Female drug addiction and gender characteristics of drug addiction
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Biological and personal differences between women and men are beyond doubt. Traditionally, affective, anxious and cynical disorders among women are more common in the general population, therefore, women are much more likely to abuse sedatives (usually tranquilizers) both independently and according to the doctor's prescription. Other surfactants women abuse less often than men. In Russia, according to official statistics, the ratio of drug abusers to men and women in 2006 was 5: 1.
[Causes of drug dependence in women
Among the biological features of the development of drug dependence in women, features of physique and hormonal differences that significantly affect the pharmacokinetics of drugs play an important role. In general, women have a lower activity of liver enzymes involved in the metabolism of drugs. The consequence of a lower body weight and a higher ratio of adipose tissue to muscle is a higher concentration of surfactant in the blood in women compared to men when receiving the same doses. A larger amount of adipose tissue significantly increases the absorption of lipophilic surfactants (phencyclidine, marijuana) with their subsequent slow release. The effect of drugs on the central nervous system also depends heavily on the sex of the person, this is due to the central mechanisms of neurotransmission of the mesocorticolimbic system in women leading to a higher concentration of dopamine.
Among the premorbid personality factors predisposing to the emergence of drug dependence among women, there are: the presence of drug addicts among friends and acquaintances, communication with drug addicts, access to drugs, early tobacco smoking and alcohol tests, antisocial behavior, risk appetite, early onset of sexual activity, propensity to random sexual relations, hostility, impulsiveness, vulnerability, low self-esteem. The physical and sexual violence experienced in childhood, as well as post-traumatic stress disorders, can become risk factors for drug abuse among women.
In most cases, future drug addicts were raised in conditions of low attention of parents and experienced a significant lack of custody and control over behavior and the true interest of parents in their spiritual life. Among the characteristics of the personality among women who use heroin, as in all drug addicts, there are prevalent hysteroid traits, pronounced infantile judgments and behavior. Aggressiveness, delinquent behavior in the population of women is less pronounced.
In general, men have more opportunities to try drugs during life, but once they try the drug, women are more likely to abuse it more often. Differences in drug use between men and women in adolescence are insignificant and increase dramatically with age. One of the main factors in the initiation of heroin use in women is a drug-using partner. These are predominantly sexual partners, but in some cases also men, to whom the patients experience emotional, not sexual, attachment. The influence of the sexual partner determines not only the beginning of drug use (initiation and anesthesia), but also the formation of dependence. Together with a sexual partner, heroin is used by the vast majority of women. It should be specially noted that men who use drugs like their sexual partners prefer to choose people who do not use drugs. It is noteworthy that in more than a third of cases, women begin using heroin immediately with intravenous administration (2 times more often than men). Thank the sexual partner-addict the beginning of the use of heroin by women in most cases means joining a formed drug-addictive way of life. In general, at the beginning of anesthesia, women are much less informed and aware of the doses, the methods of injecting drugs, which they often "completely trusted" their more experienced partners.
Features of drug dependence in women
Women are more likely to develop tolerance for opioids, and not only do single doses of the drug being used, but also the daily frequency of administration. The period of formation of abstinence syndrome in women is more than 2 times shorter than in men. In most cases, AS in women manifests psychopathological disorders (anxiety, anxiety, irritability, mood swings, sleep disturbances). In the future, this will be added and the characteristic symptomatology. Upon admission to the clinic, some patients with a systematic use of heroin for 6 months or more still did not know their dose because they were supplied with drugs and measured by their sexual partners.
Personality changes that occurred as a result of drug use were noted in all patients, both women and men. The appearance of psychopathic disorders is typical for women and men in the process of narcotization. However, in their structure, in women, selfishness, lust for attention, veneration, sympathy, deceit, propensity to pose, pozyrystvo, defining the personality warehouse are marked in a much greater degree than in men: at the same time, a strong-willed defect develops, the features of instability are sharpened, and conformity is enhanced. Women drug addicts are much faster dependent on the environment. They are more subordinate, easily suggestible, very quickly lose their ability to work, lose interest in learning. The overwhelming majority of such patients live in the care of their relatives, they do not work anywhere and do not study. In general, the criminal activity of women is lower compared to men and is limited to non-violent offenses: attempts to obtain drugs, money for them, small "home" theft from parents and acquaintances.
