What is the gender perspective in addiction treatment?

The treatment of addictions is not a simple mechanical process in which health professionals carry out 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 crossed by variables and particularities that require treatment to measure.

In short, it is important to adapt to each case and know how to listen, but not only that; It is also necessary to ask whether the way in which to approach treatment is based on unfounded assumptions about what that person wants and needs. And in this sense, taking gender into account is paramount.

That is why in this article we are going to see a summary of what the gender perspective is for in addiction treatment.

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What does it mean to adopt a gender perspective in addiction treatment?

Addictive-type disorders are characterized by their complexity and by the fact that,

Although this class of diseases have an obvious organic basis, the psychosocial dimension also plays a fundamental role in them. that people experience.

That is, after an addiction there are biological variables such as genetic predispositions or the malfunction of various components of the human body, such as the nervous or endocrine system, but beyond this, the way in which the person interacts with the environment (and the type of environments to which they are exposes).

In this sense, the gender perspective is a very important analytical tool, because it leads us to ask ourselves about the way in which the Gender as a social construction and organizational models of people is reflected in different ways of developing and experiencing addictions.

Specific, emphasizes the health implications of gender for non-cisgender men, since, historically, it has been assumed that "human being" is practically a synonym for 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 ask ourselves if really all people who deviate from this "model" suffer from addictive disorders in a manner comparable to that associated with gender male.

It must be taken into account that the gender perspective is the field of research from which “default ideas” associated with the assumption that cisgender man is the measure of all things are questioned, that all problems that affect human beings must be approached from the perspective of this part of the population. That is why it helps us to broaden our perspective on what should be investigated, the types of problems to be solved, and the different ways that there are to help people.

• You may be interested in: "Gender stereotypes: this is how they reproduce inequality"

What is it for in patient care?

The gender perspective accounts for the differences that exist when living and experiencing reality depending on the gender of the people. In this sense, takes into account both differences corresponding to biological sex and gender identity and the gender device applied to the individual (that is, the forms of social pressure or even the different ways in which the norms are applied depending on whether we are seen as men or as women).

Some examples of what this means when 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 alleviate negative emotions such as anxiety, while men show a greater predisposition to do so due to the feeling of satisfaction that the experience of smoking gives them (once the addiction).

This has implications in the way in which this class of addictions must 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. What's more, during pregnancy, pregnant women are more vulnerable to the negative consequences of addictions, both due to the complications that may arise in pregnancy and the pressure involved in ensuring the health not only of oneself, but also of the baby. This is not easy to manage emotionally.

3. Women are at greater risk of engaging in illegal drug use if they have been abused in childhood

Another of the ways in which gender influences the development of addictions has to do with the roles assigned to women, among which it stands out the idea that conformity and the spirit of sacrifice is a virtue; therefore, many have more problems than men when dealing with situations of child abuse or abuse at home, which predisposes to adopt a way of managing emotions of the type self-destructive.

4. Transgender people are more helpless

Gender also has a lot to do with 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 higher in this part of the population.

Are you looking for therapeutic support against addictions?

The Llaurant la Llum we specialize in the treatment of addictions, both with drugs and without addictive substances. We offer a specific psychological and psychiatric assistance service and also an admission program in our residential module for the treatment of addictions in the medium and long term. If you want to know more about how we work, get in touch with us.