the reason they made that poster is because of how prevalent alcoholism was during the USSR. Like I said vodka consumption is intertwined with Russian culture. There is a reason they have and have always had the the highest alcohol consumption per capita. The USSR tried to curb it but it's damn near impossible when it's that prevalent
Wild. I mean I'm a firm believer that there's a strong link between mental illness, alienation, and addiction. But it would seem that even under a successful socialist revolution it could still remain.
Often both are involved. There are genetic markers that will be found to cluster in families with addiction that have direct links. Having those genes isn't necessarily destiny, but the heritability and activation even in separated twin studies or adoptions underscores the biological component.
Conversely, adverse or traumatic life events, periodic toxic stress, severe interpersonal or behavioral issues can also lead to addiction in individuals lacking a genetic or familial component (all of these conditioned or 'nurtured' elements have a direct material trace on the brain, especially the developing brain).
If you have both elements coming at you, it's very very difficult to cope with or overcome substance abuse on your own.
I’m curious about it as well. I think people cope in different ways and some people are more prone to seek out something chemical that stimulates their dopamine/serotonin than others. I’m partial to just wallowing. I’ll lay down and watch YouTube videos for days (which I guess in a way is maybe my addiction tbh...) my partner has addiction problems she’s a recovered alcoholic and has abused medial drugs and now catches her self over shopping and stuff like that. She has to be really mindful of her behavior bc she has patterns of seeking solace in things like that.
Maybe I’m the same I just opt for lying in bed all day and don’t need to change it...?
I don't disagree with anything you've said here but would quibble as to why you've separated mental illness from alcoholism/addiction. Substance use disorder (including alcoholism) is a mental illness, many mental illnesses are diseases you're born with.
That's very fair, just my scattered reading dividing the categories when it shouldn't have been.
I included both in my response agreeing with this because I agree with the alienation part and I know I treated a lot of my trauma by self-medicating (which in turn really activated the addict in me so I think they are related).
Absolutely. Trauma causes severe disruption in the brain, one of which is the low levels of cortisol and high levels of catecholamines along with abnormal threat response. That stuff isn't occasional but structural, a continuous production of excess stress hormone and exhausting excitatory state. If alcohol or weed or opioids reduce that pain and bring stress down when nothing else seems to be able to, those are going to be used, and excessively. I've struggled with addiction and have a large extended family rife with it, it seems like the only option because so many personal, social, societal supports are missing and it sometimes is the only thing that'll lessen the noise and quiet the pain.
But for individual social supports there are comrades here around to talk and who've gone through maybe similar things, we're not alone.
In the late 80s the CPSU launched an anti-alcohol campaign to reduce the high rates of alcoholism, public drunkenness, and drunken workers. Stricter limits on the amount of alcohol you could buy and more penalties for drunken antisocial behavior. This actually severely cut into the USSR budget as sales of alcohol brought in billions yearly, but I think the campaign was showing promise before the USSR collapsed.
I would say Russian drinking culture is bad (i.e., binge drinking large amounts of hard liquor in one sitting is celebrated and considered manly), not that bad drinking is Russian culture. Russia also has a very high percentage of teetotalers (I've read numbers like ~1/3 of the population), as more sensible people react against over-drinking.
There are the effects of climate and genetics. Northern European countries all drink too much - long winter brings depression. The story goes that native Siberians (who have a notable contribution to the Russian gene pool) are more susceptible to alcoholism, just as Native Americans are - though I've also seen recent studies that challenge this idea.
The biggest effect is of course social/economic crisis. From all social order breaking down in the 90s, to Soviet stagnation, to the aftereffects of war/starvation during WWII. The loss of so many men to war led to fewer male role models for generations (and drinking is very much a traditionally male thing in Russia). Alcohol is cheap joy that people seek out in joyless situations.
Curious to know the rate of alcoholism under the USSR versus today under neoliberalism.
It massively increased in 90s together with deaths from alcohol poisoning.
