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Addiction Among Women

Dr. Paula Rosca, Director of the Department of Substance Use Disorder Treatments, Ministry of Health
19 February 2026

One in three addicts is a woman, but female addiction is fundamentally different from that of men. The addiction process in women is faster due to hormonal changes, greater sensitivity to substances, and lower body mass. The reasons are also different: Men often use to seek excitement, while women often use to relieve trauma, such as sexual assault, violence, or neglect.

Usage patterns and withdrawal challenges

Women tend to use alone, often from a young age, and are sometimes involved in a double cycle of addiction and financial dependence on men. Many of them use multiple substances at the same time, making diagnosis and treatment difficult. Despite this, only one in five women struggling with addiction seeks treatment, due to stigma, fear of losing custody, and feelings of shame.

Treatment tailored to women

In Israel, there are unique frameworks for women that focus on safe and protected detox led by a female team. After detox, it is important to continue the rehabilitation process. Rehabilitation is carried out in therapeutic communities for women only. Since most women suffer from complex trauma, multi-professional treatment is required that includes emotional support, occupational rehabilitation, improving parenting skills, and restoring the sense of value and control.

Tailored and respectful treatment is the key to true rehabilitation of women, families, and entire communities.

Addiction among women is a complex phenomenon, and contrary to what may be commonly thought, it is a significantly broader phenomenon than addiction among men, with one in three addicts actually being a woman. In addition, addiction among women is not a female version of a male phenomenon, but has unique characteristics that require in-depth understanding and a dedicated therapeutic response.

Unique characteristics of addiction in women

The physiological aspect

In women, the addiction process may develop more quickly than in men. Studies suggest several factors that could explain this:

  • Cyclical hormonal changes.
  • Hypersensitivity to the toxicity of psychoactive substances.
  • Differences in body mass that cause higher concentrations of substances in the blood and brain.

The combination of these factors may result in a stronger effect of addictive substances, even at lower doses, and from there the path to addiction is faster.

The emotional aspect

The fundamental difference in the motivations for use between men and women is that men tend to start using substances out of a search for excitement and pleasure, social pressure or a desire to belong, while women reach substances in an attempt to relieve significant traumatic pain.

Many women who deal with addiction report early damage in the relationship sphere: Sexual assault, parental neglect, lack of a caregiver, domestic violence or social boycott. These damages, which usually last a long time, create a complex trauma, of which addiction is only one of its manifestations. Drug use is a kind of self-medication attempt to forget the traumas.

Women's unique usage patterns

The patterns of use also differ between men and women: Men tend to use socially, while women tend to use alone and do not need social situations to do so. Women who are on the margins of society report starting to use substances as early as when they are 12-14 years old, when they also began to lead a lifestyle that included characteristics such as wandering the streets, connecting with marginalized groups, and even prostitution.

Starting use at a young age creates a destructive cycle in which use enables the destructive lifestyle and, at the same time, the destructive lifestyle perpetuates the dependence on substances. This cycle is perhaps the most difficult aspect of female addiction.

In addition, women tend to use a variety of psychoactive substances at the same time: Opioid painkillers, benzodiazepines, alcohol, and other substances. The use of several substances at the same time complicates the clinical picture and makes treatment difficult.

Warning signs that require immediate treatment

If you are in a relationship with a woman who is displaying any of the warning signs and you suspect drug use, it is important that you seek professional help:

  • Sharp behavioral change
  • Changes in functional ability
  • Lying Irritability
  • Tendency to hide
  • Dissociation and confusion

Barriers that prevent women from seeking treatment

Despite the urgent need for treatment, women addicts encounter significant barriers to receiving treatment. Although the majority of addicts are women, only one in five who come to treatment is a woman.

The therapeutic challenge in female detox

The unique therapeutic challenge stems from the fact that most women with addiction suffer from complex trauma that has many implications. Addiction is just one of the symptoms that the woman suffers from, and eating disorders, repeated self-harm, mood swings, and emotional regulation difficulties are also observed. All of these require the treating system to offer a multidisciplinary treatment plan with multiple treatment methods, one that can provide a response to all the needs that arise.

A treatment approach adapted to the realities of women's lives

Understanding the unique reality of women has led to the development of an adapted treatment approach. To encourage women to seek treatment as early as possible, it was decided to separate treatment between women and men, with the separation being designed to prevent contact between women who have been sexually or financially exploited by addicted men, and to help them break away from drug and exploitation cycles. Treatment is carried out by an all-female team, which allows for the creation of trust and security and better coping with issues of sexual trauma.

A treatment response tailored to women is also essential for the rehabilitation of families and the prevention of trauma for the next generation. The treatment array dedicated to women is an important foundation, and must continue to develop in order to respond to the growing need for this complex and vulnerable population.

Dedicated detox frameworks for women

In Israel, separate rehabilitation facilities have been established for women, such as the "Letsydech" ("by your side") inpatient facility in Yehud and the "Retorno" inpatient facility for female adolescents aged 14-21 (a facility with religious characteristics). There is also a facility that accepts women who have fallen into the cycle of prostitution.

Treatment facilities for women

Rehabilitation after detox

After completing detox, women can begin the recovery and rehabilitation process in therapeutic communities. The recovery and rehabilitation phase includes physical and mental rehabilitation, development of life skills, social and occupational integration, and building new support systems.

Rehabilitation frameworks unique to women are under the responsibility of the Ministry of Social Affairs. In addition, there are therapeutic communities that are intended for women and men, but the treatment of women in them is separate.

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