Gender and Addiction-Male and Female

This is the kind of happiness you will have if you keep addiction a way from your family. Gender does not count in addiction.

It said that addiction is becoming part of life in day to day operations and it is also a fact that addiction does not choose who to affect, it does not discriminate and has no specific time frame when it attacks. With this understanding at the back of our mind dear reader we want to look at addiction and gender in today’s society. For a long time addiction has been associated with men for reasons you may be privy to. However studies on addiction has established the variance impact addiction has in the lives of both men and women thanks to technology today we know about the biological and psychosocial factors affecting how both sexes experience addiction.

We therefore need to ask ourselves that in the battle of among sexes who will have an upper hand in addiction recovery? It will not surprise anyone if you go for men as the possible winners since women often progress quickly into chemical dependency and meet serious consequences faster than men. Nonetheless women may not tussle with addiction than men but respond well to treatment. Whichever way you look at it neither gender is better or worse off they will both respond differently to addiction and its recovery.

Gender and Addiction-Dominance

Drug and alcohol addiction are more dominance with men than women. Findings according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, men are two times likely to meet the criteria of drug addiction in their lifetime than women. The difference appears to be even bigger for alcohol abuse, with men being besieged three times the rate of women.

Gender and Addiction-Risk Factors

Both genders is influenced to addiction differently as is evident in findings from studies that men turn to drugs to resonate good moods and cope with social and behavioral problems while women often use drugs to relieve themselves of the emotional and psychological issues. Anxiety, depression, borderline personality disorder and eating disorders normally affect women and can escalation their risk of drug use. Men on the other hand are more often affected by antisocial personality disorder which may or otherwise increase the risk of drug use.

It must be noted that for women, relationships, childhood trauma, stress, parental drug use and home environment, victimization, and co-occurring psychiatric disorders precipitate substance abuse and relapse. Funnily enough most women are often lead to drugs and matters related to drug use like sharing needles by their boyfriends, spouse or other important people in their lives. This is normally used to strengthen and cement these connections. They (women) will also use substances like nicotine, cocaine or amphetamines to quash appetite purposely to bring their weight to a manageable level.

Science (Biology) plays a vital role in the advancement of addictions and particularly in women. Normally women will get drunk after taking just a smaller quantity of alcohol compared to men. Because of little water in the body and certain metabolizing enzymes they will have higher blood alcohol concentrations after taking the same units of alcohol as their male counterparts. Studies have also established the presence of estrogen in the development of addiction. In addition to affecting dopamine release, hormonal changes impact women’s sensitization to drugs that is the long-term changes that occur in the brain as a result of drug use.

Gender and Addiction-Penalties

There is no absolute winner when it comes to the penalties and consequences of addiction. Since it doesn’t discriminate when it attacks everyone will suffer extreme hardship as a result of chemical dependency. However when we take a side-by-side comparison women, have a habit of to experience more serious drug-related medical, social and psychiatric consequences much faster than men. They then advance more swiftly than men from use to dependence to treatment (a phenomenon called telescoping) and despite using smaller amounts and being addicted for a shorter period of time, their symptoms are often as severe as men’s by the time they get to rehab.

Women are also at risk of specific consequences that are less likely to impact men, including certain physical complications (e.g. women are more likely to develop lung cancer and have a heart attack from smoking) as well as victimization, abuse, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Gender and Addiction-Obstacles to Treatment

Both genders face substantial obstacles to and during treatment, however studies have indicated that most women who abuse drugs normally shay away from seeking help. Some of their reason not seeking for help may include:

• Practical concerns such as cost
• Child-care arrangements
• Lack of social support
• Responsibilities at home and work
• Heightened stigma of being a female addict

These are just but a sample of the hurdles women face before they can be said to have willingly consented to seeking for help.

Gender and Addiction-Response to Treatment

The moment women consent to treatment they respond the same way as men by staying there and have comparable abstinence and relapse just as men do. Some research have established that women may have head start in the addiction recovery program with little relapse period and greater willingness to seeking for help after a relapse, and similar to men women may profit/benefit from sensitive services which are very specific to their needs e.g. family/group therapy, parenting education, treatment for mental disorders and other supportive approaches.

It must finally be noted that men and women are different although there are some similarities in their way of responding to addiction. But most importantly when it comes to addiction and mental health, we do not have winners or losers but then again we must appreciate that the differences between men and women certainly impact on the course of treatment and recovery. Dear reader aw we conclude this article it is not just the gender the bottom line is the solution to this problem of addiction. You can get all the answers to your many unanswered question at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center a facility founded by Doctor Akoury who is an addiction professional and has had experience of over two decade. When you get to this facility you will be attended by team of experts who will focus on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE and your life will never be the same again.

Gender and Addiction-Male and Female