I can't believe communism did this
Alcoholism is almost Russian culture, they’ve been going hard on vodka since the 1500s
I remember seeing a propaganda poster from the USSR saying no to alcohol. Was it celebrated as apart of the culture or shunned under the USSR?
the reason they made that poster is because of how prevalent alcoholism was during the USSR. Like I said vodka consumption is intertwined with Russian culture. There is a reason they have and have always had the the highest alcohol consumption per capita. The USSR tried to curb it but it's damn near impossible when it's that prevalent
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/09/how-alcohol-conquered-russia/279965/
Wild. I mean I'm a firm believer that there's a strong link between mental illness, alienation, and addiction. But it would seem that even under a successful socialist revolution it could still remain.
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Thing is I've never acted like an addict in my life, not until I started to get depressed and anxious, which opened the door to me self-medicating.
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No worries. I'm curious if there's a scientific link with an "addict gene" or something we inherit or if it's something we see normalized growing up.
Often both are involved. There are genetic markers that will be found to cluster in families with addiction that have direct links. Having those genes isn't necessarily destiny, but the heritability and activation even in separated twin studies or adoptions underscores the biological component.
Conversely, adverse or traumatic life events, periodic toxic stress, severe interpersonal or behavioral issues can also lead to addiction in individuals lacking a genetic or familial component (all of these conditioned or 'nurtured' elements have a direct material trace on the brain, especially the developing brain).
If you have both elements coming at you, it's very very difficult to cope with or overcome substance abuse on your own.
I’m curious about it as well. I think people cope in different ways and some people are more prone to seek out something chemical that stimulates their dopamine/serotonin than others. I’m partial to just wallowing. I’ll lay down and watch YouTube videos for days (which I guess in a way is maybe my addiction tbh...) my partner has addiction problems she’s a recovered alcoholic and has abused medial drugs and now catches her self over shopping and stuff like that. She has to be really mindful of her behavior bc she has patterns of seeking solace in things like that.
Maybe I’m the same I just opt for lying in bed all day and don’t need to change it...?
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I don't disagree with anything you've said here but would quibble as to why you've separated mental illness from alcoholism/addiction. Substance use disorder (including alcoholism) is a mental illness, many mental illnesses are diseases you're born with.
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That's very fair, just my scattered reading dividing the categories when it shouldn't have been.
Absolutely. Trauma causes severe disruption in the brain, one of which is the low levels of cortisol and high levels of catecholamines along with abnormal threat response. That stuff isn't occasional but structural, a continuous production of excess stress hormone and exhausting excitatory state. If alcohol or weed or opioids reduce that pain and bring stress down when nothing else seems to be able to, those are going to be used, and excessively. I've struggled with addiction and have a large extended family rife with it, it seems like the only option because so many personal, social, societal supports are missing and it sometimes is the only thing that'll lessen the noise and quiet the pain.
But for individual social supports there are comrades here around to talk and who've gone through maybe similar things, we're not alone.
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In the late 80s the CPSU launched an anti-alcohol campaign to reduce the high rates of alcoholism, public drunkenness, and drunken workers. Stricter limits on the amount of alcohol you could buy and more penalties for drunken antisocial behavior. This actually severely cut into the USSR budget as sales of alcohol brought in billions yearly, but I think the campaign was showing promise before the USSR collapsed.
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I would say Russian drinking culture is bad (i.e., binge drinking large amounts of hard liquor in one sitting is celebrated and considered manly), not that bad drinking is Russian culture. Russia also has a very high percentage of teetotalers (I've read numbers like ~1/3 of the population), as more sensible people react against over-drinking.
There are the effects of climate and genetics. Northern European countries all drink too much - long winter brings depression. The story goes that native Siberians (who have a notable contribution to the Russian gene pool) are more susceptible to alcoholism, just as Native Americans are - though I've also seen recent studies that challenge this idea.
The biggest effect is of course social/economic crisis. From all social order breaking down in the 90s, to Soviet stagnation, to the aftereffects of war/starvation during WWII. The loss of so many men to war led to fewer male role models for generations (and drinking is very much a traditionally male thing in Russia). Alcohol is cheap joy that people seek out in joyless situations.
That said, Russian alcohol consumption has been going down steadily since the 2000s, just like crime, thanks to greater social stability. Russian drinking is now about average for Europe.
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