assign.one Much of what we know about alcohol and its effects is through the glamour of advertisements, and media. The movie Leaving Las Vegas, however, shines a light on the dark side of alcoholism and depicts the lonely, and tragic realities of addiction. The life of a writer, turned alcoholic can be better understood using the Bio-Psycho-Social Plus model to explain the complexities of Ben's addiction. Ben's alcoholism cannot be attributed to one event alone, as it becomes evident that there are many factors to attribute to his illness, as is true for all addictions. Partially based on the true story of author and writer John O'Brien, Ben Sanderson (played by Nicolas Cage) moves to Las Vegas to “drink himself to death” following …show more content…
the divorce of his wife, and the loss of his job. While in Las Vegas Ben finds himself in a relationship with a woman named Sera, who as a prostitute is constantly suffering physical and emotional abuse. Ben and Sera find solace in each other in Las Vegas, as they enable each other to continue living a harmful life, free of restraint. Ben is seeking a relationship with someone who will never ask him to quit drinking, and Sera is desperately seeking an end to her loneliness. They find exactly what they are looking for in each other, and become inseparable. Sera and Ben's life together in the city of sin quickly take a turn for the worst.
Ben continues to drink himself to death, and his symptoms get increasingly worse. Although Sera occasionally asks Ben why he doesn't seek help, she remains compliant in supporting his need to drink. Even as Sera suffers her own tragedies such as rape and violence, she continues to be a bystander in Ben's life right up until his last breath. Although Sera and Ben's relationship is a focal point of Leaving Las Vegas, it gives a true look into the workings of an addict. Ben's story shows us the side of alcohol abuse that is not in the advertisements and is largely dealt with in silence. It is the complicated, tragic, and true story of the many layers and characteristics of an …show more content…
addict. Alcoholism tends to be misunderstood when it comes to drug addiction. The fact that alcohol is cheap, legal, and easily accessible leads people to underestimate the severe consequences of alcohol abuse. The easy access to alcohol is suggested in the opening shot of the movie when Ben is having a free for all in the liquor store, happily grabbing every other bottle off the shelve. David Nutt in Drugs – without the hot air: Minimizing the harms of legal and illegal drugs expresses his concern regarding the current policies and legislation in place which do nothing but make it easier for people to fall into alcoholism. Nutt states “Like the tobacco lobby before it, the industry has taken proactive steps to protect the public image of its product even as the evidence of the harm done by alcohol has become incontrovertible”. Nutt then continues to list the various ways in which the alcohol industry attempts to normalize and diminish the consequences of alcohol use. Fewer people would be inclined to end up self-medicating with alcohol if it wasn't so easily attainable, and socially acceptable. Although the policies in place prove to be a large problem, alcoholism can stem from many other factors as can be seen through Ben's story. Wayne Skinner and Marilyn Herie in Bio-Psycho-Social Plus Approach to Addiction and Recovery offer a multi-dimensional framework of addiction, and recovery that rejects generalized, and simplistic theories concerning the topic. Rather than attributing Ben's alcoholism to one event, or characteristic, the BPS+ model allows us to understand the biological, social, psychological, spiritual, and cultural implications of addiction. Ben's addiction to alcohol shows an intersection of all the perspectives discussed by Skinner and Herie, offering greater insight and understanding about the reasons why one continues to harm themselves regardless of the risk. One of the initial ways in which the severity of Ben's disease present's itself is through the tremors he experiences when his blood alcohol levels drop. Several times in the movie Ben is shown before and after consuming alcohol and the difference is immense. The biological implications of Ben's illness are evident through the physical disabilities he experiences when his body is suffering from withdrawal. Skinner and Herie state “the biological dimension needs to be understood as extending to the body and the person’s full biological functioning, including sleep, nutrition, recreation, and level of fitness.”. The biological dimension of Ben's addiction is exhibited through his inability to physically function without dosing himself with alcohol. Examining Ben's motivation to continue to drink even when he knows it will kill him, refers to the Psychological Dimension of illness and recovery. The Psychological Dimension of addiction can be summed up by “urges and drives that incline or disincline a person to certain behaviors, as well as the ways motivation and cognitive factors, along with external rewards and punishments, shape behaviors is important for an effective understanding of addiction.” When Sera ask's Ben why he drinks to kill himself, he says he rather “kills himself to drink”, when Ben says this I see it as meaning that having another drink is his first priority before any other motive, his motive is not to necessarily kill himself, it is to drink, and if dying is the consequence then so be it. Gabor Mate in In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts discusses the stories of his patients who are not necessarily suicidal but remain motivated to continue using drugs even if death is a consequence. Mate sits down with many addicts who share