 Sociologists have conducted extensive research in favor of a self-medication hypothesis in relation to women's drug use and abuse, positing that women use drugs as a way to cope with experiences of sexual or physical trauma.Research suggests, "in all likelihood, a vicious cycle exists in which painful consequences of childhood sexual abuse—such as depression, low self-esteem, conflicted relationships, and sexual dysfunction—increase a woman's risk of self-medicative use of alcohol and other drugs"

Within the United States justice system, women's criminal activity is more likely than men's to be medicalized, in connection with a tendency to perceive female offenders as "mad, rather than bad.