As the field of addiction and recovery improves, experts are
seeing differences between the way that men and women recover from addiction.
There are obstacles, it seems, that men tend to have versus the obstacles that
women experience in their sobriety. This article will explore the difficulties
men have to overcome or avoid in recovery in order to stay sober.
Anyone struggling with an addiction is going to face
hardship. Sobriety is going to bring triggers, cravings, and the challenge of
creating a new life. However, men in particular may face these unique
challenges:
Unwillingness
to let go of old drinking and friends. Men find certain comforts in
their relationships, perhaps different ones than those women find with their
friends. Perhaps it's the difference between the garage for men and the kitchen
for women. However, those friendship comforts may be hard to give up even after
a man is sober. He may return to spending time with friends and return to
hanging out in the same old places. Both of which can be dangerous to his
sobriety. If a man wants to stay sober, then he's got to change his life,
including his social groups. As they say in AA, if you want lasting sobriety,
you need to give up 3 parts of your past: people, places, and things. In truth,
that's just about everything in a person's life.
Undiagnosed
mental illness. Men tend to be less willing to see a mental
health professional about anxiety or sadness (depression) than women. Instead,
they might go to the bar or spend time with friends. They tend to be unwilling
to face their experiences of mental illness and this might only keep up the
drinking and drug use.
Great
stress and even celebration can cause relapse for men. In
recovery, men might experience all sorts of change including a new job,
divorce, loss, change in housing, all of which might bring high amounts of
stress. And stress can lead to relapse. On the other hand, moments of
celebration in recovery (getting a new job, getting remarried, etc.) can also
trigger a man to have a drink to celebrate. One recent study done by the
University of Pennsylvania shows that men are more likely than women to relapse
when experiencing positive emotions.
Getting
into a romantic relationship too soon. Relationships have a stress of
their own. When a man is new in his recovery and he gets into a relationship,
the stress of that relationship may trigger a relapse. And worse, if the
relationship breaks apart, that can also be a trigger for picking up drinking
and drug use again.
Research shows that men who reside at a sober living home in
a structured environment after treatment have a greater chance of staying
sober. Men who continue to remain in a structured environment after
detoxification and residential treatment for at least 30 to 60 days will be more
likely to transition back into society without relapse. The advantage of living
in a structured environment, such as a sober living home for men, is that it
also provides a man the opportunity to form new friendships based on sobriety.
If you are in recovery and you find that you're experiencing
strong cravings and triggers, consider the above scenarios. Are any of these
true in your own life? For more support
in your recovery from addiction, call a mental health professional.