the same motivations to use drugs as Ben does. Aside from physical symptoms, Ben cannot bear the reality of his life and his choices. Whenever he thinks about his past life which is symbolized by him looking at a picture of his ex-wife and son, he proceeds to burn the picture and take a drink. Mate conveys the psychological state of his patients, and addicts alike when he states, “People jeopardize their lives for the sake of making the moment livable. Nothing sways them from the habit—not illness, not the sacrifice of love and relationship, not the loss of all earthly goods, not the crushing of their dignity, not the fear of dying. The drive is that relentless.” The Social Dimension of Ben's addiction present's itself not only through his toxic relationship with Sera but the social climate of Las Vegas as well. The prevalence of substance abuse in Las Vegas allows for Ben to easily drink himself to death, with no intervention. Ben does not stand out particularly different, or of concern to his peers in Las Vegas. The life of excess in Vegas refers to what Skinner and Herie call the “social-structural perspective on addictive behaviors”, implying that “they point to the way larger societal policies and practices shape and normalize behaviors that carry addictive potentials, such as gambling and substance use”. The social climate of Vegas managed to normalize Ben's behavior, which was previously frowned upon in Los Angles. This encouraged Ben to increasingly fall deeper into his alcohol abuse. One's environment and social context are incredibly important when contemplating the reasons why someone becomes addicted to a substance. When he is sober he can do as much as sign a cheque, after many drinks, he feels on top of the world. He leaves for Las Vegas, a place where he feels as though he can live the life he desires free of judgment. The need to reside in environments with like-minded individuals is a concept that Mate discusses in his book In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts. In the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, Mate notes that addicts live their life, and die on Skid Row. They feel as though outside of this environment, they no longer blend in, and their struggle with addiction makes them feel isolated. One of Mates patients struggling drug abuse refers to the feeling of isolation. She states, “You know what that feels like? Like I’m an alien. I don’t feel right till I’m back here; no wonder nobody ever leaves.” The need to feel a sense of belongingness keeps many addicts in environments which allow their addiction to thrive without judgment, although a more inclusive environment for the addict, these environments are effective in allowing addiction to prosper. The cultural and spiritual dimension's which Skinner and Heri add to the traditional BPS model is effective in the recovery of an addict is something that is incredibly absent in the remainder of Ben's life.
The cultural dimension Skinner and Heri discuss involves the extent to which a person feels connected to the culture that surrounds them.The quality of this relationship can be telling as to the likelihood that someone turns to drugs, as well as their chance at recovery. Skinner and Heri suggest that an addicts chances at recovery are greater if they are surrounded by peers who share similar interests to them, and who also encourage healthy alternatives to drug use and overall emotional and social support. Ben's chances at recovery seem bleak from the moment he moves to Los Vegas due to the clear lack of community, culture, and support that he would desperately need if he had any hope of
recovering. Spirituality also offers a unique, and effective addition to the BPS model. The role spirituality plays an important role in the recovery of an addict. Skinner and Heri mention the 12 step program as bonding spiritualism and recovery together and proving effective in not only healing but providing long-term recovery. In the book Addicted, Notes from the Belly of the Beast, the chapter “Junkie Grows Up” is written by a woman named Molly Jong-Fast was addicted to cocaine, alcohol, and Klonopin to name a few. She attributes the 12 step program predominately to her recovery, and ability to sustain a sober life to this day. Molly pays homage to the power of support and spirituality when she says “ I am the kind of person who relapses, and that why I must attend a twelve-step meeting every day, no matter how many clean years I can claim, and why I remind myself frequently that I am sober only by the grace of God.” In Leaving Los Vegas there is a void of spirituality, and therefore little to no chance of Ben seeking out a twelve-step program. As Molly mentions in her story, she doubts that she ever would have stayed sober without surrounding herself with the spirituality necessary to tackle drug addiction effectively. Overall, Ben being an alcoholic realized himself he was bound to live his last days and inevitably die in Las Vegas, a place where recovery for any addict is unlikely. Overall, Skinner and Heri's BPS+ model can be applied to all forms of addiction, and can definitely be seen in the unfortunate story of Ben Sanderson. I peak into the life of an addict such as Ben is disheartening, disturbing, and will leave viewers feeling uneasy afterward. As difficult as it is to watch someone inch closer and closer towards death with every sip, it is necessary to take away a deep understanding of addiction. The takeaway is the understanding that illness and recovery are complex, misunderstood, and powerful, and cannot be simplified in the slightest. Leaving Las Vegas successfully showcases the intricacies mentioned in Skinner and Herie's BPS+ model, and does justice to the dark corners of addiction that go unseen.
