Chemical dependence and gender

an analysis about women

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Drug addiction can make women even more vulnerable, insofar as they cease to exercise socially expected roles, such as that of good mothers, caregivers and providers. There are many challenges in the health professions with regard to disease prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and social reintegration of drug users. The ability to correlate the social determinants and vulnerabilities of this population becomes essential for the health formations, since it allows to broaden the understanding of the professional future about the process of illness and its associated factors. In this paper, we will report the practical experience of medical students of the Federal University of Triangulo Mineiro, held in an institution to support women with a history of drug use, whose themes emerged from the conversation were: the condition of women as a social minority, the biological and social determinants that support the consumption of psychoactive substances, some typical profiles of the female population vulnerable to drugs and the limits and possibilities of the treatments available today.

KEYWORDS: Chemical dependence. Vulnerability. Women. Social determinats of health.