Chemical dependency in women. Meeting the challenges of accurate diagnosis and effective treatment.

Women dependent on alcohol or prescribed or nonprescribed psychoactive drugs present special diagnostic challenges to physicians. Chemical dependency likewise has adverse effects on women who are nonusers through the disease of co-dependency. The natural history of chemical dependency in women includes sex-specific differences in presenting signs and symptoms. Collateral medical history may come from a variety of community sources. Diagnoses may also use sex-specific criteria, with simultaneous diagnoses of chemical dependency and co-dependency considered.