The Transgender Addiction Correlation

Though social views surrounding transgender and nonbinary individuals are changing and more widely accepted, members of the transgender community often face persecution and social judgment that can make it difficult to live as one’s authentic self.

Worse yet, many trans people turn to drugs or alcohol to cope with their challenges and negative feelings.

Sexual minorities such as transgender and nonbinary people face considerable stress, and these marginalized groups are more susceptible to addiction. People in the LGBTQ community are twice as likely to abuse illicit drugs, with 39.1% of LGBTQ people and only 17.1% of heterosexual adults using illicit drugs.¹ At Banyan Boca, we offer transgender addiction recovery support to give men, women, and nonbinary individuals the help they need in a compassionate setting.

What Causes Addiction in the Transgender Community?

Addiction is a problem across many communities, but trans people are especially susceptible to the struggles of addiction. Gender dysphoria is often a contributing factor to addiction in the transgender community. When a person identifies as one gender but their outward appearance or interactions with the rest of the world do not match the way they feel, they are experiencing gender dysphoria. For trans people, this may be a person who identifies as female but is constantly addressed with the wrong pronouns or has the wrong gender marker on their ID. It can also be when a person prefers nonbinary pronouns such as “they,” but they are instead constantly addressed by gendered pronouns.²

This disconnect between how a trans person feels inside and how they are treated by the outside world can lead to stress, depression, and other conditions. Many trans individuals who are experiencing gender dysphoria may also drink or do drugs in attempts to self-medicate their pain away.