Amy Winehouse Substance Abuse: How The Late Singer's Death Changed Addiction Treatment For Women
On the fifth anniversary of Amy Winehouse’s death, the foundation set up in her honor opens the doors to Amy’s Place — a drug and alcohol rehab center just for women.
The Amy Winehouse Foundation and Centre Care and Support designed the east London center using a “co-production model,” The Guardian reported, meaning women will have some say in their recovery. There will be a variety of activities, from yoga to relapse prevention groups, so that women not only detox from substances, but also develop the skill set to live a drug-free life outside the program. Men were purposefully excluded so that women “were either safe and away from ex partners, or safe from their issues around co-dependency, around men,” Dominic Ruffy, the special project director at the Amy Winehouse Foundation, told The Guardian.
Science may be on Ruffy’s side: A 2015 study found that the current treatment for opioid drugs was based primarily on studies including few or no women at all, even though women make up half of opioid drug users. The study’s findings revealed that women experienced a higher burden of disease related to opioid disorders, and are more likely to have initiated their substance dependence through prescription drugs — perhaps a result of their higher rates of chronic pain. This builds on a 2011 study which found that women were more likely to test positive for amphetamines, meth, and PCP, but they also had a much more significant craving for opioids.
Since up until this point there’s only been a strong recommendation to create men’s- and women’s-specific rehab facilities and programs, Amy’s Place is in a unique position to buck the trend of treating women using mostly men’s-inspired research.
Already, Ruffy and Jane Winehouse, managing trustee of the Foundation, have high hopes.
“This project will make such a profound difference to so many young women, enabling them to have a safe environment in which to rebuild their lives and put into practice all the learning they have acquired through their treatment journey,” Winehouse told The Guardian. “Fresh starts are difficult to make, full of challenges, but at Amy’s Place, we will give young women the tools and support to help make this a reality.”