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Mental Health

Home > Illnesses and Disabilities Home > Staying Healthy > Mental Health

• Substance Abuse and Disability
• Additional Resources

Emotional health is an important part of overall health for women with disabilities, just as it is for all women. Between family life and work life, today's woman can feel pulled in many directions. Living with a disability can make coping with everyday life even harder.

To help you cope, it often helps to have someone outside the home to talk to. You may want to attend a support group for people with disabilities, volunteer with a local organization, or just go out and have fun with friends.

Substance Abuse and Disability

Many people with disabilities abuse alcohol and drugs. In fact, the rates of substance abuse among people with disabilities are about two to four times greater than that of the general population. Some reasons people with disabilities might abuse alcohol or drugs are:

• to cope with social isolation
• to ease frustration
• to lessen long-lasting pain

Alcohol and drug abuse can be very harmful to a woman's health and well-being. Women who abuse these substances are at higher risk for:

• sexual assault
• unprotected sex
• unplanned pregnancies
• sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS
• infertility

Alcohol and drugs also can cause dangerous interactions with prescription drugs a woman might be using. Substance abuse also is a major reason that most adults with disabilities are unemployed.

If you have a substance abuse problem, be sure to talk to your doctor and get into a treatment program. Many substance abuse treatment programs can accommodate people with disabilities.

Additional Resources

Publications

1.   Building Self-Esteem: A Self-Help Guide - This publication provides information, ideas, and strategies that people from all over the country have found to be helpful in relieving and preventing troubling feelings and symptoms.

   http://www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/SMA-3715/default.asp

2.   Dealing With the Effects of Trauma: A Self-Help Guide - This booklet provides information that can help you recover your emotions after dealing with a traumatic event. It discusses how health care professionals can help you, how you can help yourself, and what barriers can keep you from healing.

   http://www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/SMA-3717/default.asp

3.   Mental Health Services Locator - This internet site can help you locate mental health treatment facilities and support services in your state.

   http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/databases/default.asp

4.   Substance Abuse and Disability - This publication provides statistics about substance abuse among Americans with disabilities.

   http://www.hhs.gov/od/about/fact_sheets/substanceabuse.html

5.   Substance Abuse and Disability- A Companion to Chapter 26 of Healthy People 2010 - Eliminating health disparities is a key goal of Healthy People 2010. Persons with disabilities are represented in 207 of the 467 Healthy People 2010 objectives, and data on persons with disabilities are available for only 88 of these 207. This document describes the particular challenges to health promotion and disease prevention affecting persons with disabilities with substance abuse problems.

   http://www.hhs.gov/od/about/fact_sheets/substanceabusech26.html

6.   Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator - This web site can help you locate a substance abuse treatment facility in your area.

   http://www.findtreatment.samhsa.gov/

7. Alcohol or Drug Abuse Recovery: Your Doctor Can Help (Copyright © AAFP) - This fact sheet discusses the important role a doctor can play in one's recovery from alcohol or drug abuse. A doctor can recommend and prescribe medications, and offer advice, counseling, and partnership on the road to recovery.

   http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/common/addictions/alcohol/152.html

8.   Depression and Disability: A Practical Guide (Copyright © NCODH) - This guide is for people with disabilities. It explains what depression is and what to do if you think you are depressed.

   http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~ncodh/pdfs/depression.pdf

9. A Health Handbook for Women with Disabilities (Copyright © Hesperian Foundation) - This book is written for women with disabilities around the world. It contains chapters about understanding and taking care of your body, growing older with a disability, abuse, violence, self-defense, and much more.

   http://www.hesperian.org/publications_download_wwd.php

10. Mental Health: Keeping Your Emotional Health (Copyright © AAFP) - This fact sheet explains what emotional health is, how it can affect your physical health, why you should talk to your doctor about emotional health, and what you can do to help yourself.

    http://familydoctor.org/589.xml

11. Psychosocial Health--Substance Abuse (Copyright © CROWD) - This publication gives facts and information on the prevalence of substance abuse among women with disabilities.

    http://www.bcm.edu/crowd/?pmid=1422

12. Substance Abuse and Students with Disabilities (Copyright © SARDI) - This fact sheet provides statistics and information about substance abuse among students with disabilities. It explains the signs that someone is abusing and what to do if you are looking for help.

    http://www.med.wright.edu/citar/sardi/brochure_facts.html

Organizations

1.   Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), SAMHSA, OPHS, HHS
2.   National Institute of Mental Health, NIH, HHS
3.   National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, HHS
4.   National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH, HHS
5.   Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
6. Alcoholics Anonymous
7. American Council on Alcoholism
8. American Psychological Association
9. Join Together Online
10. Mental Health America
11. Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
12. National Alliance on Mental Illness
13. National Inhalant Prevention Coalition
14. Nicotine Anonymous World Services
15. Substance Abuse Resources & Disability Issues (SARDI) Program

= Indicates Federal Resources

Content last updated May 15, 2008.