Drug abuse is a response to fear of failure; it helps us to withdraw from the pressures of achievement by inducing and maintaining a sense of apathy toward the standards of excellence in society.

Tensions and stress of lifestyle in urban and developed societies are marked by pressure for achieving goals that subscribe to the so-called “approved” quality of life.

CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

Drug abuse, or at least its impact, seems to be more common in the technologically developed societies than in the developing ones. Industrialized cultures are quite regimented in terms of their standards of excellence.

There are definite, clearly identified criteria for goal attainment. Quality of life is measurable. The indicators of happiness are concrete and specific.

In the United States, for instance, the standards of excellence are more visual and substantive than, say, in India, where about 70 percent of the population live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for a living.

In India, belief in (a) the transmigration of the soul, (b) the birth-rebirth cycle, and (c) the goal of life being the ability to break away from the birth-rebirth process and merge with the Supreme Being do not encourage preoccupation with earthly, material things.

The quality of life is relatively vague in its beginning and ending. Standards of excellence are fewer than in the developed nations. Pressures for achievement are relatively mild; penalties for failure, few. Blended with this sociocultural ethos are the religious sanctions against taking bhang (hashish) or smoking marijuana, except during the specified religious festivals, when drugs are often a part of the ritual.

In any culture, celebration is marked by (relatively) inhibited expression of emotions (usually love and anger). Social and cultural systems build in occasions for celebration of the basic historical and religious traditions.

Two features of any celebration are food and emotion, the assumption being that the chores and routines of day-to-day living tend to restrain eating and expression. An average Indian lunches on a paratha (shallow, fried, layered bread made with whole wheat flour) and curried potatoes.

An average American grabs a sandwich and washes it down with a soft drink. Emotional expression is also restrained. Smiles are closer to courtesy than to feelings. Self-control and restrained expression day after day and week after week program us somewhat for an almost computerized lifestyle.

Even television comedy shows sandwich “canned” laughter in between the scenes as if to remind the audience about the humor. Celebrations acquire special significance against this backdrop of dry and dreary lifestyle.

We have to plan to relax. It is not uncommon for people to go on a strict diet before going on a vacation so that they can eat without much guilt. Even more important is the expression of emotions.

The recent mushrooming of the “pop” therapy methods (encounter groups, marathons, self-improvement techniques, stress management, and so forth) illustrates our obsession with inhibited expression.

ACHIEVEMENT ANXIETY

In the developing countries, however, because of relatively less pressure for achievement, celebrations are observed more frequently and for longer duration. Methods of relaxation usually consist of visiting with friends and going to movies.

In a developed nation like the United States, people just do not have time for much relaxation. An American, creatively enough, treats living and working as synonymous.

The weekends are planned and filled as tightly as are the weekdays. Relaxation is not “doing nothing”; it is another kind of work. Weekend golfers, painters, and vacationers love to achieve standards of excellence in their relaxation ventures.

It is not enough to feel that “my vacation was relaxing”; I also want to feel, prove, and publicize that “my vacation was better than yours.” We do not mind trading relaxation for tension: Borrowing money to go on a vacation is a good example of this.

Doing something rather than nothing is the hallmark of relaxation. Frequently, one is as tense a out seeking relief as one is about achieving work goals. Relaxation must be achieved, here and now.

A sense of immediacy encourages search for time-saving techniques for achieving peace and tranquility. Drug abuse emerges as a natural corollary to this way of life. In the speed-oriented culture of the United States, for instance, drug abuse is a handy device for “getting away from it all” (Misra 1975).

Chemical aids for feeling “fresh and relaxed” are so widely publicized through the media that it is extremely difficult to resist the temptation for this shortcut to happiness.

The vast range of data in the media, including advertisements for automobiles, homes, food, vacations, and so on, describes and perhaps even sets the goals we are expected to achieve to qualify as “leading a good life.”

The focus is on what, not how, to attain in order to have a feeling of achievement, a sense of satisfaction. Availability of options causes anxiety. Different goals are perceived in terms of their potential value to satisfy our needs.

Do we buy an automobile to get from one place to the other? Maybe. But also to acquire status, power, and prestige. It is not easy to decide on the kind of car we want to buy, essentially because there are so many to choose from.

The situation is the same in many other areas: cereals, bread, cheese, vacation, home, and so forth. Any time you decide in favor of one goal over the other, the latter will look better (at least most of the time).

We must then try to convince ourselves that the option we chose was indeed superior to the one we did not. Industrial cultures encourage a rat race for status and identity, with everyone striving hard to “be somebody.”

SUMMARY

Drug use is initiated as a time-saving device to cope with the stress of achieving standards of excellence. Chemically induced relaxation is simple and quick.

The ease and speed with which feelings of relief can be attained encourages the continuation of drug use. Initially, drugs are used to escape from the pressures of achievement, but gradually, the thrill becomes the goal, marking the conversion of use into abuse. Cessation of drug abuse is an awfully slow process because it involves changes in one’s lifestyle.

The whole area of goal-setting behavior must be addressed before the chemically convenient coping strategies, nothing more than acts of slow suicide, can be controlled.

PROBLEM BEHAVIORS

Drugs do seem to have the advantage of calming down our anxiety about achievement. However, the process by which this is done has also an important negative effect insofar as it induces a sense of defiant indifference.

In most cases, excessive use (abuse) of drugs increases our level of confidence. (One person under the influence of LSD believed he could fly: He jumped out of a 17th floor window and died.)

This, however, is a compensation for the underlying achievement anxiety, which was initially a response to our feelings of inadequacy. It is no wonder, then, that drug abusers have a higher proclivity for engaging in antisocial behaviors.

The so-called “morning after” effect reflects a sense of depression and remorse for the night before. Depression leads to anxiety, which, in turn, leads to increased need for chemical relief, and so goes the process of strengthening the anxiety which was the cause for initiating the abuse of drugs in the first place.

We tend to overlook the fact that drug abuse is a response to our fear of failure: It starts as a “little break” from the pressures of achievement but then, over a period of time, becomes a goal in itself. We start using drugs when we are emotionally upset. A temporary feeling of relief is all we desire.

Once the effect wears off, we are back again in the jungle of competitive culture, and once again, we resort to chemical aids to have a feeling of thrill and happiness.

The process continues until achieving the thrill becomes our goal. The need for temporary relief is transformed into the ultimate goal of achieving a state of nothingness.

In a lifestyle marked by hedonism, a sense of consideration for others becomes the least important of all needs.

The most crucial need is for a child-like, impulsive happiness (Clements and Simpson 1978). Law and order tend to be perceived as evil forces in society.

Thus, the relationship between problem behaviors and drug abuse is as predictable as water boiling at 100°C.

---------

From N.I.D.A. Monograph 30 - Theories on Drug Abuse: Selected Contemporary Perspectives.

N.I.D.A. - The National Institute on Drug Abuse is part of the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services. The Institute includes various programs on drug abuse research.

~ ~ ~