So, should it be all-female treatment, all of the time? No, Green says. Men and women respond similarly to many forms of treatment, including the use of naltrexone and other medications for alcoholism. But even at this stage in the work, Green says she thinks it is possible to pinpoint "particular groups of women for whom gender-specific treatment is more appropriate and needed." These groups include pregnant women, women who have been abused by men, and women with eating disorders. In such cases, "women-only programs are more likely to provide a greater range of services than mixed-gender programs," she says.
Sociocultural factors, as well as innate biochemistry, account for many of the problems women face in treatment. Deni Carise, chief clinical officer for the nonprofit treatment center Phoenix House in New York City and an adjunct professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, notes that women are also far more likely to have suffered emotional, physical or sexual trauma, and to have additional parenting and child-care responsibilities. For these women, Carise says, "it’s not about substance abuse differences." Suicide, depression and anxiety are all more common in women, Carise points out, and in many cases, those are the gender differences that matter.
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Add CommentI work for a fairly large long term recovery residence in the Southwest. We are gender specific for some of the reasons cited in the article, but the princpal reason is the law of attraction that can distract and disrupt the recovery of not just the two "lovebirds", but everyone else associated with their recovery community.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo, let's say I stop drinking and get into treatment. What I am most keenly aware of initially is that the solution to my problem (a fifth a vodka and a bag of pot, for example...) is gone. My seratonin levels drop out and I become depressed. Now I am thrust into a group setting with a population that is roughly half female who themselves are feeling the same way.
Nothing gets my seratonin flowing like good old romantic love and even the vaguest promise of sex. And nothing disrupts the process of one's recovery like the promise of true love in a mental institution.
Recovery from addiction requires a lot of work and the first few months are critical in establishing a foundation for sobriety. My ability to make rational choices is severely limited early in my recovery (the first few months), and I am easily distracted by anything that takes me away from my own problems.
A romantic relationship merely mimmics the positive feelings of recovery, it is a false promise. This is in part why our women's center is thirty five miles away from the men's center.
timbo555: Thanks for your insights. Good to read informed, sensible comments in these columns.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThanks.