Contents - Symbolism Intoxicants : no gateway to happiness Intoxicants may have symbolic and ritualistic significance and they are Widely used to provide excuses for social ineptitude, poor performance, Bad behavior and various other kinds of failure: There are no grounds for Attributing to their pharmacological properties any feelings of well-being or joy that may be associated with their use. It is popularly believed that consumption of intoxicants can induce a variety of beneficial feeling and behaviors, such as good mood, a feeling of well-being, increased self-confidence and sociability. There are also descriptions of heavenly experiences where colors appear to be more vivid (1). While some people become happy, others are sad; some become pleasant and others mean; some are aroused and others stay calm; some are silent, others are talkative; some become friendly and others hostile.The social convention of attributing this immense diversity of feelings and behavior to a single chemical is hardly ever questioned, yet this common wisdom about. The author is Consultant in Preventive Medicine. Department of Environment and Health, St Olavs pi. 5. Oslo. Norway. The present article is based on his book Alcohol and illicit drugs-myths and realities. published by the Alcohol and Drug Information Centre in Colombo. Sri Lanka in 1992. Supposed chemicals effects is not the result of research. Studies of the true chemical effects of intoxicants are not purely of academic interest, but also of potential interest for prevention of intoxicants use and related health problems.
There are obvious nonpharmacological explanation of the apparently “magic “influence of intoxicants. A lot of people say they drink alcohol because it makes them feel “nice and cosy”. Why should this be ?
Symbolic association and meanings greatly influence perceptions. For example, in some cultures the Christmas tree arouses pleasant feelings as a result of a learning process. The emotional impact of symbols Occurs when they are recognized, most often visually. With regard to food and drink the senses of taste and smell are also involved. The cosy feeling associated with a glass of wine is quite unrelated to the observer's blood alcohol level. A glass of wine can have the desired effect only if it one of the individual's learned symbolic of cosiness. Alcohol shares this role with expensive food, candlelight, flowers, and so on. For the ritual purpose of producing a feeling of luxury, decorated bottles and ornate glasses are as important as the beverage itself. Wine in a plastic cup would not have the same effect. Alcohol is often considered to signify adulthood. The use of intoxicants may also symbolize broad-mindedness and a kind of rebellion against prejudice. This symbolic value is especially strong in respect of illegal drugs. These being commonly considered a major threat to society, their use represents the total rejection of the values of the establishment and the assertion of a nonconformist subculture. It is virtually compulsory to use drugs in certain circles, especially criminal groups in inner cities. Drug addicts who undergo treatment seem often to be less dependent on drugs than on their peer groups. The use of extremely harmful drugs may provide the excitement of risk-taking, perhaps comparable with mountaineering and hang-gliding in this regard. Furthermore, addicts engaged in an active, purposeful life, a albeit a deviant one, with intense involvement in obtaining drugs and money. In general the intoxicant chosen signifies group with which the individual wishes to identify. In many countries there is an obvious wine snobbery, while among certain groups there is an analogous cocaine snobbery. Intoxicants have numerous symbolic meanings related their presence and use rather than to their pharmacological properties. Nevertheless, it is important to consider the psychological characteristics of intoxication. Back to Contents >>> Intoxication an alibi for defective performance and unacceptable behavior Attribution theory holds that individual's reputation and self-image are protected when bad performance and behavior can be attributed to fatigue, illness, faulty sporting equipment or lack of effort. The opportunity to explain and justify behavior can be used as an alibi for bad performance, avoidance of responsibilities, and transgression of norms. In self-handicapping, people arrange circumstances in order to keep intact their self-image of competence and intelligence (2). Objects of attribution may be used for this purpose, notably drugs and alcohol. Facing the threat of failure, people tend to choose a drug that may subsequently be It is not easy to find satisfactory method for determining the pharmacological effects of substances on mood and behavior.
Conclusions drawn from animal studies have limited value. Animals generally avoid alcohol and most illicit drugs when given a choice.If the alleged psychological and behavioral consequences are; pharmacological effects, it should be possible to observe them in all groups of users, regardless of their previous learning. Otherwise, social learning is presumably involved, with pure placebo effects or learnt interpretation of internal cues.Feelings are accompanied by bodily reaction experienced as internal cues vital for the individual's interpretation of feelings.