Donna has quit working as a prostitute and is currently on the road to recovery from years of addiction and abuse. As a child she suffered from years of neglect and sexual abuse from her immediate family members. Donna admits to using drugs when pregnant with her youngest child and suspects that he may have fetal alcohol syndrome as he is unable to control his emotions and has a difficult time in forming social bonds.
Alcoholism is a severe disease that has the potential to negatively impact not only the individual combating addiction, but also the family members involved with the addict (Park & Schepp, 2014). The documentary series A&E Intervention follows the daily lives of individuals combating addictions such as alcoholism and substance abuse. Throughout Gloria’s A&E episode, before her intervention there was rarely a moment that did not consist of her having an alcoholic beverage within arm’s reach. Gloria was in denial about her alcohol abuse, and seemed to be unattached to traumatic events that occurred in her life, including the death of her father, her stillborn childbirth, and both of her daughter’s complex relationships with her. This paper seeks
One in every twelve adults suffer from alcoholism in the United States, and it is the most commonly used addictive substance in the world. The World Health Organization has defined alcoholism as “an addiction to the consumption of alcoholic liquor or the mental illness and compulsive behavior resulting from alcohol dependency.” Reiterated themes encompassing Jeannette Walls’ father’s addiction to alcohol are found in her novel, The Glass Castle: a memoir, which displays instances of financial instability and abuse that hurt the Walls children for the rest of their lives. The Walls’, altogether, are emotionally, physically, and mentally affected by Rex’s alcoholism, which leads to consequences on the Walls children.
It is a fact of life that Alcoholism will distort the victim’s view of reality. With authors, they put parts of their personality and symptoms of their condition into their characters sometimes, flawed distortions included, with varying degrees
Dr. Carl Hart had a very rocky childhood and through his own determination to not repeat the past has gotten to where he is now in life. He comes from a broken family plagued by domestic violence, divorce, and a lack of support while he was growing up. Dr. Hart’s views on; social support, addiction and the physiological effects on the brain, factors to take into account when assessing drug abusers, drug policies influencing discrimination, and decriminalizing drug use are well articulated through his book High Life; in which enabled the audience to have raw reactions to his personal views.
He argues that addiction is a behavioral disorder caused by the person’s social environment and the lack of resources. Levy believes that, most of the time, an addict does not have services or resources available in order to remove herself from “the environment” where drugs are found constantly. He also stated that most of these addicts are physically unfit since they are poorly nourished, and they are struggling with their own personal stress. Levy, in his article, highlighted that a person’s environment, his health, and the resources he has, play a crucial role in determining whether or not the person will abuse drugs. Levy’s arguments seem to hold a strong position concerning addiction and its causes. However, his arguments seem to contain ambiguous words which can leave readers wandering about the actual definition of the word, and also interrupt their reading. For instance, Levy argues that addiction can be defined as a disease only if it includes pathological deviations from “norms of brain function” (Levy, 2013). He also mentions claims like addiction can lead to some deficits that are “relatively minor”, and addiction can cause impairment only in “certain” social environments (Levy, 2013). These words, norms, minor, certain, can be viewed as ambiguous words since it can have more than one meaning. In addition, Levy, in his article, seems to contradict some of his
Robinson, David. From Drinking to Alcoholism: A Social Commentary. London: John Wiley and Sons, 1976.