Of the complications of injecting drug use can be noted viral hepatitis B and C, HIV infection, signs of toxic liver damage. From a physiological point of view, women tend to have smaller veins and are less distinct than men, and the distribution of fat tissues is quite different. As a result, female drug users are forced to spend more time looking for suitable veins, and the intravenous drug injection process takes a long time.
The use of heroin by women in most cases leads to disorders of sexual function: disorder of sexual life, gradual decrease of sexual activity and libido, development of frigidity against this background. After the beginning of the use of heroin in a number of cases with sexual contacts, a feeling of disgust arises. It should pay special attention to the sharp increase in gynecological disorders: after the start of drug use, the vast majority of dependent women are marked by irregular menstrual cycles. Duration of absence of menstruation can be from 2 weeks to 3 beds. In most patients, the menstrual cycle returns to normal within the first month after the cessation of heroin use.
The use of alcohol and drugs by a woman during pregnancy exposes children to prenatal risk (possible teratogenic effect), and also to postnatal (defects in upbringing in families of drug addicts). Women who use drugs during pregnancy often also consume alcohol and tobacco, which adversely affects the generative function of women, pregnancy, fetus, development of offspring. The role of the mother or potential mother comes into conflict with the lifestyle of the addict.
Among pregnant women who use heroin, premature births, lag in growth and weight in children are often noted. There is a high probability of the appearance of a withdrawal syndrome in a newborn, accompanied by tonic and clonic convulsions. A high level of neonatal mortality is also associated with a partial and complete risk of drug dependent life. A large number of women drug addicts never visited doctors during pregnancy. In the future, their children often find neurological disorders, mental retardation in varying degrees of severity, behavioral disorders.
The loss of a sense of maternal duty, as well as the neglect of children in the families of drug addicts, are very frequent. Such children are forced to experience completely "childish" situations. This is one of the main factors provoking the further development of dependence on drugs. Most patients with children do not participate in their upbringing, but trust their children with relatives. More than 1/3 of all children are brought up separately from mothers who are drug addicts. With a formally caring attitude toward children, such women use maternity to manipulate relatives, doctors: they want to leave the hospital more quickly, inform the fictitious diseases of children, talk about their neglect, emphasize the need to be near the child, etc.
Treatment of drug addiction in women
Drug abusers are reluctant to seek medical help because they do not want to be diagnosed with drug abuse, as this is contrary to the stereotypes of the traditional female role in society. In the formed socio-cultural conditions, such women, especially if they are of childbearing age, often become outcasts. This is relevant, mainly, in relation to women who have a "favorable social situation". That's why it's shameful for "decent" women to recognize their addiction. When a fallen drug-dependent woman realizes the need for treatment, she faces barriers linked to her gender role. Historically, men were accepted as the standard of treatment, so women were considered less curable. Hence, apparently, there is a widespread myth that "female drug addiction is incurable." However, this is not the case. One of the most important aspects of the treatment of female drug addicts is the interruption of dependence on a sexual partner-addict. For the successful treatment and preservation of patients in the curative program, their complete separation with drug addicts at the time of treatment is necessary. In the case of joint treatment of drug addicts, it is preferable to take a course of therapy in different departments of the hospital or in different clinics, but opportunities with the exclusion of any contacts between partners. Pay special attention to the falsity of all drug addicts and the propensity to manipulate relatives surrounding, including medical personnel. Often, such patients and conversations with a doctor want to emphasize their "defenselessness", "weakness", etc. Mothers of drug addicts strongly advocate the need to stay close to the children, in connection with which all the information received from the patients must be confirmed and rechecked. Given the above dependence on the environment, obedience, suggestibility, many patients willingly enter into psychotherapeutic work, but often there is, unfortunately, a deceptive impression about the success of the therapy. Women easily reject their own stated earlier and seemingly critical attitudes to sobriety, especially when resuming communication with a partner drug addict,
The number of people affected by the problem of drug dependence, especially among women, is much larger than the number of people. Actually abusing drugs. Given the special social role of women, on which the health and well-being of the future generation depends, women's drug addiction can certainly be seen as an indicator of the growth of drug addiction in society as a whole.