An internal reaction has to be interpreted to be meaningful and is labeled according to the cognition available to the individual (4).Marijuana smokers evidently label the effects of the drugs as pleasant only if instructed to do so (5).Such subjective effects may be called learnt interpretations. Back to Contents >>> Do illegal drugs have pleasant effects ? Experimental studies with marijuana have indicated that while experienced users consider the effects pleasant, novice do not. Experienced marijuana smokers do not, however have the same response when given marijuana extract or pure tetrahydro-cannabinol (THC) orally. Most inexperienced users of amphetamine say that it gives a feeling of energy and strength, but a minority experience anxiety and restlessness. Experienced cocaine users have great difficulty in discriminating between amphetamine and cocaine if both substance are given intravenously. Most people judged the effects of morphine and heroin to be more unpleasant than those of placebo. When opiates are given to medical patients, or when craftsmen accidentally inhale solvents, most of the affected people regard the psychological effects as unpleasant. The interpretation of the effects as highly pleasant seems to be a learnt response linked to an intention identify with user groups. Psychological effects of alcohol Blind test have unfortunately only been performed with experienced alcohol users. To avoid conscious identification of the cited as explaining failure. Several experiments have confirmed this motive for intoxication. In one, 64 male students participated in a “taste test” involving the use of alcohol beverages (3). Half the participants, when told that afterwards their attractiveness would be judged by young women, consumed nearly twice as much alcohol as the others. People often feel insecure at social gatherings, where alcohol and other intoxicants are commonly perceived as offering means of dealing with this predicament. Research having largely undermined the notion that alcohol is a pharmacological tranquillizer, studies on self-handicapping fill a gap in our understanding of why people often feel more relaxed after taking an intoxicant. In addition to probable expectancy effects, the risk of being considered a fool by oneself and others is greatly reduced: people may laugh at what intoxicants make others do rather than at personal characteristics. People are often judged more by their intentions rather than by the consequences of their action. The conventional view regarding intoxicated persons is that they are unaware of what they are doing. Instead of being considered as nasty persons, they are merely urged to drink less alcohol or stop using drugs. The redefinition of behavior problems as being the result of intoxicant use may seem beneficial on all sides. The offender is spared feeling of guilt and shame. If the victims is the offender's wife, she may comfort herself with the thought that she does not really have a vicious husband. When a teenager performs antisocial action while on drugs, it is reassuring for the parents to blame the drugs rather than their child. The basic feeling during intoxication, i.e., that there is an increased freedom as to what to say and do, is well founded. Society's view of the responsibility of intoxicated people for their actions makes it less risky to show unacceptable behavior when intoxicated than when sober. Such behavior does not have the ordinary when manifested in a state of intoxication. The idea that intoxicated people act unintentionally makes intoxication an attractive state. The lowered threshold for impulsive actions causes behavior that otherwise would not occur. Some impulses are pleasant or humorous, others are ruthless or cruel. Proponents of the use of an intoxicant people friendly, and blame destructive behavior on the faulty use of the intoxicant. The term “drinking too much” is mainly used to describe the combination of drinking and unacceptable behavior. If the drinker remains pleasant, the consumption of large amounts of alcohol may be substantially tolerated. Correspondingly, reaction against alcohol is powerful in countries where drinking frequently leads to intoxication. Temperance movements, restrictions on the use and sale of alcohol, the treatment of alcoholism, and research on alcohol are more prominent in these countries than in the Mediterranean wine-producing countries where alcohol-related morbidity and mortality are highest. Alcohol, moderate doses of alcohol have been used. In both sexes, alcohol has been shown to reduce sexual arousal. However, reduced inhibition can occur when people believe they have taken alcohol but have not in fact done so. Some studies indicate that alcohol has no effect on anxiety, others that it increases anxiety, and an equal number that it decreases anxiety. Placebo studies have confirmed the adverse effects of alcohol on skill and performance. Anthropological studies indicate that in most cultures the use of alcohol was not accompanied by uninhibited behavior or aggression. Several societies later copied the uninhibited drunken behavior of colonist. In certain cultures a loss of inhibition took place only on certain occasions, and when it did happen, the apparent uncontrolled be was held strictly within that society's norms for such behavior. * * * Back to Contents >>> The leading survey of anthropological research concludes: “over the course of socialization, people learn about drunkenness, what their society ‘knows' about drunkenness, and …..become the living confirmation of their society's teachings”(6). Intoxicants have numerous effects on the human body, including those on the brain. However, the pharmacological effects on mood and behavior are non-specific and, for the most part, emotionally neutral or unpleasant. The following factors seems to contribute to the subjective experiences that are often reported. • Alcohol and other drugs are used for ritual purposes and are given strong symbolic meanings. • Pure expectancy or placebo effects are significant, especially when moderate amounts of substance are consumed. • People learn to interpret chemical effects as specific feelings. • Internal cues may, through learning, be labeled as reflecting a “high” (or state of euphoria). • When a state is labeled as “high” or intoxicated, association with related experiences and behaviour takes place. • When internal cues indicate chemical influence the individual uses them as a measure of the degree to which he or she is “high”. This message is, however, not easy to convey. The conventional wisdom about the effects of drugs and alcohol on behavior has the quality of a self-fulfilling prophecy, the prevailing ideas apparently being confirmed in any society. The research finding are not popular on either side. Supporters of the use of an intoxicant argue that the substance stimulates a centre of joy in the brain and removes anxiety. Opponents insist that the intoxicant paralyses a moral centre and turns the decent citizen into a scoundrel. Intoxicants are given symbolic meanings, employed in rituals, and credited with supernatural properties, yet in themselves they are neither magical nor mystical. ******************* Back to Contents >>> • Wilmot. R. Euphoria. Journal of drug issue.
15: 155-191(1985)
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