The human being is a social being, and this condition entails giving importance to recognize and understand the mental states of others and respond to them in the most appropriate way possible.
This is where empathy comes into play, that is, the ability to understand the feelings and emotions of others based on recognizing the other as similar. The concept of empathy helps us understand the reason why a child usually imitates various actions carried out by human beings in their environment, but not the movements of objects, since they only understand people as similar.
Aron Cohen postulates the existence of 3 types of brains: the empathic (called feminine), the systematizing (or masculine) and the balanced. 6 out of 10 women only have an empathetic brain, while 6 out of 10 men only have the systematizer This fact can help understand the differences that exist between men and women in relation to the level of emotional intelligence.
Empathy could be considered a stereotypical feminine trait linked to emotional intelligence. The contrast would be instrumentality linked to stereotypical masculine traits such as independence, ambition and assertiveness.
The relationship between empathy and addictions
In reference to addictions, both men and women are susceptible to consuming any psychoactive substance, but there are differences and similarities in addiction in relation to both genders. In a study carried out using the TECA test on 28 patients addicted to psychoactive substances, it was concluded that women have less empathy than men, although The level of empathy can improve through rehabilitation treatments for addicts due to the importance that empathy obtains within the framework of these processes.
In a state of normality, women have higher empathy traits than men. However, when she is under the influence of drugs, her empathy level can be zero. This could be explained by the deterioration or hypofunction of certain areas related to executive functions and decision making that do not receive input from emotions
It is very common that when consuming drugs, both men and women, thinking about the suffering that their family members may suffer does not affect them or stop them in their behavior. Furthermore, the fact of consuming drugs compulsively often entails distancing themselves from the closest people and, therefore, the addict ends up being left without the ability to maintain satisfactory intimate relationships.
On the other hand, stigma and discrimination They contribute to the marginalization of psychoactive substance users and distance them from social and health services. For this reason, it is very important that addiction treatments contain in their programs psychoeducation workshops on anger and aggressiveness control strategies, assertive training and training in social skills to improve these skills and the quality of relationships, since By not having adequate intrapersonal skills, addicted people do not have the ability to control their emotional state without resorting to substance use.
In relation to the male gender, in a research where an empathy dysfunction can be observed in alcoholic men without age discrimination. The neurotoxic effects of alcohol damage the prefrontal cortex of the brain, involved in processing and understanding emotional states. This way, Alcoholic men are shown ironic phrases and recognize them as positive emotions
This translates into high rates of alexithymia, that is, a deficit in the recognition and verbalization of emotion, which produces difficulties in distinguishing and understanding the emotional states of the people around them. Therefore, the person with addiction has difficulty recognizing the emotions of others, although they are able to recognize their own emotion of “anger, pain or sadness”; However, they are not able to manage these sensations without the use of substances nor to express them. This difficulty in expressing emotion, in turn, prevents empathy.
Finally, Being emotionally attached to others or innately affected by the emotions of others is a value attached to group life, and this has a number of evolutionary advantages. Firstly, these links constitute the basis that unites any society. Secondly, they optimize the security of the group, since thanks to emotional bonding, an individual’s alarm constitutes an alarm for others. In this way, we could relate the empathy generated in group therapies carried out with addicted people as a positive element for their recovery.
Author: Silvia Subirana, Psychologist at ALTER PSICOLOGÍA & SALUD.