Drugs is one of the themes in this story that shows the impact of both the user and their loved ones. There is no doubt that heroin destroys lives and families, but it offers a momentary escape from the characters ' oppressive environment and serves as a coping mechanism to help deal with the human suffering that is all around him. Suffering is seen as a contributing factor of his drug addiction and the suffering is linked to the narrator’s daughter loss of Grace. The story opens with the narrator feeling ice in his veins when he read about Sonny’s arrest for possession of heroin. The two brothers are able to patch things up and knowing that his younger brother has an addiction. He still buys him an alcoholic drink at the end of the story because, he has accepted his brother for who he really is.
Bill emphasized that alcoholism was a malady of mind, emotions and body. Though a physician, Dr. Bob had not known alcoholism to be a disease. Due to Bill’s convincing ideas, he soon got sober, never to drink again. The founding spark of A.A. had been struck (Wekesser 26). Both men immediately set to work with alcoholics at Akron’s City Hospital, where one patient quickly achieved complete sobriety (Pitman 69).
...-American descents are approached with problematic instances that brings them to substance usage will provide enough evidence to display the critical situation of substance abuse, let alone coping mechanisms. With treatment tools, support, and trust, these individuals can find assistance in this problematic field.
The biopsychosocial model proposes, and the scientific evidence has tended to confirm, that the interdependent factors ;biological, psychological and social all end up influencing each other and feeding into each other in an interdependent way and for these reasons, the biopsychosocial model has much to offer professionals working in treatment, prevention, and research in the addictions
From the individual perspective, the client was a victim of child abuse, which led to feelings of fear and sadness and a desire to avoid these emotions. Socially, she came from a family of alcoholics giving her easy availability. There was also the pressure of keeping up appearances due to her mother’s status in society. The initial individual consequences of the client’s alcohol use were reinforcing. She felt invincible, warm, and it helped her avoid the thoughts in her head. Everything was right with the world as long as she was intoxicated.
This research paper will help enable sociologists to determine what the ongoing effects have on an alcoholic and further provides information on the long-term effects that society has to deal with. The significance of alcoholism and sociology is the ability of sociologists to research and discover how human behaviour is affected on many aspects of its effects on a person. An alcoholic can be described as someone who is addicted to drinking alcoholic beverages in excess. What starts out as social drinking can lead to excessive drinking and the many problems associated with alcohol abuse and i...
The problem of alcohol abuse has been recognized for thousands of years, but only more recently have we begun to see alcohol addiction as a treatable disorder. According to the Classical Disease Model of `Alcoholism,' habitual use of alcohol can be identified as a disease. Webster's Dictionary defines the concept of `disease' as follows: "Any departure from health presenting marked symptoms; malady; illness; disorder." Therefore, as many occurrences of alcohol excess provoke such symptoms, it is somewhat understandable that `alcoholism' is classified as a disease. The Classical Disease Model appears to offer a hopeful option. Treatment and sobriety can allow people to lead fulfilling lives. Adjacent to the notion of alcoholism as personal failure or moral deterioration, the Classical Disease Model appears to be a more desirable concept as it provides a motive for the alcoholic to seek treatment and gain sympathy, minimizing personal guilt. As alcoholism is seen as a progressive and, to an extent, hereditary illness for which those afflicted are not accountable, victims avoid being ostracized from society (Jellinek, 1960). Labeling the problem as a `disease' allows the medical profession to take responsibility for the treatment of alcoholism, which puts the problem in a more favourable light than if it were in the hands of psychologists or social workers, thus detaching the stigma connected with the problem while it is put on a par with other diseases such as diabetes or cancer. However, critics of the Classical Disease Model believe stigma helps reduce alcohol problems and aids the alcoholic. Any effort to reduce the stigma which is faced by the alcoholic will reduce pressures to moderate consumption and could have the additional ...
The rethinking of contemporary adulthood leading to social change among people who are influenced by their addictions would be a foundation for the framework of my research. Given this framework I will to gain strategies to assist me when making critical inquiries regarding an adult’s cultural experience as it relates to addiction. Essentially, people are a culmination of their cultural experiences in society. As a result they can be influenced both positively and negatively. By taking the approach that addiction can be caused by a cultural and environmental effect, it could be examined for the narrative self which was shaped by society (Van Wormer & Davis, 208). (do you mean 2008? Or pg