Study: Women More Easily Addicted

A recent study has found that that the addiction gender-gap is closing: more females are suffering from various types of addiction, and it takes less time and exposure for females to become addicted than males.

Other interesting info:

• Most recovery programs were developed for males.
• Only 38% of addiction treatment centers offer services that address the specific needs of females.
  
• Only 8% of females who need help actually get it.
• Physicians are less likely to consider and diagnose addiction in females, and are 48% more likely to prescribe narcotics or other mood-altering medications to females, even though females are twice as likely as males to develop secondary addictions to those types of medications.

It's a scary, scary world out there.

See the original article here.

I find it interesting that this study has verified what the Big Book states:

To be gravely affected, one does not necessarily have to drink a long time nor take the quantities some of us have. This is particularly true of women. Potential female alcoholics often turn into the real thing and are gone beyond recall in a few years (33).

For other female alcoholics, I highly recommend "A Woman's Way Through The Twelve Steps" by Stephanie S. Covington. It addresses issues specific to females that the Big Book neglects to mention. It's been a great help for me, and I hope it can help you too.