Women And Substance Use Specific Needs And Experiences Of Use Others Use And Transitions Towards Recovery

Estimates indicate that as many as 1 in 4 Americans will experience a mental health problem or will misuse alcohol or drugs in their lifetimes. These disorders are among the most highly stigmatized health conditions in the United States, and they remain barriers to full participation in society in areas as basic as education, housing, and employment. Improving the lives of people with mental health and substance abuse disorders has been a priority in the United States for more than 50 years. The Community Mental Health Act of 1963 is considered a major turning point in America's efforts to improve behavioral healthcare. It ushered in an era of optimism and hope and laid the groundwork for the consumer movement and new models of recovery. The consumer movement gave voice to people with mental and substance use disorders and brought their perspectives and experience into national discussions about mental health. However over the same 50-year period, positive change in American public attitudes and beliefs about mental and substance use disorders has lagged behind these advances. Stigma is a complex social phenomenon based on a relationship between an attribute and a stereotype that assigns undesirable labels, qualities, and behaviors to a person with that attribute. Labeled individuals are then socially devalued, which leads to inequality and discrimination. This report contributes to national efforts to understand and change attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that can lead to stigma and discrimination. Changing stigma in a lasting way will require coordinated efforts, which are based on the best possible evidence, supported at the national level with multiyear funding, and planned and implemented by an effective coalition of representative stakeholders. Ending Discrimination Against People with Mental and Substance Use Disorders: The Evidence for Stigma Change explores stigma and discrimination faced by individuals with mental or substance use disorders and recommends effective strategies for reducing stigma and encouraging people to seek treatment and other supportive services. It offers a set of conclusions and recommendations about successful stigma change strategies and the research needed to inform and evaluate these efforts in the United States.

Women's and girls' substance use is an important health, economic and social issue in Canada. However, most books about alcohol and other drug use do not address the unique needs and circumstances of this population. Highs & Lows draws on the latest theory and research to offer strategies for improving practice and developing policy to support women with substance use problems. This unique book includes contributions from nearly 100 experts on women's substance use, including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, clinical therapists, health promoters, academics, alternative health care providers, women's health advocates -- and women who have personally been affected by substance use. The book includes in-depth chapters on the interconnection of trauma, mental health and substance use problems for women pregnancy, mothering and substance use innovative treatment, harm reduction and prevention programs designed with women's needs in mind challenges and opportunities for improved research, treatment and policy development. Highs & Lows also includes: snapshots of the latest in women-centred research, treatment and policy innovations statistics on women's substance use in Canada women's personal narratives of their experiences of substance use problems. Highs & Lows is a valuable resource for program developers and administrators, researchers and policy makers, therapists and counsellors, and educators and students. It is an ideal choice as a course text on this topic. Highs & Lows was developed through a partnership between the British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women's Health and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Work on female drinking and female drug and alcohol abuse is proliferating because interest and productivity in alcohol research has expanded. In this work, the editors' primary focus is on the abuse of alcohol, its biological effects, behavioral effects, abuses, and problems. This book updates where this field is at the moment. The first five chapters deal with basic issues of biology, epidemology, and anthropology. The next five chapters deal with substance abuse including antecedents, consequences, comorbidity, fetal effects, special populations, and illicit drug use. Two chapters which follow are concerned with related disorders, that is, smoking and eating disorders. The final chapters cover treatment and prevention.

Unique in its breadth of coverage ranging from historical accounts of drug use to clinical and preclinical behavioral studies, Psychopharmacology is appropriate for undergraduates studying the relationships between the behavioral effects of psychoactive drugs and their mechanisms of action. 1. Chapter-opening vignettes foster student engagement 2. Breakout boxes present novel, and, in some cases, controversial topics for special discussion. Box themes include: History of Psychopharmacology; Pharmacology in Action; Clinical Applications; Of Special Interest; and The Cutting Edge. 3. The book is extensively illustrated with full-color photographs and line art depicting important concepts and experimental data 4. Section Summaries highlight key concepts from the section of text just read 5. Chapter-ending Recommended Readings offer suggestions for further study And the enhanced eBook provides an interactive learning pathway through the content. Meyer, Psychopharmacology and it's accompanying enhanced ebook provide engaging features like self-study questions, and clinical case studies, cutting edge research, and applied pharmacology to keep students focused on the content, while providing the scientific depth, breadth, and rigor required for the course.

All across the United States, individuals, families, communities, and health care systems are struggling to cope with substance use, misuse, and substance use disorders. Substance misuse and substance use disorders have devastating effects, disrupt the future plans of too many young people, and all too often, end lives prematurely and tragically. Substance misuse is a major public health challenge and a priority for our nation to address. The effects of substance use are cumulative and costly for our society, placing burdens on workplaces, the health care system, families, states, and communities. The Report discusses opportunities to bring substance use disorder treatment and mainstream health care systems into alignment so that they can address a person's overall health, rather than a substance misuse or a physical health condition alone or in isolation. It also provides suggestions and recommendations for action that everyone-individuals, families, community leaders, law enforcement, health care professionals, policymakers, and researchers-can take to prevent substance misuse and reduce its consequences.