Why are addicts usually men?

[Hellin301]

Am I stereotyping here?

I know of a number of alcoholics who are female, but a larger number of men who are gambling addicts, alcoholics or addicted to porn?

Equally it seems to be mainly men who walk on their wives and children for another woman.

Makes me lose hope in men in general

Infidelity is not an addiction. No-one describes Ryan Giggs as an addict, for example.

Good lord, there are loads of female addicts, what on earth has brought you to this conclusion OP?

@thrownaway i'm sorry to hear about your mom and upbringing. Yes i agree, addiction is being unable to stop despite the negative consequences.

Infidelity is an addiction...it is called sex addiction and more men than women fall prey to this (well i can only speak from my personal experience)

@Thewoodfromthetrees

I think women deal with their problems differently by talking so more often than not it does not lead to addiction. Men bottle things up inside and tend to deal with it by using drugs, alchohol and sleeping around

I think women are less likely to be so vocal about their addictions.

Especially if it's drugs, as the majority of female drug addicts I know of in my area, are desperately trying to keep hold of their children.

Your assessment is part born out by stats but not to the point you think

As far as you can generalise men and women have very different addiction profiles and behaviours

Over all, I'd say I have known more female heroin addicts and more male alcoholics. Everything else seems a pretty even split. More longterm female addicts also, but more men dead from their addictions.

Weird and wrong thing to say

Well this is all a bit of a surprise to me as i have not known any female addicts in my circle yet i've come across was married to and dated addicts unintentionally i guess you live and learn

Yes females suffer from addiction.

@Thewoodfromthetrees

Well this is all a bit of a surprise to me as i have not known any female addicts in my circle yet i've come across was married to and dated addicts unintentionally i guess you live and learn

Do they have to be in your actual circle for you to know of them though?

Most of the addicts I know of, is simply by the area I live in and the work I used to do.

In my family on one side there is a lot of male alcoholism. Not so much in the women - unless you watch what happens as they come into middle age and beyond

My family are the opposite, all the women have alcohol/substance issues, and I didn't get clean until middle age. I don't have DCs though, I dread to think how that would've panned out...

I used to work with addicts and sometimes women are better at hiding it or are more high functioning, but not all the time and it’s a pretty even split. Many women alcoholics would find creative ways do hide their addiction and still hold down their job/family etc, some can live for years like that.

Also, online bingo sites have made many a gambling addicted out of women.

Even the majority of their adverts are aimed at them.

*addict

Thanks all. Interesting to hear from those who have worked in addiction

Just things I found out on the internet

Men are seven-and-a-half times more likely than women to become problem gamblers, research suggests.

Men are more likely than women to use almost all types of illicit drugs

In general, men have higher rates of alcohol use, including binge drinking.

It's because men who, are addicts are more likely to be counted. Same old bollocks, of misogyny.

Overeaters Anon meetings were heavily female, ime.

I know a fair few ex-substance abusers who were/are female. Can't say I know more males than females mostly relatives

Are females more represented among those with anxiety & depression? Females are definitely more likely to ask for help when they have such problems.

I have been dismissed many times... Oh you are not an alcoholic blah blah blah even when I have said quite plainly that I am am alcoholic. I mean I really am, under any kind of criteria. I am dismissed and discounted because I have children and they are alive and well and I'm articulate. I don't have the will to fight against the stereotypes.

Everyone is fucked. Technology has advanced rapidly and we are now living in ways we never have in the past. Instant gratification is a substitute (albeit a poor one) for everything we have lost.

I’m not sure they are! Maybe it’s more public?

A user of 'illicit' drugs does not an addict make, some do some don't

Women definitely hide it better. Seriously I thought that being involved with support services would help, but it didn't. They applied to charities then fucked off. Seems to me that social services only really care about small children. Which is fair enough.

I had a massive breakdown and nobody really cared, my siblings, just blamed me and abandoned me, my ex is fine but a massive twat and gaslighter. I am genuinely alone, I have given up.
.
.

Good lord, there are loads of female addicts, what on earth has brought you to this conclusion OP?

This
OP seems to be basing it just on who she/he personally knows or has heard of
Of course women are just as likely to be addicts as men, addiction doesn't discriminate!