Workaholics: Addiction and Scott Russell Sander

It doesn’t take much to become an alcoholic. One drink can easily develop into a terrible addiction, leading to a poor performance at work or not going in at all, eventually causing you to be out of a job and out on the streets.

In the article “Addicted to Distraction” by Tony Schwartz, he argues that the internet has a relentless pull on humans. He goes into detail on how the internet interrupts all daily activity. Schwartz also explains how he is also a victim to the internet and how he is overcoming the overuse of it. The internet does have a grasp on the attention of humans. People willingly give up their primary focus and activities just to check their devices. People are imprisoned to the internet and don’t even realize that it is leading to a deterioration of their learning ability.

The difference between recreational use and addiction occurs when people need alcohol/drugs in order to socialize (Henderson 24). The addict may associate the substance with positive social experiences, “I finally felt like I could fit in and socialize.” (24)

There are many models and theories which attempt to explain the causes of substance misuse and dependence. They range from those which highlight the importance of genetic and biological factors to those which stress social and psychological factors and those which may consider the ‘blame’ to be that of the dependent individual (Rassool 2009).

Scalise, E. (2009). The addictive cycle. Addiction and recovery. American Association of Christian Counselors. Retrieved from http://learn.liberty.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=/webapps/blackboard/execute/courseMain?course_id=_98206_1

He assumes that drug addiction originated by younger years adversity in major cases; like many women who are addicted are victims of sexual assault in childhood years. Similar, he tells that males suffered “series of abandonment or severe physical and psychological abuse” (Maté 274) in childhood memory would easily be involved in addiction. According to Mate, drug addicts are usually in a state of unawareness; they can self-harm without feeling pain (274). Maté’s patient, Carl, thirty-six year-old native, angrily hurt himself with a knife as punishment for using cocaine (274). However, people misunderstand that addiction will not happen in families that raise children with a “secure nurturing home” (Maté 275). He argues that it still exists in those secure homes, even though they do not recognize it. In brief, Maté describes the mental factors such as stress, anxiety, and depression which are saddled “from family problem, or from outside circumstance” (274); this pressures can emotionally affect to the process of “endorphin-liberating interaction with their children” (Maté 275). He thinks children would rely on opiates to comfort their deepest emotions; it would be a best solution to escape their lonely world. For that reason, Maté confirms addicts usually blame themselves for “stupid decision” (Maté 275) after being suffered of drug starvation. In the last paragraph, Maté concludes his essay by stating “that is the great wound of all” (275),

Throughout the decades, alcoholism has become a common issue that has become the cause of the deterioration of many relationships. In Scott Russell Sanders essay, “Under the Influence”, it is demonstrated how his relationship with his father continuously weakens due to the effects of alcohol. In order to create a deeper understanding of the impacts that alcohol consumption has on families, Sanders uses information from sources such as medical journals with actual statistics that increase the relevance of the story. In Sanders’ essay, “Under the Influence”, the author uses references such as dictionaries, medical journals, and the

According to the text addiction is the “physiological and psychological dependence on a behavior or substance. Behavioral addictions (sex, gambling, spending, obsessive Internet use) and consumptive addictions (alcohol, drugs, food) often have similar etiologies, prognoses, and treatment procedures” (Wormer & Davis, 2018 p. 9). Nick Hasley in the movie was an alcoholic that displayed issues in the workplace and personal life. Nick lost his job due to working while intoxicated, damaging company property, and failing to meet mandated treatment. Nick provided 16 years of service to the company and was terminated due to his alcoholism.

Why is it that some people become addict to alcohol or other drugs, while another person does not? According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), “addiction is defined as a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences. It is considered a brain disease because drugs change the brain-they change its structure and how it works. These brain changes can be long lasting and can lead to the harmful behaviors seen in people who abuse drugs” (Drug Abuse). Keep this in mind when you are a health care professional dealing with patients that have an addiction. They may have initially chosen to take that first drink, but alcohol changes their brain. Also, you may find more patients in your office that are addicted to prescription drugs. They may have been injured in a car crash or broke their leg then were prescribed prescription pain killers such as Vicodin by the doctor that you work for. This patient has a different brain make-up and is now feeling that dependent on that drug.

In “Under the Influence” by Scott Russell Sanders, an American novelist, the author explains the struggles he had to go through while dealing with his alcoholic father. Alcoholism has slowly transformed his father into a completely different person, and even a different creature at times. Every time his father would get drunk, Sanders and his family felt as if he was losing a piece of his dad. The family felt ashamed of the disease that had consumed their father and this developed where telling other people was impossible, making their father’s alcoholism a secret that the family kept hidden and closed away from the rest of the world. They felt the need to try and help their troubled family member. Sanders even states how he thinks that

Sanders had become a workaholic who avoided parties and struggled with shifting the blame off himself when he was not worthy of it. All of these qualities he had stemmed from the trauma induced by his father, and never left his life because he was too afraid of becoming his father. He faced the sad reality of being similar to his father in the way that he appeared to his son, something that would seemingly be avoided if alcohol was not in the picture, but it was not avoided. Out of all the fear and the shame held within, he could avoid the addiction. What he couldn’t avoid was the ugly truth about the demons he possesses inside him, coming to haunt him from the past, and coming to curse him with the fate he was so resistant against, becoming the father that he once had. This story is not an uncommon one. Even though there are variations in the parent’s behavior and the intensity of the effects on the child, the problem still exists. Over half of all people in America have had kids. How many of those children were lucky enough to have a parent from the 30% of alcoholics America

Prominent essayist and novelist, Scott Russell Sanders, in his essay, “Under the Influence” (1989), describes how having an alcoholic parent shapes a person. Sanders’s purpose is to reflect on his bleak youth and its lasting effects on his adulthood. He adopts a resentful tone in order to convey to readers who have no experience of growing up with an alcoholic that alcohol abuse is destructive.

What qualifies the continued engagement in an activity or use of a substance as an addiction as opposed to an interest or hobby? In describing her own relationship with her lover, which had been downtrodden at the hands of her partner’s daily ritual with alcohol, Donna Steiner, in her essay Sleeping With Alcohol, reveals the negative effects that alcoholism, or addiction in any form, can have on the life, well-being, and relationships for the agent of the addiction, in this case her partner, as well as those people with whom she is close. While many characteristics are shared between sufferers of various types of addiction, there exist three essential components to all addictions: the detriment that the activity has, the compulsiveness of engaging in the activity, and the futility of the subject’s attempts to stop partaking, all of which can be observed of Steiner’s partner in Sleeping With Alcohol.

Substance abuse disorders is easily defined when an “individual continues to use the substance despite experiencing negative consequences from their use. These negative consequences can include health problems; difficulties in their family, work, and social life; and financial and legal problems. They are said to be dependent on the substance when,” in addition to theses negative consequences, they build tolerance and experience withdrawal if they stop using the drug” (Martin, 2007, p. 265). Substance abuse dates back to the early Americans colonies with beer that was brought over by the pilgrims and more popularly the ratification of the Constitution to prohibit the use of alcohol

Why did I choose to write about workaholics? The main reason is that the general picture about these people is bad, but there are a lot of them around us and very often we admire them. They are doing exactly what they love – work – and they can never have enough of it. Although they spend most of their time working, surprisingly they are happy. They show so good results in what they do. But the consequences are great. Family life is disrupted, intellectual horizons narrow and the consequences to the workaholic's health are severe: fat, lack of exercise and stress. Why do people become workaholics? When a person becomes workaholic is there a way back? How should people around him act in order to keep both him and themselves