The Culture of Addiction
Core Elements in the
Culture of Addiction
Supposition (Key Theme)
The culture of addiction and process
of immersion into the the culture of
addiction serves to disengage the
individual from society into a selfsequestered tribe of addicts.
Tribes
Seek out and build relationships with other people
whose drug use or recovery mirrors their own
Create small groups within which they can nurture
the rituals of drug use or recovery
Tribes can overlap, creating a broader social
network of drug users who share common goals and
attributes
Then again, tribes will also form based on particular
drugs of abuse / drawing war-lines so to speak
Drug Tribes
Celebrated (alcoholic / tobacco)
Tolerated (Marijuana)
Instrumental (prescribed drugs)
Prohibited (heroin, cocaine, club
drugs)
Language
The culturally enmeshed addict
experiences a transformation in language
that parallels their progression of
addiction.
Language changes reflect transition into
and confirmation of one’s new identity.
Language
Mastery of language
confirms membership,
and separates us from
them
Language shift
includes use of more
slangs, profanity,
symbolic words for
drugs, folktales,
stories of hustling,
euphoric recall of
intoxication episodes,
stories of wanting to
clean-up, but when
cleaning wanting to
get high)
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decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Language (contd).
Clinical Implications
Language provides the pathway back to and away
from addiction
Thus according to White (1996) Addicts must
relearn how to communicate
Teach language skills / cognitive and affective
Change the addict role
Clinician must be careful of what language they use (avoid
the hustle)
Religion, Morality, and Values
When an individual begins a relationship
with a psychoactive drug he or she
brings to that relationship a set of prexisting values and beliefs.
For some individuals the immersion into
the culture of addiction strips former
values and beliefs apart
Dr. Jekyll - Mr. Hyde
Religion, Morality,
and Values (cont.)
Commit acts the former pre-addict
personality would never dream of
Our former values become insignificant
Sometimes in the late stages the addiction that
created the spiritual void may lead the addict to
surrender
This doesn’t happen to everyone
The Addict Personality in the Web of the Culture of Addiction
The Drug comes first
Everyone’s on the make
Don’t trust anyone
Don’t feel
Avoid responsibility
Every Interaction is Potential Hustle
Cultivate Excitement through Risk
Violate taboos
The Image is the Message
Cunning over Conscience
Symbols
Collection of physical trappings
Reinforce identification with the culture
proclaiming identity and allegiance
Addict become oblivious of their presence and
more importantly downplays excessive drug use
Individuals may also unconsciously downplay the
danger of particular symbols and symbolic play
within their culture
Symbols
Symbols and
Treatment
• Symbols reinforce or recall behaviour
promoting drug use
•
•
This is frequently ignored in treatment
White (1996) suggests that a role for
treatment is to remove symbols that reflect
addiction and replace them with symbols of
recovery
Tribe Rituals
When does drug use begin?
Understanding patterns of use can help
treatment providers mitigate relaspe
potential
When does craving hit - around what
activities
Making the addict conscious of these
Rituals and Treatment
Identify
Understand significance
Extinguish rituals / replace with healthy
rituals
New meaning / purpose
History and Mythology
Tribes establish a history and
folklore and pass it down
Stories include heroism, fall from
grace, how to use, how not to,
tribal wars, etc.
Every famous personality who is
arrested, who dies, provides
confirmation of addicts
participation in an elite society.
Straight cultural folklore
against addiction confirms
elitism
Institutions (Places)
Geographic places
(tribe dependent)
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decompressor
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Brings forth
memories that bind
cultures and serve as
triggers
Treatment (clinician
task is to root out
these triggers)
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Dress and Appearance
Change of dress change of
1) identity or 2) denial /
hiding reality
Most often change and dress
and appearance relates to to
decline in self-care, hygiene
and health
Late stages of addiction - no one home
to care how one appears or presents
oneself
Diet and Food
Addiction
No fruits or vegetables
Junk food
Recovery
•Regulating food and moods
Increase of fats & carbs
•Sugar control
•Increase of fats & carbs
•Manage drug hunger
Barely any food at all
through diet and exercise
Music
Recovery
Addiction
•Establish links
Songs about using,
hustling, or pimping
Social distortion story
- linking two unrelated
events together
(musical stimuli to the
experiences of
intoxication
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
between certain types
of music or songs and
euphoric recall of drug
intoxication
•Explore different types
Work and Leisure
The world of work and leisure are transformed by the culture
of addiction
Meaning and Value Change
One’s job is only seen as a continued access to drug supply
Job last link to mainstream sobriety
The real task of work each day - “getting by”
Elders in the culture of addiction teach how to “get by”
“Elders Teach Getting By”
Occupations and jobs roles especially suited for
addicts
Learn stories to justify absenteeism and tardiness
How to use at work without getting caught
Avoiding detection to not get caught
Engineered stories of previous firing / job loss
Method of beating company’s drug testing system
http://livesafely.org/personal-freedom/how-to-beata-urine-test/
Creative use of accidents / medical benefits /
disability / WCB
With the final
loss of
legitimate job
roles, the
major
umbilical cord
to society is
severed
Leisure Time: A Three Stage
Transformation
Leisure Activities
Leisure Activities
Based on Personal Interests
Personal vested interests continue
Drug use maybe
But drugs and alcohol
almost always present
Drug use becomes the
activity
Leisure activities disappear /
rituals and habits surrounding
culture of addiction become
deeply embedded
Literature
Recovery
Addiction
•First-person accounts of
•Introduction to
addiction
recovery literature
•Technical books on
•Spiritual literature
drugs and their effects
•Law books (provide
detailed information on
drug control laws, one’s
rights if arrested
•Literature offering
different ideas for
treatment
Family
Addiction
•Initially a safety net
Recovery
•Reunited with family
(if possible)
•Family distances
themselves due to
destructiveness
•Street family
adopted
•Re-integration (trust
building)
Sexual Trauma
• Predatory nature of the culture of
addiction can further objectify and
exploit those already sexually
traumatized
• Clinician must determine route of
treatment - concurrently or after
stabilizing?
Sexual Identity
•
•
Diffuse sexual orientation
Culture of addiction accept, promote, further confuse sexual
orientation
•
Sexual shame / guilt
•
How are we to treat?
•
What does recovering person return to ‘how’
Summary: Culture of
Addiction