We see and hear about excessive drinking in celebrity gossip columns and shows, but more in a “she had fun” and “isn’t she wild” kind of way. Which begs the question: is substance abuse and addiction already a norm?
When I started modeling and traveling on my own, I thought it would be a temporary period of heavy drinking. Passing out drunk several nights per week was “the norm”. I always figured it’d slow down after I officially graduated into “the real world”. I mean, how could working adults function at their jobs if they drank this much?
Well, I graduated and found out that, although most working women don’t get pass-out drunk on work nights (well, not usually!), they certainly do drink heavily, and the same pressure is there to partake. Networking over drinks, dinner meetings, hanging with friends… it all adds up, and before you know it you’ve had way more alcohol than your calorie counter (or liver) wanted you to.
We all know that drinking is socially accepted, and that drinking to excess is, unfortunately, often encouraged by friends. Despite it being a social activity, some people fall into addiction in times of extreme stress. (hello: working women!) Studies have shown that stress can become the driving force behind addiction and –get this– it can go the other way around. Substance abuse also leads to your body creating more stress hormones, which causes a cyclical process that spares only the very strong-willed and resilient.
Researchers will tell you that alcohol and drug use affects the parts of the brain that are associated with rewards. Occasional drinking as a stress-reliever is a societally “normal” coping mechanism for individuals …but once chronic stress leads to habitual use of drugs and alcohol …then we have a problem.
For some people, using substances provides a rush similar to extreme sports. When a surfer conquers a wave, she will look for a bigger one. Consequently, dopamine levels in extreme sports enthusiasts and risk-takers return to a low initial level after an activity that introduces an adrenaline rush. Likewise, an addict experiences the same rush to find a more fulfilling fix.
Say, for example, you get that job promotion in Paris. Your dopamine (feel-good brain chemicals) level increases immediately by 10-15%. Drugs and alcohol can increase that level three-fold, but there are consequences. For example, if you’re overworked, underpaid, and unappreciated, you may have the tendency to go to the pub and grab a margarita with colleagues in the same situation. This act, however, prompts your brain to go into stress mode by activating its stress systems and makes your brain particularly susceptible to the addictive impact of the alcohol. This, ladies, is how you get hooked.
Occasional drinking is actually socially-accepted. However, addiction should not be.
People unintentionally get addicted, and the pattern begins with chronic stress. There are plenty of ways for an individual to resist substances, and the most effective is to reduce stress in your life. Here are some tricks to keeping yourself away from stressors:
Keep yourself busy and productive
Keep your mind working on other things such as hobbies and interests. Go to the gym, write on your blog, or do crafts. These give you a feeling of satisfaction, and what you achieve gets you on a similar high. To boot, you end up with a great body, a thought-provoking article, or jewelry that you can sell or give as gifts.
Take time for a breather
This includes socializing or going out for a snack or pot of tea. Short breaks relieve you mentally and physically and can even improve your concentration.
Rethink or reconsider your time management scheme
Sometimes stress is induced by mismanagement of tasks. Urgent tasks and multitasking sometimes get too overwhelming, and you end up losing yourself in them. Try using software to keep track of your To-Dos and reminders.
Ask for help
Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. Rather, it entails the courage to admit that you are not strong enough to handle a task alone.
We are all prone to stress. With the multiple roles we play both at home and at work, it’s easy to succumb to the easy and temporary way out. However, the best solution is to address the problem head-on.
Do you use substances more when you’re stressed out? How do you deal?
Addiction in any form is dangerous. Consume life in moderation!
What? WHAT? what?
You know the feeling that you don’t even know of the casual drinker is an alcoholic, the social smoker that you see is a chain smoker at home. And that fidgeting young man is a crack addict in disguise.
Now? it’s not normal. A few more year? yeah! I think it will be the new normal. Every house hold will have rehabilitation facilities for everyone. simply because people are like that. We can’t do anything in moderation. Go big or go home!
With the values, kids today learn in media. Yeah! it’s pretty normal. Soon enough we gonna see real-life walker crack heads wondering the streets.
I see that videogame addiction is now a norm. They are making money out of it now. Just like professional athletes. They are just addicted to the game then somebody recruited them now they get to play the game and earn money in the process.
Twitch and youtube is the the platform for earning if you are a gamer.
Well, we can say that addicts are just passionate about what they are doing. I can say i’m a passionate gamer and its normal.
But nobody can say they are a passinate crack head huh?
How will you know if you are addicted?
Oh trust me. You will know when you are.
Everything is normal now. Addiction, rape, murder, inequality, poverty. you name it.
No! Addiction can never be normal nor accepted!
I had an ex-boyfriend that now suffers alcoholism. I still talk to him and while he’s always drunk and calls himself an alcoholic, I could honestly still see that whatever he’s doing is something that he can still stop himself from doing, BUT ONLY IF HE WANTED TO. I would see him reduce his drinking habits to one glass per day and it didn’t seem to bother him, so even after so many years of drinking all the time, (he’s an ex-marine) I think alcoholism is a state of mind that’s easier to fix compared to substance abuse.