The risk of multiple addictions. Guidelines for assessing a woman's alcohol and drug use.

Psychotropic drugs have been overly prescribed for women of all ages for all manner of symptoms. Patients' and physicians' expectations about appropriate diagnosis and treatment, combined with the relative invisibility of women's alcohol and legal and illicit drug use, can lead to quick but temporary prescription solutions that may put women at risk for multiple addictions. This is a special problem for adolescent, minority, and elderly women, about whom we know little yet hold strong stereotypes. Moreover, while prescriptions may alleviate patients' symptoms, they do little to correct the underlying situation. Physicians are encouraged to review their prescribing habits and to learn more about their women patients' use of alcohol, cigarettes, previously prescribed medications, and recreational drugs, as well as a tendency to self-medicate. Physicians should also have available alternative strategies to prescribing psychotropic drugs.