What is a gender perspective in addiction treatment?

These are the reasons why the gender perspective matters when treating addictions.

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 traversed by variables and particularities that require a tailored treatment.

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

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

What does adopting a gender perspective in addiction treatment imply?

Addiction-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 that people experience also plays a fundamental role. that people experience.

That is to say that 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 systems, but beyond this, the way in which the person interacts with the environment (and the type of environments to which he or she is exposed) also plays a part.

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 embodied in different ways of developing and experiencing addictions.

Specifically, emphasizes the implications that gender has on the health of people who are not cisgender men, given that, historically, historically, gender has had a significant impact on the health of people who are not cisgender men.Historically, it has been assumed that "being human" is virtually synonymous with being a heterosexual male 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 whether all people who deviate from this "model" really suffer from addictive disorders in a manner comparable to that associated with the male gender.

It should be borne in mind 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, that all problems affecting human beings must be approached from the perspective of this part of the population, are challenged.that all problems affecting 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 needs to be investigated, the type of problems that need to be solved, and the different ways to help people.

What is it useful for in patient care?

The gender perspective takes into account the differences that exist when it comes to living and experiencing reality depending on people's gender. In this sense, it takes into account differences corresponding to biological sex as well as to gender identity and the gender device applied to the individual. (i.e., the forms of social pressure or even the different ways in which norms are applied depending on whether we are seen as male or female).

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 found that in the use of drugs such as tobacco, women are more likely than men to use nicotine to relieve negative emotions such as anxiety, while men are more likely to do so because of the feeling of satisfaction they get from the smoking experience (once the addiction has been established).

This has implications for the way in which this kind of addiction should be approached both from medicine and psychological therapy.

2. Pregnant women are more vulnerable to addictions.

Being able to have a pregnancy is one of the qualitative differences between the female and male sexes. In addition, during pregnancy, pregnant women are more vulnerable to the negative consequences of addictions, 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 of caring for the health not only of women but also of men.The pressure that comes with taking care of one's own health as well as that of the baby's. This is not easy to manage emotionally. This is not easy to manage emotionally.

3. Women have a higher risk of falling into illegal drug use if they have been abused in childhood.

Another way in which gender influences the development of addictions has to do with the roles assigned to women, among which the following stand out the idea that conformity and a spirit of sacrifice is a virtue.As a result, many women have more problems than men in dealing with situations of child abuse or maltreatment at home, which predisposes them to adopt self-destructive ways of managing their emotions.

4. Transgender people are more helpless.

Gender also has a strong influence on how society treats people depending on whether they are cisgender or not. In this regard, it is known that transgender people are victims of strong stigmatization and social dynamics of discrimination, which favors the emergence of transgender people.This favors the appearance of psychological disorders and complications such as addictions. In addition, the risk of suffering mistreatment in health care contexts is higher in this part of the population.

Are you looking for therapeutic support in the face of addictions?

The Llaurant la Llum we specialize in the treatment of addictions, both with drugs and without addictive substances. We offer an occasional 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, please contact us.