Rates of substance abuse and drug addiction are higher among people in the LGBTQ community than in other groups in society. Thankfully, various gay-friendly rehab centers offer services that are customized to meet the unique challenges people in this community face as they go through addiction recovery. Our Pennsylvania drug rehab is one of these facilities, and our LGBTQ substance abuse treatment is designed to address the physical, mental, and emotional needs of individuals in the gay community so they can achieve long-term sobriety.
Discrimination & Addiction in the Gay Community
For years now, the prevalence of substance abuse and addiction has been higher among individuals who identify themselves as homosexual, bisexual, transgendered, or in other areas on the sexuality spectrum. This is confirmed by research reviews, including one posted in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. It highlighted research showing that people in the LGBTQ community are more likely to engage in drug or alcohol abuse than the general population.1
These results are made evident by the fact that members of this community have historically experienced challenges in receiving healthcare without judgment or bias, including LGBTQ addiction support groups and treatment. However, slowly throughout the past few decades, there’s been a shift in societal perceptions and attitudes about people who identify as LGBTQ or queer, which have contributed to the increased availability of services like our LGBTQ substance abuse treatment.
Importance of LGBTQ Addiction Treatment
Due to the shift in public perception regarding the gay community, the landscape of LGBTQ rehab centers has changed throughout the nation, with more facilities offering gay-friendly addiction treatment to help people in this sector of society recover from addiction and manage specific issues that may contribute to addictive behaviors.
Individuals in the LGBTQ community are four times more likely to develop some type of substance use disorder as a result of discriminatory behavior directed at this group. Common forms of discrimination among LGBTQ people include:
- Peer ridicule and rejection
- Abuse from family members and partners
- Rejection by family or a spiritual community
- Job loss due to sexual orientation or gender identification
- Loss of child custody due to sexual orientation or gender identification
- Violence based on sexual orientation or gender identification
- Sexuality discrimination that is combined with other forms of discrimination, such as gender, race, religion, etc.
Someone in the LGBTQ community struggling with drug or alcohol abuse may have experienced multiple incidents mentioned above or other factors. Simply the fear of these behaviors occurring to an individual can be enough to drive them to dangerous self-coping mechanisms like substance abuse.
How Our Gay-Friendly Rehab Can Help
Due to the various challenges people in the LGBTQ community face almost daily, their needs may differ greatly from other clients at our PA drug rehab. For this reason, our facility has created a separate gay rehab program for addiction designed to help individuals on the sexuality spectrum achieve long-term sobriety both physically and mentally.
Our gay-friendly addiction treatment includes:
- Medically Assisted Detox
- Psychotherapy Programs
- Individual Counseling
- Group Counseling
- Aftercare Services
- Relapse Prevention Skills Building
- & More
No matter how far into substance abuse you are or what you’ve gone through, Clearbrook Treatment Centers is here for you. For more information about our Pennsylvania addiction treatment options, contact Clearbrook today.
Source:
- APA PsycNet – Substance use in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: An update on empirical research and implications for treatment.
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