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Alcohol,
Tobacco, and Other Drugs
Those
who habitually use or abuse alcohol or other drugs may encounter both
psychological dependence and in some cases physiological compulsion. Even
though some stimulant drugs give an initial hit of energy, all have the
same eventual effect of releasing energy (for example, someone feels
jittery or nervous and smokes a cigarette to settle down).
True
freedom from addiction requires a new approach to living, in combination
with insight and profound psychological transformation and for many, a
path to spiritual growth.
Stress-Produced
Illness or Injuries
Bacteria,
viruses, and even cancer cells are always present in our body. But our
immune system has the natural capacity to control “unfriendly” organisms.
However, various stressors may lower our shields, suppressing our natural
immune response.
Just
as alcohol and other drugs can temporarily relieve pain, illness often
brings a weakness that at least approximates relaxation. Despite the
unpleasant symptoms (relieved somewhat with medications), illness relaxes
the body by draining off pent-up energy. Injuries also tend to reduce the
level of tension as the body uses the energy to heal itself.
Some
people use this gateway in more extreme forms by deliberately injuring
themselves or engaging in self-mutilation (related to childhood traumas
at home or at school). This behavior pattern can become addictive because
it entails the cycle of adrenaline buildup followed by energy release and
a sense of relief or release.
Illness
or injury tend to work only by default, when other means of release, such
as exercise, are rejected or not readily available.
Not
every illness or accident is a deliberate or even subconscious decision
to release energy. Sometimes we just get sick; sometimes we just have a
bad day. Random incidents of illness or injury don’t necessarily point to
addictive behavior, but patterns of illness, injury, or
any of the other means of releasing energy, reveal the necessity of
taking a good look at our lives, and working to achieve new levels of
well-being.
Overexertion
Regular,
moderate exercise or sports training opens our body to more
vital energy while helping to 'ground' it in productive ways. Exercise
can serve as a healthful, conscious, enjoyable form of recreation, social
interaction, and personal development. Overexertion, on the other hand,
tends to be a stress-driven, compulsive, and joyless activity whose
absence deeply
troubles us; e.g. compulsive exercise or a 'workaholic's'
obsessive drive. With insight, attention, and effort, our patterns of overexertion
can change, over time, to relaxed, pleasurable exercise as we break free
of the compelling nature and driving force of addictive behavior.
Fear
and High-Risk Behaviors
Fear
produces a rush of adrenaline followed by lassitude that characterizes a
potentially addictive activity, like engaging in high-risk behavior. We
can deliberately use fear as a gateway of stress release — viewing horror
films, going skydiving, shoplifting, or engaging in other high-risk
behaviors. We may also experience fears in the form of nightmares, panic
attacks, or phobias.
When
other gateways aren’t as readily available — in childhood, for example —
we may experience phobias, nightmares, or panic attacks:
fear of the dark, fear of heights, fear of enclosed (or wide open)
spaces, and fear of snakes, rodents, or insects.
The fright-fest of horror films
leave the viewer with weak knees as they safely glimpse the shadow side
of the psyche. Effective comedies
have a similar effect, leaving viewers weak with laughter. In
fact, any film or book that evokes sorrow or anger can also generate
a similar effect of tension followed by release; thus the popularity of
tear-jerker movies and soap operas.
Amusement park rides
offer maximum fear with minimum risk—filling the need for stress release,
as any of us have enjoyed such rides can attest. We again need to note
that many racecar drivers or skydivers quite earnestly seek competitive
excellence and experience hyperfocus rather than fear.
For
many of us, gaming (gambling) is an occasional recreational activity. But
for compulsive gambling addicts, hoping for the big score, the tension
(and tension release) closely
resemble an amusement park ride or horror film. No matter how wealthy, a
compulsive gambler will raise the stakes to a point of high risk,
sacrificing security, family, home—anything—for the next rush.
Unfortunately,
shoplifting and other crimes may start small, but over time may escalate
to higher risk activities.
Other high-risk behaviors
include engaging in sex or nudity in a public place, walking on the edge
of promontories, or doing anything that produces a rush of adrenaline
from fear or excitement, for the release it provides. Clearly, high-risk behaviors
can result in injuries or even have fatal consequences. This approach to
tension-release, like those which follow differ in quality and
consequence. Awareness of these tendencies can help to moderate them —
all a part of our evolution as peaceful warriors in training.
Overeating
Overeating
serves as one of the most popular and universal gateways for releasing
energy. One way of lowering the body’s energy level through diet is by
eating sweets and refined carbohydrates — so-called comfort
food — which creates a steep rise of blood sugar followed by a
corresponding drop. Some of us put ourselves to sleep by overloading on
fast-metabolizing carbohydrates.
Some
people use this gateway through heavy protein consumption—primarily
red meat —which takes significant energy to digest, making the body feel
heavier, lethargic, or more relaxed—that grounded feeling after a big
protein meal.
Not
everyone who uses overeating as a means of dissipating energy becomes
obese. Some of us overeat and then overexert. And for those with eating
disorders, self-imposed starvation of anorexia leaves a feeling of
artificial “lightness” and lassitude—a form of tension relief that can
prove debilitating or fatal if not confronted.
Cruelty
Though
cruel behaviors may bring to mind the images of sadistic prison guards or
gestapo-type criminals, sociopaths, or sadists, such individuals
represent more extreme and rare examples of those who use cruelty as
tension release. More common examples in everyday life include hurtful
comments when we feel hurt or angry, or the tension-release cycles of
“lovers’ spats,” when couples end up in bed after passionate fights.
Other
common forms of cruelty include children teasing other children, or
adults belittling, or abusing children or adult victims. Some children
and even adults sadly find tension-relief by torturing insects or
animals.
Spouse
or partner abuse, battering, and child abuse serve as tragic examples of
addictions to cruelty. The perpetrator’s guilt and pain only serve to
create more internal tension that is ultimately released in a cycle of
compulsive repetition.
Orgasm
Orgasm
serves as a universal and benign method of tension release, through
masturbation or sex with a partner. As with other avenues of tension-release,
sexuality only becomes problematic when it becomes compulsive or
addictive—when we abuse it rather than use it.
Those
without a partner can use masturbation or self-pleasuring as a means of
managing our sexual-creative energies. A near universal practice,
masturbation provides an accessible means of tension release that seems
preferable to deceitful, loveless, and compulsive sexual encounters with
their complications and entanglements. Masturbation also helps resolve,
in a simple and harmless way, different levels of sexual desire in a
relationship; if our partner is not interested or available when we
desire orgasm, we can masturbate to relieve the sexual tension.
But
since masturbation involves no circuit of energy exchange, vulnerability,
or intimacy, those with an available partner may want to reexamine their
level of openness and communication and to explore deeper levels of
sexual intimacy.
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