.³ What’s more, women are more likely than men to experience cravings and relapse, which are major phases in the cycle of addiction.

Below is a breakdown of the gender differences in substance use disorders according to substance:

• Marijuana (cannabis): Fewer females use marijuana than males.¹ For women who do use cannabis, however, the drug may affect them differently than men. For instance, research shows that marijuana impairs spatial memory in women more severely than it does in men, while males show a greater marijuana-induced high.^4,5
• Cocaine: Human and animal research both suggest that women are more vulnerable to the rewarding effects of stimulants, with estrogen possibly playing a key factor in this increased sensitivity. Women may also be more sensitive to cocaine’s effects on the heart than men. While both men and women show similar issues in earning, concentration, and academic achievement despite the frequency of use, female cocaine users are less likely than male users to exhibit frontal brain abnormalities.^6,7
• Methamphetamine: Women report using meth because they believe it will increase their energy and decrease exhaustion associated with work, home care, childcare, and family responsibilities. Weight loss is also another incentive for women to use meth, which is reportedly more common among women than men. Additionally, women who reported using meth had higher rates of co-occurring depression.^8,9,10
• Heroin: Research shows that women tend to use smaller amounts of heroin for shorter periods and are less likely to use it intravenously than men. Most women who do inject heroin said that social pressure and encouragement from a sexual partner were contributing factors. Women are also at a higher risk of a fatal heroin overdose than men.
• Prescription Drugs: According to research, women are more sensitive to pain than men, increasing their likelihood of chronic pain. This may contribute to higher rates of prescription opioid use among women of reproductive age than men. Additionally, women are more likely to take prescription opioids without a prescription to cope with pain as well as anxiety or tension, even when men and women reported similar pain levels. Women are more likely than men to seek treatment for depressant abuse, which includes the misuse of sedatives prescribed to treat seizures, sleep disorders, and anxiety. Women are also more likely than men to die from overdoses involving medications for mental health disorders, such as antidepressants and benzodiazepines. Women are sent to the emergency room for using these substances more often than men, possibly because women are more at risk than men for anxiety and insomnia, increasing their chances of being prescribed these medications.^{2, 13, 14, 15}
• Alcohol: Generally, alcohol use is more common in men than in women, including binge drinking. However, young adults are exceptions: girls between the ages of 12 and 20 have slightly higher rates of alcohol abuse and binge drinking than males their age. When comparing gender differences in substance use disorders, women with alcohol addictions have death rates 50% to 100% higher than men do, including deaths from suicides, alcohol-related incidents, heart disease, stroke, and liver disease. There are also some health risks unique to women associated with alcohol abuse, such as an increased risk of pregnancy and disease from unprotected sex, as well as a higher risk of breast cancer and becoming the victim of violence or sexual assault.^16,17

Gender Differences in Substance Abuse Treatment

While research on addiction treatment was mainly conducted on males for years, recent research highlights the importance of understanding the gender differences in substance use disorders to ensure both men and women receive the appropriate care. Biological, social, and treatment-related differences between males and females have been identified as a result of this expansion in research.

One major point that research has discovered is that there are more men than women receiving addiction treatment. However, women are more likely to seek treatment for depressant or sedative dependence, particularly in association with drugs like anti-anxiety and sleep medications. As we previously mentioned, these conditions are more common among men than women, so it’s unsurprising that medications meant to treat them are more often misused by this gender.¹⁸

Substance use disorders may also progress at different rates in women than in men. For instance, while women tend to have shorter histories of using substances like cocaine, marijuana, or alcohol, they typically enter rehab with more severe medical, behavioral, psychological, and social problems.¹⁸

Additionally, women tend to experience more functional consequences of drug and alcohol abuse than men, including impaired family and social relationships. Unsurprisingly, women are also more likely to self-medicate with substances to cope with these stressors.¹⁸

Childcare also plays a major role in starting and finishing substance abuse treatment, which impacts women greatly. Many women who are pregnant or have young children don’t seek out treatment or drop out of treatment early because it interferes with their ability to care for their children. They may also fear losing custody of their children because they’re seeking addiction treatment.¹⁸

Addiction Treatment in Lake Worth for Men and Women

Our Palm Beach County rehab recognizes that men and women have different needs when it comes to many areas in life, especially addiction treatment. For this reason, every patient undergoes a clinical assessment upon admission to our facility to receive a treatment plan individualized to meet their needs.

If you or someone you care about is battling addiction and needs help, our BHOPB detox center is here for you. Call Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches today at 561-220-3981 to learn more about our Lake Worth drug rehab programs, or you can verify your insurance here, and one of our specialists will reach out to you.

Sources:

1. SAMHSA – Results from the 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Detailed Tables
2. SAMHSA – Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS): 2004-2014. National Admissions to Substance Abuse Treatment Services
3. APA PsycNet – Comparative epidemiology of dependence on tobacco, alcohol, controlled substances, and inhalants: Basic findings from the National Comorbidity Survey.
4. NIH – Low doses of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) have divergent effects on short-term spatial memory in young, healthy adults
5. NIH – Opioid antagonism of cannabinoid effects: differences between marijuana smokers and nonmarijuana smokers
6. NIH – Females are more vulnerable to drug abuse than males: evidence from preclinical studies and the role of ovarian hormones
7. NIDA – NIDA Notes: Gender Differences in Drug Abuse Risks and Treatment
8. NIH – Treatment of methamphetamine abuse: research findings and clinical directions
9. NIH – Methamphetamine use behaviors and gender differences
10. NIH – Gender Differences in Psychiatric Symptoms among Methamphetamine Dependent Residents in Sober Living Houses
11. NIH – The differences between male and female drug users: community samples of heroin and cocaine users compared
12. NIH – A comparison of HIV risk between women and men who inject drugs
13. CDC – Prescription Painkiller Overdose infographic
14. NIH – Anxiety Disorders
15. National Institutes of Health – Problem Sleepiness in Your Patient
16. NIH – Meta-analysis of alcohol and all-cause mortality: a validation of NHMRC recommendations
17. NIH – Alcohol consumption and the intention to engage in unprotected sex: systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental studies
18. NIH – Sex and Gender Differences in Substance Use Disorder Treatment

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