Confirming what many in the addiction treatment field have suspected for years, a recent study by European researchers have found a strong link between drug addiction in women and a history of sexual abuse.
Examining the lives of poor women and prostitutes in Malta, the study finds that sexual abuse is a leading cause of not only drug addiction, but poor mental health, a low socio-economic level and even criminal activity.
Giving the study additional weight across disciplines, the authors were a medical practitioner (Dr Anna Vella), a psychotherapist (Mariella Dimech), a forensic pharmacist (Mario Mifsud), a social worker (Vicki Sultana), and a senior probation officer (Mariella Camilleri) Sexual abuse is just one of the factors behind drug addiction that is found more commonly in women than in men. Other root causes of addiction in women include:
- Past physical abuse by a family member or spouse
- Issues of poor self image
- Co-dependency within a relationship
- Eating disorders
- Depression
To help address these gender-specific issues, many drug rehab programs have begun holding counseling sessions and workshops that are exclusively for women. Although the treatment program as a whole may be co-ed, these programs within the program give women a safe place to discuss the issues that are most relevant to their addiction.
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