Article: Addiction Treatment Fails Transgender People

[Carolyn Marie]

https://www.thefix.com/content/addiction-treatment-transgender-people90998

I recently found this article while doing research on an upcoming panel discussion. I think it is still timely.

Carolyn Marie

[Charlize]

Thank you for posting that Carolyn. I think i might send the link to the trans woman who runs the Trans program of NJ Pride. She doesn't seem to think that we have any issues as far as addiction goes. Maybe if she sees it in print she might believe that we aren't all drug and alcohol free, happily being ourselves.

Hugs,

Charlize

[Saga]

I was in a recovery program for alcoholism and had probably the most manly of men sponsors you could imagine -- picture big Texas mustache, smoking truck driver kinda guy. Still, when it came time to confide in him and complete my steps, I did tell him about being transgender and he was very understanding. So while I think the article has some good points, I also think it really depends on who your sponsor is.

[Charlize]

Thank you for sharing Saga. I had a good sponsor who listened but brushed off what i felt was my largest defect of character. Years later that bit of early honesty grew and the rooms helped me find my feet as the person i am. I found the fact that 30% of us had a problem to be quite compelling.

I got a laugh at a GLBT meeting last night when i shared about finally coming out and using the term wife for my spouse in public. Odd that i had to come out a second time.

Glad you've joined us here.

Hugs,

Charlize

[Briana]

The article was short & to the point; a very real point. Experience and observation makes me challenge the 30% rate for trains people though. I'd say it's sadly higher. People tend to under-report substance abuse when interviewed or surveyed. It's tough to admit you have a problem out loud or on paper...even when it's confidential or just for survey purposes.

In the US we do a mediocre job of treating substance abuse. It goes down from there when it come to trans people with underlying substance abuse problems. If there was glamor and $$$ in doing it like heart disease and breast cancer you bet we'd do a better job. O_O

[VickySGV]

I had heard a 37% figure a while ago based on the old estimate of 700K people in the U.S.. I was one of the lucky ones, in that my Chemical Dependency Recovery team was part of an HMO that 8 years ago was well equipped to deal with GD, and has gotten better ever since. It was in that program that I got my diagnosis of GD and letters of referral for HRT and up the line to GCS. I have a very firm memory of "how it was" and have not decided as some have that controlling my GD "cured" my addiction behavior, which is critical to continued recovery. I have had to pull some Trans* family members off that window ledge a few times. Acceptance of my True Self has given me other ways to control the stress of being Trans than going to drugs or booze again. Being out and full time, and cautiously unafraid (taking environment into account) is a strength in my ongoing recovery that needs to be shown to others. It is interesting to me that my revelation to some people who are new cis recoverees that I am Trans* opens their eyes to things that can be dealt with in recovery far beyond their inner fears. For the most part today, I can take part in things going on where booze is in use comfortably and without fear because the True Me does not use drugs or alcohol to feel alive, and really never has. It was the closet me that was the addict and who was unhappy enough to seek pain relief in a bottle, yeah, the one whom other people had created. "He" was the addict, but I am happily recovering.

[Carolyn Marie]

On Saturday, myself and three gay men, all addiction treatment professionals, spoke before a group of professionals from California about the unique issues of LGBT people and substance abuse. I think we really opened some eyes, and provided some much needed background, advice and best practices. I am hopeful that the message will go nationwide, if it hasn't already. We really do have some unique issues that need to be considered by treatment folks, especially for trans folk and residential treatment programs. That is where discrimination and maltreatment really have a negative impact.

Carolyn Marie

[Charlize]

Carolyn Marie you are very right in this. I have spoken to too many trans* folks who have not been accepted in recovery programs because of who they are. Fortunately AA has begun to act on that with a new pamphlet due to come out soon(the gears move slowly). With luck more groups will become open and welcoming to us when we seek treatment. The meetings that are pinned in this forum have helped some who otherwise cannot attend any treatment groups as themselves either due to anxiety or because they are pushed out.

I have been so fortunate. I just left my home group where i am serving a second time as chairwoman in a cis gender mostly straight group. Acceptance is possible but any time someone is turned away from help it has potentially terrible repercussions.

Hopefully more acceptance will be forthcoming through the world that works to help others find sobriety.

Hugs,

Charlize

[Briana]

I have a very firm memory of "how it was" and have not decided as some have that controlling my GD "cured" my addiction behavior, which is critical to continued recovery. I have had to pull some Trans* family members off that window ledge a few times. Acceptance of my True Self has given me other ways to control the stress of being Trans than going to drugs or booze again.

Oh Vicky - you just struck a chord for me. From my perspective, the above that you wrote is so very insightful. Print it and tape it to your magical mirror and read it out loud every day. Many that are on the road to recovery and especially those that feel they are "cured" miss this very insightful & important point. Or they don't want to accept it as truth. And then "BAM" - punched in the face and back to step one. No matter how good you feel, no matter how much you've "trained & prepared", no matter how much you feel you've fixed or dealt with, if you get back in that ring, Mike Tyson is gonna punch your face in in less than 5 seconds. And down ya go...

And Charlize and Carolyn, you are both so right. There really are some unique issues that the LGBT community faces when it comes to substance abuse and treatment, and anytime someone is turned away...rejected because of who/what they are, there usually ARE disastrous repercussions. Many times rejected by "friends", family, and society in general, imagine being turned away from treatment because you're gay or trans or... Or you enter a treatment program and the abuse starts from those around you. How defeating. The thought of that makes me appreciate even more those that take a proactive approach to moving change forward! There is hope...there is always hope.