Women and Prescription Drug Abuse

For many years, addiction was considered to be a man’s disease. Over the past few decades, women have begun to catch up with men in drug and alcohol abuse, but most especially when it comes to prescription drugs. Five times as many women die each day from an overdose caused by prescription medication compared to 10 years ago. Many experts wonder why women turn to addictive medications as their drug of choice.

Easy Access

Unlike hard drugs such as cocaine or heroin, prescription pills are easy to come by and don’t always require working with a dealer. Pain medication is prescribed by doctors for many moderate conditions and there seems to be no policing the amount of prescriptions one person may have. Studies have shown that women are also more likely than men to suffer from chronic pain and are often prescribed pain killers that soon become addictive.

Drug Mixing

Abusing prescription medications on their own is certainly dangerous, but when women begin mixing pills with alcohol or other drugs things can turn deadly. Many women suffer from depression and anxiety and take prescribed medications to help with their mental state. Interactions between antidepressants and prescription painkillers create a deadly cocktail that can result in an overdose.

While prescription drug abuse is not solely a female issue, statistics have shown that women are more likely to become addicted than men.