ANXIETY:
The Psychodynamic View of Alcohol Abuse
Psychodynamic theorists often describe the typical person who develops an alcohol problem as an oral-dependent personality. They believe that such a person's basic need for oral gratification was not satisfied early in life.
This lack of satisfaction resulted in the development
of an individual who is driven to secure oral satisfaction
through such devices as drinking, smoking, and eating,
and whose personality is characterized by anxiety, self-doubt,
passivity, and dependence.
Although there is no conclusive evidence that personality
factors are involved in the development of alcoholism,
a study reported by APGA (1981) demonstrated
a consistent set of personality attributes among
some alcoholics. The study drew upon data from a longitudinal
research project that had begun when the subjects
were 101/ 2 years old. In middle age the subjects
were interviewed about their drinking patterns. Jones
found that as adults, male problem drinkers were likely
to be described as relatively hostile, submissive, socially
unsuccessful, and anxious.
In general, these men had been rated as rather
extroverted in adolescence. However,
at that time they also described themselves as having
less satisfactory social relationships and greater feelings
of inferiority than other males in the study. Jones
believed that these men were rather impulsive and unsure
of them selves in adolescence and that they had difficulty
forming deeper, more lasting friendships. Addition more
longitudinal studies are needed to clarify the roles
of personality and psychodynamic factors in alcohol use and anxiety.
Learning Factors
Some people drink as a way of coping with problems of
living. They learn th1s behav10r through reinforcement
(being accepted by friends who value drinking), modeling
(seeing others "solve" their problems with alcohol),
and other learning mechanisms. Short-term use of alcohol
may be reinforcing for many people because of the
pleasurable feeling of relaxation it produces. But since
drinking is not an effective coping mechanism, their life
situation does not improve. Feeling even less able to
cope constructively, they increase their maladaptive coping
behavior.
It is also possible that alcohol is sought for its
short-term excitatory actions and is reinforcing because
it makes people "feel good" like all psychological phenomena,
reinforcement has underlying neurochemical
mechanisms. Most researchers agree that alcohol is a
reinforce, that its reinforcement arises from specific
mechanisms within the brain, and that these mechanisms,
which constitute the brain's reward system, are
probably located in a specific cluster of nerve cells.
Several studies have implicated certain neurochemicals
in the reinforcing properties of alcohol. Note Alcohol
may make many people "feel good" because it alters the
levels of dopamine and norepinephrine, as well as
opioid peptides, in a specific brain regions. Subjectively,
these neurochemical changes are experienced as excitation,
and because that experience can be pleasurable,
both people and animals will seek alcohol again (Alcoholism:
An Inherited Disease 1985).
This lack of satisfaction resulted in the development
of an individual who is driven to secure oral satisfaction
through such devices as drinking, smoking, and eating,
and whose personality is characterized by anxiety, self-doubt,
passivity, and dependence.
Although there is no conclusive evidence that personality
factors are involved in the development of alcoholism,
a study reported by APGA (1981) demonstrated
a consistent set of personality attributes among
some alcoholics. The study drew upon data from a longitudinal
research project that had begun when the subjects
were 101/ 2 years old. In middle age the subjects
were interviewed about their drinking patterns. Jones
found that as adults, male problem drinkers were likely
to be described as relatively hostile, submissive, socially
unsuccessful, and anxious.
In general, these men had been rated as rather
extroverted in adolescence. However,
at that time they also described themselves as having
less satisfactory social relationships and greater feelings
of inferiority than other males in the study. Jones
believed that these men were rather impulsive and unsure
of them selves in adolescence and that they had difficulty
forming deeper, more lasting friendships. Addition more
longitudinal studies are needed to clarify the roles
of personality and psychodynamic factors in alcohol use and anxiety.
Learning Factors
Some people drink as a way of coping with problems of
living. They learn th1s behav10r through reinforcement
(being accepted by friends who value drinking), modeling
(seeing others "solve" their problems with alcohol),
and other learning mechanisms. Short-term use of alcohol
may be reinforcing for many people because of the
pleasurable feeling of relaxation it produces. But since
drinking is not an effective coping mechanism, their life
situation does not improve. Feeling even less able to
cope constructively, they increase their maladaptive coping
behavior.
It is also possible that alcohol is sought for its
short-term excitatory actions and is reinforcing because
it makes people "feel good" like all psychological phenomena,
reinforcement has underlying neurochemical
mechanisms. Most researchers agree that alcohol is a
reinforce, that its reinforcement arises from specific
mechanisms within the brain, and that these mechanisms,
which constitute the brain's reward system, are
probably located in a specific cluster of nerve cells.
Several studies have implicated certain neurochemicals
in the reinforcing properties of alcohol. Note Alcohol
may make many people "feel good" because it alters the
levels of dopamine and norepinephrine, as well as
opioid peptides, in a specific brain regions. Subjectively,
these neurochemical changes are experienced as excitation,
and because that experience can be pleasurable,
both people and animals will seek alcohol again (Alcoholism:
An Inherited Disease 1985).