The Telescoping Effect

Telescoping Definition

Substance use disorders or addictions occur when the recurrent use of drugs or alcohol causes significant impairment, such as health problems and failure to meet responsibilities at work, school, or home. A person is addicted to drugs and alcohol when they feel the constant urge or desire to use them despite the obvious and severe repercussions on their life. 

Usually, people go through five stages of addiction:

1. Experimentation with the substance
2. Regular use of the substance 
3. Risky use of the substance 
4. Dependence and withdrawal
5. Addiction

So, what does telescoping mean when it comes to addiction? Telescoping refers to the accelerated progression from the initial experimentation with drugs or alcohol to the chronic use of and dependence of these substances. This phenomenon is shown to have gender-related differences. 

Women who use opioids, alcohol, or cannabis show a more accelerated progression or telescoping effect than men.¹ Once women enter a drug or alcohol treatment program, they may experience more severe physical, psychological, and social difficulties than men, even if their substance abuse was less severe compared with men. 

For example, one study published by the Medical University of South Carolina showed that it takes men nearly double the length of time to progress from drunkenness to addiction than women – 2.3 years versus 0.9 years, to be exact.² Thus, a woman’s path to addiction is more compressed or telescoped than a man’s. 

Contributing Factors of Telescoping in Addiction

The telescoping effect has been observed and studied further in recent years to better understand why men and women are affected differently by drugs, alcohol, and addiction in general. Below are some possible contributing factors to telescoping: 

• Co-occurring mental disorders: Co-occurring mood and anxiety disorders are more common among women compared to men. The presence of depression or anxiety may increase a woman’s likelihood of developing a substance use disorder. 
• Biology: Hormones and chemicals like dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine are believed to contribute greatly to the onset of addiction. For instance, women may be more responsive to stimulants like cocaine or methamphetamine during the follicular phase of menstruation, and women exposed to such drugs during this stage of their cycles are more likely to develop an addiction more rapidly. When it comes to alcohol consumption, women usually experience intoxication with less alcohol. This means a less severe form of heavy drinking may lead to addiction more quickly in a woman. 
• Sociological differences: It’s also been found that women tend to use substances to self-medicate (hence the “wine mom” trend,) while men tend to engage in substance abuse to fit in with a group. Considering that stress and anxiety are common, the onset of addiction among women is arguably higher. 
• Type of addiction: While men are more likely to use all types of illicit drugs compared to women, women seem to be more susceptible to the reinforcing or rewarding effects of drugs like cocaine and meth. Women are also more likely to experience severe drug withdrawals and cravings for both physical and psychological reasons. 

Some studies have shown that there isn’t any substantial proof to support telescoping in women with addictions. One 2017 study analyzed the origins of the framework of telescoping from as far back as 1952 and concluded that it might simply be wrong.³ 

It found that early telescoping research was “gender-biased” and took a “masculine” approach to its research. The researchers of this study concluded that this “masculine” framework could have perpetuated gender bias and limited novel research that could result from women-focused research and practice.³