In fact, drug addiction differs between the genders. Many people don’t realize this since the drugs do not discriminate when causing life destruction. However, nationwide studies prove men and women use drugs differently, with their addiction developing in unique ways for each gender. Your risk factors for addiction differ from those of women, just as you need therapies best suited to male needs.

Who Abuses Drugs More, Men or Women?

The study of gender circumstances of addiction is fairly new. However, scientists are learning about how drugs and alcohol affect men and women differently. This study helps men’s rehab centers provide the focused treatment best suited to men wanting strong sobriety.

Since the 1980s, researchers have known drug abuse and addiction more commonly affects men than women. For example, other truths of male drug addiction include:

• Males abuse drugs at a younger age than women
• Use more drugs than women
• Engage in more alcohol abuse and binge drinking
• Often lead their partners to first drug abuse
• Frequently “hold back” in therapies including women

Surveys indicate that about 12 percent of men aged 12 and older abuse illegal drugs. However, only 7.3 percent of females do so. Men also engage in more multi-substance abuse than women. More male high school and college students abuse illicit drugs than females. Moreover, more than twice as many males use marijuana, compared to females.

Researchers believe more males use drugs and alcohol from an earlier age because they experience more opportunities to do so. Girls more often gain an introduction to drugs and alcohol from boys, whereas boys more frequently introduce these substances to other boys.

These studies make it clear that males suffer a greater likelihood of substance abuse. However, do men’s rehab centers truly help men better recover from addiction?

How Men’s Rehab Centers Help Men Recover

Men’s rehab focuses on individualized treatment, just like any quality rehab program. Furthermore, the all-male environment opens more doors to lasting recovery than co-ed environments.

Men feel more comfortable opening up about their past when no women are present. Men suffer many of the same traumas as women, leading them to their early substance abuse. However, men often struggle with societal expectations, when it comes to being “strong” and reflecting an appearance of this strength. In other words, around women, men tend to hold back from what they need most.

In gender-specific peer groups, men bond well with other men. They look to each other for comfort and acceptance. In co-ed groups, men tend to focus more on female acceptance and comfort. Not having women in therapies or the living environment of rehab means men work more toward the healing of root issues that led them into addiction.

Men’s Rehab Programs in Hazleton, PA

Near Hazleton and Scranton, Pennsylvania, Silver Pines Treatment Center provides men’s rehab programs. These programs involve living in gender-specific housing, within a cozy, home-like setting with other men. Therapies and other programs also provide gender-specific focus.

For example, addiction treatment programs at Silver Pines Treatment Center include:

• Residential detox and rehab
• Individual, group and family therapy
• Outdoor, work and trauma therapy
• Holistic methods, including nutrition and fitness
• Yoga, gym, and garden
• Dual diagnosis treatments
• Family and alumni programs