Thai men's experiences of alcohol addiction and treatment

Abstract

BackgroundMen are overrepresented with regard to alcohol addiction and in terms of alcohol treatment worldwide. In Thailand, alcohol consumption continues to rise, but few of those afflicted with alcohol addiction attend alcohol treatment programs, even though there is universal care for all. No comprehensive studies have been done on men’s experiences with addiction and alcohol treatment programs in Thailand.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to explore men’s experiences in terms of the ‘pros and cons of alcohol consumption’ in order to identify the barriers that exist for Thai men with regard to alcohol addiction and the decision to stop drinking.DesignPurposive sampling was applied in the process of recruiting participants at an alcohol clinic in a hospital in Thailand. Thirteen men with alcohol addiction (aged 32–49 years) were willing to participate and were interviewed in thematic interviews. The analysis of the data was done with descriptive phenomenology.ResultsThrough men’s descriptions, three clusters of experiences were found that were ‘mending the body’, ‘drinking as payoff and doping related to work’, and ‘alcohol becoming a best friend’ as ways of describing the development of addiction.ConclusionsThe results highlight the importance of addressing concepts of masculinity and related hegemonic ideas in order to decrease the influence of the barriers that exist for Thai men with alcohol addiction with regard to entering treatment and to stop drinking.

Lived Experience of Thai Women with Alcohol Addiction

“…The women studied here perceive alcohol as part of their life because it is included in the Thai working culture specifically, in which it is believed that offering alcohol at work increases the number of hours employees can dedicate to work. According to interviews of men experiencing alcohol addiction, offering alcohol at work can also maintain the work commitment and improve relations between the employer and the employees [15]. The women examined in this study adopted male values and behavior with respect to drinking and accepted drinking as appropriate for them when working hard.…”

“…There are reasons to believe that Thai women who experience alcohol problems and addiction may not answer honestly when asked about their drinking habits due to a fear of stigmatization [13]. However, in line with gender equity having increased in Thai work life, drinking at work has become accepted and engaged in by both men and women [13,15]. In addition, demonstrating the ability to act as men has been used as an explanation for the changed drinking habits of young Thai women, who use alcohol to feel confident, reduce stress, and keep themselves energetic at work [13].…”

Current trends in the study of gender norms and health behaviors

“…However, recent articles addressing gender norms and their influence on substance use behaviors have typically focused on three content areas: 1) alcohol, 2) tobacco, and 3) other forms of substance misuse, including injection drug use, prescription drug abuse, etc. Articles discussing gender norms and alcohol often linked problematic drinking to different types of masculinity that equated drinking with demonstrating masculine traits [33–37] and also how masculine ideas that discourage help-seeking may prevent men from entering treatment programs [38, 39]. Of research examining gender and tobacco, multiple articles focused on men and highlighted that smoking cessation programs can be successful by encouraging positive masculine ideas such as responsibility and fatherhood [40–43].…”

Barriers to successful treatment of alcohol addiction as perceived by healthcare professionals in Thailand – a Delphi study about obstacles and improvement suggestions

“…This complicates and increases the barriers to recovery for men and women experiencing alcohol addiction. One barrier is that the individual might lack awareness of the addiction problem or find it too hard to disclose based on embarrassment or shame resulting from the social stigma surrounding drinking problems ( 14 – 16 ). Another barrier is related to negative attitudes toward people experiencing substance and alcohol addiction from healthcare providers and that these professions might lack adequate knowledge and skills related to treating addiction ( 17 ).…”