Most of the time smokers and alcoholics have emotional problems and that leads them to do what they do. To them, this is a way of coping with their problems, and sadly that leads them to addiction. Not everyone is aware that such “little” problems, like people often say, can lead to big addictions. Some writers include this in their stories, plays, poems etc. An example of this would be the novel, “The catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger. This Novel is about a teenager named Holden Caulfield who is going through some rough obstacles. He has failed four schools, and in the current school he is failing three of four classes, so that school is kicking him out as well. When this happens he also goes through a heartbreaking with a girl he used to date, but now is dating someone else. Holden stays out in Manhattan for three days straight, roaming around doing stupid things. The worst things Holden had to go through that lead him to do all the things he did was the death of his brother Allie, and the suicide of a fellow classmate.
In the Novel it makes it clear that Holden is going through treatment at a mental hospital or sanatorium. This clearly shows us he had some issues, and that lead him to calling prostitutes, smoking and drinking. There were times where Holden was drunk making calls, and when he called a prostitute he didn’t want to pay nothing but just five dollars. So this lead to the prostitutes bringing a man to beat Holden up. Throughout the novel Holden experiences many feelings that is not even explained in the novel because no one knows what is really going on with him. Holden isolates himself, he does not like interacting with anyone. Holden’s emotions lead him to substance abuse, and it’s just not good that no one knows how little problems to huge problems, like Holden’s story, can lead to this. The questions is why can’t there be someone as social support for those who are struggling? Maybe if Holden had a good friend that was there and supported him he wouldn’t have to use the alcohol, prostitutes, and smoking as his “social support”.
Positive relations with the person who is not emotionally okay can be a huge difference in their results. “Social support provides major benefits to the individuals and has been defined as ‘the existence or availability of people on whom we can rely,people who let us know that they care about, value, and love us'”(Sarason, Levine, Bashman, & Sarason, 1983, p.127). In the research it explained so well what we need to do to avoid people getting to drink and do every other drug way to cope with their problems. The play Intersections, originated by Laguardia students, introduced us to two characters that drink and/or smoke. Alex is in college and he doesn’t enjoy what he is studying but he knows that’s what he has to do to provide for his family. He mentions in the play that he is stressed out, so he drinks every single day, not only on weekends. Mike is the other character, he argued with his girlfriend once and mentioned he’s unhappy. He said he feels like he doesn’t fit in and that smoking and getting high makes him feel better.
Both of these characters didn’t have any social support and ended up getting the support another way. Alex tried opening up to his sister explaining he wants to change his major, but she shuts him down saying he won’t win enough money as an artist. He clearly ended up feeling stressed and unhappy because he has to work hard for something he doesn’t even want! Louisa didn’t give him the emotional support he needed, and now he is drinking every single day. Mike had his girlfriend, but they argued a lot, so in the last argument Bethany left him. Mike was a writer, and he didn’t win much, but he took Bethany out and wanted to buy an apartment. Bethany was upset because he just kept complaining that he couldn’t afford it, so Mike was stressed, and unhappy. Mike decides to smoke and get high, and he mentions that everyone tells him to stop smoking too. This is interesting because he has friends and a girlfriend, but he still ended up having these emotions and smoking to get high.
This shows me that we can have people around us that we call friends and family, but that doesn’t mean they are our “social or emotional support”. We can feel stressed, and depressed but our friends don’t understand us so they ignore it, then that’s when we do drugs and/or drink.
I still need a third reference, have any ideas ?
My favorite part of your project so far is your overall explanation of how problems usually seen as little add up and how lack of support can affect someone.
I would love it if you expanded on these two specific ideas… “he has friends and a girlfriend, but he still ended up having these emotions and smoking to get high.” why is that? How about you analyze the girlfriends behaviors towards Mike that may have made him worse.
It seems like your target audience is everyone because you essay is well written and clear.
Karen,
I love the way you’re using both Intersections and The Catcher in the Rye here — so exciting! And, I agree with Nawal — your insights about social support and depression/substance abuse are soooo important, and you present this in a very compelling way.
As you keep drafting, I would give a lot of thought to the structure of your paper. Given that you start with Holden, move to an academic article about social support, and then (in the same paragraph) transition to your analysis of Intersections, I feel like it’s easy for your reader to feel a little jostled around. Think as you’re drafting: what is your priority with this essay? What do you need your readers to know first? Second? Third? How does each piece of information and insight you give build off the thing you said before it? You know what I mean? That way, you can kind of guide your reader through your insights and analysis, integrating your sources together in a discussion rather than doing one at a time, without warning as to what’s coming next. Does that make sense?
I’d encourage you, also, to think about how you can integrate quotations into your own sentence structures instead of dropping them in as their own sentences. Frame them, set them up, for the reader, and then really go in and analyze the words you’re quoting: you’re quoting them for a reason, so really give us why. Also, in terms of further research, I would encourage you to get more specific into academic research on access to support systems and mental health — that could really help bolster your work here.
Further, I’d encourage you to think about the relationship between Holden and Mike and Alex (and, spend a little more time with your analysis of Alex if you want to! I think that could really be generative!) — they’re all from very different social spaces, racially and economically, yes (though Holden and Mike seem to have similar backgrounds…)? How might that impact how we interpret their characters, their mental health, their access to support systems or the lack thereof?
Sidebar: I’d also encourage you to use the term “sex worker” instead of “prostitute,” unless you’re quoting from the novel!
I am sooooo excited to see where you go with this: a very intriguing start so far!!
I love the idea of your paper. As you are writing this, you should try to narrow down your thesis. Are you saying that smoking is a gateway to other drugs, or that smoking leads to addiction, which later results in isolation? You can also elaborate more on how people turn to smoking or even alcohol because of lack of support, just like in Mike’s and Alex’s case. I also suggest to create separate paragraphs for Mike and Alex. They are two different people from the same play who ended up in a very similar situation. I also believe that it would be great if you could write your personal opinion about the subject. Your opinion will help you reinforce your thesis. Overall, I love the idea of your paper. People are always stressed out, and without proper support, they turn to other means of relaxation. Sometimes it is alcohol, and sometimes it is weed.