Patients with chronic pain currently prescribed opioids were significantly more likely to screen positive for opioid misuse if they also screened positive for clinical anxiety levels. Among the patients with anxiety, almost 50% also screened positive for opioid misusecompared to 10% who did not have anxiety³.

Anxiety may present an added risk for opioid use and misuse, and opioid misuse may cause anxiety symptoms to get worse⁴. Anxiety disorders put women at a higher risk for an earlier onset of opioid use, a quicker transition to addiction, leaving substance abuse treatment early, a higher risk of relapse and a higher risk of abusing other substances⁴.

According to research, women report pain more frequently than men due to various factors such as reproductive issues, and a higher occurrence of chronic pain conditions like arthritis and fibromyalgia². In addition, women are more sensitive to pain and the adverse effects of pain¹.