What Is The Gender Perspective In Addiction Treatment?
Addiction treatment is not a simple mechanical process in which health professionals perform interventions following an instruction manual to cure people. This unilateral way of dealing with pathologies would be a failure, because each individual experiences the disease in a different way and is affected by variables and particularities that require tailored treatment.
In short, it is important to adapt to each case and know how to listen, but not only that; You also have to ask yourself if the way you approach treatment is based on unfounded presuppositions about what that person wants and needs. And in this sense, taking gender into account is essential.
That is why in this article we are going to see a summary about what the gender perspective is for in the treatment of addictions
What does it mean to adopt a gender perspective in the treatment of addictions?
Addictive type disorders are characterized by their complexity and by the fact that, Although these types of diseases have an obvious organic basis, the psycho-social dimension also plays a fundamental role in them that people experience.
That is to say, behind an addiction there are biological variables such as genetic predispositions or the malfunctioning of various components of the human body, such as the nervous or endocrine system, but beyond this, the way in which it is administered also participates in it. the person interacts with the environment (and the type of environments to which they are exposed).
In this sense, the gender perspective is a very important analytical tool, because it leads us to ask ourselves about the way in which gender as a social construction and models of organization of people is reflected in different ways of developing and experiencing addictions.
Specific, emphasizes the implications that gender has on the health of people who are not cisgender men given that, historically, it has been assumed that “human being” is practically a synonym for a heterosexual man who identifies with the gender assigned to him at birth.
Thus, the gender perspective applied to the treatment of addictions leads us to wonder if all people who deviate from this “model” really suffer from addictive disorders in a manner comparable to that associated with the male gender.
It must be taken into account that the gender perspective is the field of research from which “default ideas” associated with the assumption that the cisgender man is the measure of all things are questioned , that all problems that affect human beings must be addressed from the perspective of this part of the population. That is why it helps us broaden our perspective on what should be investigated, the type of problems that must be solved, and the different ways there are to help people.
The gender perspective accounts for the differences that exist when living and experiencing reality depending on the gender of people. In this sense, takes into account both differences corresponding to biological sex and gender identity and the gender device that applies to the individual (i.e. forms of social pressure or even the different ways in which norms are applied depending on whether we are seen as men or women).
Some examples of what this means when it comes to helping people with addictions are as follows.
1. Women tend to use some drugs to calm anxiety
It has been proven that in the consumption of drugs such as tobacco, women have a greater predisposition than men to use nicotine to relieve negative emotions such as anxiety, while men show a greater predisposition to do so for the feeling of satisfaction that It gives them the experience of smoking (once the addiction has been established).
This has implications for the way in which this type of addiction should be approached both from medicine and from psychological therapy.
2. Pregnant women are more vulnerable to addictions
The fact of being able to have a pregnancy is one of the qualitative differences between the female and male sex. Besides, During pregnancy, pregnant women are more vulnerable to the negative consequences of addictions , both because of the complications that can arise during pregnancy and because of the pressure involved in ensuring the health of not only oneself, but also the baby. This is not easy to manage emotionally.
3. Women are at greater risk of falling into illegal drug use if they have suffered abuse in childhood
Another way in which gender influences the development of addictions has to do with the roles assigned to women, among which stands out the idea that conformity and the spirit of sacrifice is a virtue ; For this reason, many have more problems than men when it comes to facing situations of child abuse or mistreatment at home, which predisposes them to adopt a self-destructive way of managing emotions.
4. Transgender people are more helpless
Gender also greatly influences the way society treats people depending on whether they are cisgender or not. In this sense, it is known that Transgender people are victims of strong stigmatization and social dynamics of discrimination , which favors the appearance of psychological disorders and complications such as addictions. Furthermore, the risk of suffering abuse in health care contexts is greater in this part of the population.
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