Obstacles Men May Face in Recovery

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.