Drug Abuse in the Gay Community
Drug addiction is a rising concern for millions of Americans each day. While it would be challenging to find someone who had set the intention of developing a drug addiction, it happens more often than you would think. It does not reflect poorly on who you are as a person but merely demonstrates that there are some underlying emotions and traumas that have been unresolved and that you have turned to substance abuse as a means to manage or self-medicate. These underlying causes and challenges that are faced with an LGBT individual’s life can be incredibly unpleasant and create difficulties in managing and coping with the emotions that arise when faced with life’s adversities. To lessen the unpleasant emotions, individuals turn to substance abuse to alleviate the uncomfortable feelings and numb the problematic emotions from the momentary escape of drug use.
As an individual within the LGBTQ community, you have undoubtedly faced additional barriers and challenges within your life stemming from discrimination from others and biases within society. In fact, the LGBTQ community has the highest number of individuals living with a substance abuse disorder compared to any other demographic or sector within society. An individual that identifies as part of the LGBTQ community is four times more likely to develop a substance abuse disorder than other individuals within a society.
As an LGBT individual, a select few places offer an inclusive space to be yourself without worrying about judgment or discrimination from others. A commonplace for an LGBT individual to go is a gay-friendly or LGBTQ bar. While this space is a haven for many of the LGBTQ community, it also opens up the door to the party scene that often perpetuates drug and alcohol use leading many to become susceptible to drug addiction and other determining factors. Individuals within the LGBTQ community often struggle with finding their place in the world due to the high level of discrimination unfairly placed upon them within society. Often, individuals, especially younger members of the LGBTQ community, will turn to drug or alcohol use to connect with others and be included with their peer groups. What begins as an innocent way to communicate with others can often open the doors to developing a drug addiction without you intending for it. Other contributing factors for the LGBTQ community and drug addiction are:
- Experiencing social exclusion from peers and society due to your sexual orientation, sexual or gender identity
- Rejection from family after coming out or exclusion from your religious group due to identifying as LGBTQ
- Hate crimes towards you or acts of violence due to being in the LGBTQ community
- Loss of job or other forms of public discrimination
- Experiencing physical abuse to your sexuality, gender expression, or sexual orientation
- Ridicule or humiliations from peers due to being an LGBT individual
Regardless of the underlying causes for your drug addiction, when you choose to heal from addiction within a gay-friendly drug rehab, you will be able to be open and vulnerable to change within the supportive, inclusive LGBTQ community. Your unique story matters, and finding a gay-friendly rehab center will honor your need for dignity, respect, and inclusion so you can find your passion for life again free of substance abuse.
Addiction Treatment Challenges in the Gay Community
When you know it is time to address your drug addiction through a drug addiction treatment program; you want to know that you will be in an environment that respects your need for inclusion and safety. There are often reservations from individuals within the LGBT community about attending addiction treatment due to the fear of being within an environment that will be discriminatory. Gay-friendly drug rehab will give Los Angeles patients the peace of mind they need. They are surrounded by other patients with similar life experiences with discrimination and biases, which helps open up honest communication and trust within the rehab cohort.
For many LGBT individuals, there is a higher likelihood of having a co-occurring disorder that has impacted their drug addiction and their way of life in general. Rates of mental health issues such as anxiety disorders and depression often run high within the LGBTQ community. For many, a way to mitigate the symptoms of your substance abuse and mental health concerns is to turn to substance abuse as a self-medicating and coping method. Los Angeles patients experiencing a co-occurring mental health disorder will benefit from a dual diagnosis treatment center. These centers will assist patients in healing from drug addiction and the underlying causes while also providing insight and tools on how to effectively manage your co-occurring disorder through healthy, effective strategies that move away from drug addiction as a means to cope.
Gay-Friendly Drug Rehab Treatment Options
To receive the highest level of care that will set you up for success within sobriety, each patient must receive individualized care directed to meet your overarching goals for sobriety through safe, inclusive practices. For many Los Angeles, California residents, attempting to get sober within your home environment can prove challenging as you face the temptations and distractions that have impacted your drug addiction historically. Choosing an inpatient drug rehab program allows patients to solely focus on recovery within a safe and secure addiction treatment facility. Choosing a gay-friendly drug rehab means you will reside with other patients, and often staff, who identify as gay or a member of the LGBTQ community. This process creates an environment of empowerment and support to help lift one another and validate the challenges and discrimination you have experienced.
For those Los Angeles, California residents who feel comfortable and willing to address the familial hurt that they have experienced regarding their sexual identity, orientation, or gender expression will have the option to participate in family therapy sessions. This empowers patients to become open and honest with their family about their experiences within the family unit and the negative feelings or thoughts due to their drug addiction, mental health issues, or identifying as LGBTQ. With the mediated support of a licensed clinician, the hope is that you and your family will be able to start healing and redevelop a new relationship or bond together based on love and support.
What a Gay-Friendly Drug Rehab Offers
Choosing a gay-friendly drug rehab means that Los Angeles, California residents will be provided with an environment that pays attention to each patient’s individual needs and unique circumstances. When you begin your drug rehab program, you will complete initial admission paperwork and assessments that will provide the addiction treatment center with the information they need to formulate a drug rehab program that is right for you.
A gay-friendly drug rehab ensures patients’ options to foster safety and comfort within the LGBTQ treatment facility. This means that for transgender patients, you will be able to reside within a room that aligns with your gender expression and gender identity. Whereas for gay men or lesbian women, you will have your own unique set of needs accommodated and adhered to. Understanding each patient through getting to their unique and essential story is key to providing a long-lasting healing experience.
How to Find a Gay-Friendly Drug Rehab
While most addiction treatment centers will state that they are LGBT-friendly inclusive spaces, and their intentions are in the right place, there are times when LGBT individuals face discrimination and biases from others within these spaces. To find a gay-friendly drug rehab, it is essential to know that the drug rehab of your choice is understanding of your unique, personal, social, and psychological needs for healing. This is often addressed through individualized treatment plans centered around addressing and healing from your root causes of drug addiction. When contacting drug rehab centers, you want to know that the addiction clinicians are well educated and knowledgeable about the compounding factors for LGBT individuals facing drug addiction and the history of trauma and emotional turmoil that can occur within an LGBTQ person’s lifetime.
Muse Gay-Friendly Drug Rehab Center
Muse Treatment Center offers Los Angeles, California residents an addiction treatment center centered around inclusive, supportive spaces for LGBTQ individuals. Our gay-friendly rehab recognizes the unique set of barriers and challenges you have encountered throughout your life. We have drug addiction counselors who are specifically trained and knowledgeable about supporting LGBTQ patients in working through those emotions to set them up for a successful life in sobriety and enable them with the tools for relapse prevention. We see the innate value and intrinsic worth in all of our patients and will work alongside you so that you can find your passion for life while reestablishing your self-love and acceptance again. We are waiting for your call to help you start the healing journey of a lifetime; contact Muse Treatment at (800) 426-1818 today.
