Marina Martinez: Addiction involves different things for men and women

Marina Martínez, psychologist at the ALTER center, talks about the gender component in addictions.

Gender can be understood as a system of roles that, from social and cultural dynamics, predisposes us to position ourselves before a series of expectations about what a man and a woman are supposed to do. This is embodied in practically everything that happens in a society, and even in what is not supposed to happen, such as addiction problems.

Thus, these roles are also expressed in how addiction occurs in men and women. To adapt to this reality, many psychologists emphasize the need to take gender into account. the need to take gender into account when helping addicted persons and their families. In this interview with psychologist Marina Martínez Arcos, from the ALTER center, we will talk about this phenomenon.

Interview with Marina Martínez Arcos: the effect of gender roles on drug use

Marina Martínez Arcos is a health psychologist expert in psychological intervention in adults, specialized in addictions and family violence. She develops her professional activity in the ALTER treatment center in Barcelona, carrying out group and individual therapies.

How is the consumption of women and what are the differential characteristics with respect to the consumption of men?

Gender is a structural axis in our society, so it also has repercussions in the motivations to consume drugs, choosing the type of drugs, the route of administration, the pattern of consumption...

Although there is no single profile of female addicts, traditionally women had a later age of onset of consumption, consumed legal and more standardized drugs such as alcohol, tobacco or hypnosedatives more frequently, and did so by less risky routes of administration.

Currently, we know that these data are changing in the young population, since the age of onset of consumption is similar. Despite this, we should not think that consumption is becoming equal, since the consequences of consumption are not the same for them.

In a certain way, consumption in young boys is to be expected, and for this reason they receive less pressure and social punishments.

In the young population we are detecting different motivations for initiating consumption. Boys initiate substance use among peers to reaffirm traditional masculinity, as a ritual for "being a man" and all the characteristics associated with it; being strong, enduring, being brave, taking risks.... While boys initiate consumption to be accepted in a peer group, girls initiate consumption for other reasons such as the avoidance of discomfort.

Talking about women's consumption patterns helps us to incorporate the existence of women with addiction into our collective imagination. However, in treatment centers the majority of the population treated are men, so where are the women with addiction problems?

Substance use and addiction have different meanings for men and women; neither is it viewed by others and by society in the same way. Women addicts are subject to greater criminalization and social exclusion; they are subjected to a double or triple stigma for being women, addicts and "bad mothers". This pressure forces them to develop more techniques for hiding consumption and mechanisms such as denial, so that they relegate consumption to the private and solitary sphere.

All these characteristics end up making women's consumption invisible. And this fact contributes to women arriving later, more alone and more vulnerable to treatment. Currently, only 20% of the population attending treatment centers are women, and those who do arrive later, more deteriorated and more alone.

How can we encourage women to start treatment?

To facilitate access to and maintenance of treatment for women addicts, we must include the gender perspective in all areas, from research, prevention, harm reduction, treatment and intervention. Only in this way will we be able to see the characteristics of their consumption and the treatment they need. Currently, the male pattern of consumption is the only model and treatment is designed with them in mind.

For example, if we take into account the gender socialization that women receive about the importance of bonds and care, we will understand that the initial isolation time in an inpatient center is not the same for a man as for a woman, and even more so when this woman has children. Therefore, facilitating contact and communication with family and social ties and, above all, including children in treatment can be fundamental in overcoming some gender barriers.

Another very common fear among addicted women is the withdrawal of their sons and daughters if they start treatment. It would be essential to carry out dissemination campaigns to destigmatize addiction treatment for mothers. At the social level, the sons and daughters of these women turn to different agents that can activate withdrawal protocols, mainly the school that detects negligence and informs social services. On the other hand, being in treatment is a protective factor in the same situation.

Non-mixed therapy groups have also proven to be very effective in creating safe spaces to work on aspects related to abuse, family relationships, violence, fears and insecurities, common emotions such as shame and guilt....

However, all these measures are worthless if the gender perspective is not included transversally throughout the intervention, and that implies a review of the entire project and the training and personal review of all professionals who care for addicted people.

If bonds are important, what role does the family play in the treatment of women with addictions?

In all addiction treatment the family has an important role before and during. Communication and the limits established by the members with whom they live together can promote changes in the family dynamics that facilitate awareness of the disease.

Once treatment has begun, the woman begins to implement certain changes associated with abstinence and her empowerment, she can set limits with more awareness, she can recover interests outside the domestic sphere or initiate new relationships.

All this also has an impact on the people around her, with whom she had a certain way of relating that may be modified. For this reason, including directly or indirectly the partner or the children in the treatment can be very positive to work on the repair of the bond.