Women’s Substance Use Requires A Special Approach

Introducing a multidisciplinary resource for health-care providers, researchers and community agencies

For many years it was assumed that not only were men greater problem substance users but that treatment approaches for women needn’t vary from the standard programs.

Now, women’s levels of substance use are catching up to those of men and are even higher for substances such as prescription drugs. Highs & Lows: Canadian Perspectives on Women and Substance Use is a new resource for what is a serious health, economic and social issue in Canada, in need of a specialized response.

Developed by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health (BCCEWH), Highs & Lows brings together the views and experience of nearly 100 experts on women’s substance use.

“Specialized prevention, harm-reduction and treatment approaches are needed to address the needs of women with substance use problems”, said Nancy Poole, co editor and researcher at the British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health (BCCEWH), at the book’s national launch at the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse’s (CCSA) national conference in Edmonton at the end of November.

This resource points to what’s working and what still needs to change and it takes a particularly Canadian point of view, with special attention to First Nations, Canada’s increasingly diverse population, and our leadership in fetal alcohol syndrome prevention, research and programs.

“Girl’s drug use is rising faster than boys, so the rates are converging. This is worrisome because drugs and tobacco can more seriously affect girls’ developing bodies when we consider issues of trauma, self-esteem, eating disorders, pregnancy and breast cancer,” said Christine Courbasson of CAMH’s Eating Disorders and Substance Use Clinic and one of the Highs & Lows contributors.

A recent CAMH study on the substance use habits of Ontario’s Grade 7-12 students, shows roughly equal use of alcohol and binge drinking among boys and girls, and comparable rates of smoking, cocaine and ecstasy use.

While use of some drugs is not high among women and girls overall, the rates are high, when broken down by subgroups such as First Nations and Inuit women, women with mental health issues or women who have experienced trauma.

“Women experience more interpersonal trauma, than men and the literature points to the need for gender-specific interventions,” said CAMH’s Pamela Stewart, who wrote a chapter on concurrent treatment of substance use and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

And while many people still associate ‘substance abuse’ with illegal drugs, Highs & Lows emphasizes that it's the legal ones -- tobacco and alcohol—that continue to pose the greatest threats to women’s health.

“Poverty, pregnancy, stigma, fear of losing her children and a lack of child care are often barriers to women who need treatment for drug, alcohol or tobacco addictions,” said Lorraine Greaves, co-editor of Highs & Lows and Executive Director of the BCCEWH.

Highs and Lows contributors offer health care providers a wealth of information on treatment approaches that are working, current research and even an examination of how media coverage can contribute to stigma-- a significant barrier to women accessing treatment associated with women’s substance use. Sources available for interviews include:

Pregnant women and hospital services
Tobacco use and women
Trauma and substance use
Substance use and eating disorders
Genacis Canada study -- prevalence stats for substance use
Street-involved youth

For more information or to arrange interviews with a number of Highs and Lows contributing experts, contact Michael Torres, CAMH Media Relations, at (416) 565-6015 or michael_torres@camh.net

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The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is one of the leading addiction and mental health organizations in North America and Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital. Integrating clinical care, scientific research, education, policy development and health promotion, CAMH transforms the lives of people impacted by mental health and addiction issues.

CAMH is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre, and is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto.