According to KLEAN Treatment Center, Addiction is Harder to Treat in Teen Girls

PHILADELPHIA, PA, May 22, 2013

The professionals at KLEAN Treatment Center, which is a drug and alcohol treatment facility that offers individualized treatment programs, are issuing comment on a new study that suggests that teen girls will face a more difficult time when it comes to beating an addiction to methamphetamine. A small study shows that new methods are required in order to successfully treat meth addiction in girls. The study took a look at ten girls and nine boys, with the average age of the participants being 17. These individuals struggled with methamphetamine addiction and were undergoing counseling, as well as receiving either the antidepressant bupropion or a placebo.

The young people who took bupropion were found to offer far fewer methamphetamine-free urine samples than those who took the placebo. The researchers explain that this piece of information suggests that bupropion did not work as a way to treat an addiction to methamphetamine. The study also found that the males in both groups provided more than twice as many methamphetamine-free urine samples as the females in both groups. The findings of the study were published in the April issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Dr. Keith Heinzerling, who is the lead author of the study and a health sciences assistant clinical professor of family medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, states, "The greater severity of methamphetamine problems in adolescent girls compared to boys--combined with results of studies in adults that also found women to be more susceptible to methamphetamine than men--suggests that the gender differences in methamphetamine addiction observed in adults may actually begin in adolescence."

The team at KLEAN Treatment Center comments on the findings. "This information proves useful to those who care for and frequently interact with teenage girls. While drug use in any group is alarming, it is especially disturbing that these young girls are falling victim to such a problem. It is important that researchers and addiction professionals work to find a way to help these girls get and stay sober, therefore enabling them to accomplish goals and lead productive, happy lives."

Those who conducted the study explain that the research's findings indicate the need for new ways to improve addiction treatment for young women.

The team at KLEAN Treatment Center notes, "As scientists continue to learn more about substance abuse and addiction, it is important to continue to focus on how these issues affect various groups, especially young men and women."

ABOUT:

KLEAN Treatment Center offers personalized treatment programs to those struggling with drug and alcohol abuse. The facility offers three locations in West Hollywood, California, Long Beach, Washington, and Astoria, Oregon. The facility is a member of the National Association for Treatment Professionals, and is staffed by knowledgeable individuals who hold Master's degrees and PhDs. These individuals know how to administer cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, as well as psychotherapy.