Experiential Approach
When an anthropologist uses the experiential approach in research, they are looking at the individual level to try and find patterns and themes in behavior among a certain population.
The first time taking a drug is like “learning an entirely new way of looking at the world”, according to a peer of mine I will refer to as Steve Smith. Steve said that his freshman year of college was full of firsts. It was during this year that he first had sex, first became intoxicated by alcohol and marijuana, and when he developed his thirst for stimulants – namely amphetamine by exposure to Adderall. From the second he stepped on campus, Steve knew that he would be going down the medical path and thus was surrounded by students in the same shoes as him – extremely stressed to attain and maintain high grades while somehow holding onto their sanity.
Already relying on coffee in the mornings, Steve quickly developed a taste for Adderall when studying for his first set of finals in December. He felt a rush of motivation and his mental endurance seemed to increase exponentially, pulling off “all nighters” with ease.
Adderall allowed Steve to put in bursts of efficient study time while focusing the majority of his efforts on partying and abusing alcohol. It was a crutch that supported the other parts of his lifestyle. Steve unfortunately had a family tragedy happen at the beginning of the next semester, and he turned to marijuana in order to keep calm and not worry as much about the problems within his family. He also experimented with how Adderall and marijuana interacted with each other and produced a very “focused euphoria” which he felt was even better for studying effectively.
Steve’s telling of substance dependence and abuse was in line with the chaos narrative in experiencing illness. His responses to external stressors was to turn to drugs in order to allow him to maintain stability in the other aspects of his life.
After three and a half years of maintaining his delicate practice of polydrug substance dependence, Steve had an experience that “broke the camel’s back”. His first time being dumped – the rejection hit him hard. He increased the use of all three of his drugs of choice, but no elevated dose could soothe his spirit like it did in the past. Months of depression and rumination led Steve to seek out counseling on campus, but in the end he didn’t find it sufficient to his needs or more beneficial than just allowing time to pass. Steve still feels depression, but his substance abuse has dropped back to his “normal levels” though he remains emotionally on edge.
Image credit:
Grobmeier, Daniell "marijuana.jpg", photograph. 2012, The State Press, http://www.statepress.com/2012/07/22/marijuana-not-approved-to-treat-anxiety-depression (accessed August 15, 2013)
Balk, Alex "adderall.jpg", photograph. The Awl,
http://www.theawl.com/2009/04/also-will-we-link-to-every-story-in-this-weeks-new-yorker-by-wednesday-probably (accessed August 15, 2013)
When an anthropologist uses the experiential approach in research, they are looking at the individual level to try and find patterns and themes in behavior among a certain population.
The first time taking a drug is like “learning an entirely new way of looking at the world”, according to a peer of mine I will refer to as Steve Smith. Steve said that his freshman year of college was full of firsts. It was during this year that he first had sex, first became intoxicated by alcohol and marijuana, and when he developed his thirst for stimulants – namely amphetamine by exposure to Adderall. From the second he stepped on campus, Steve knew that he would be going down the medical path and thus was surrounded by students in the same shoes as him – extremely stressed to attain and maintain high grades while somehow holding onto their sanity.
Already relying on coffee in the mornings, Steve quickly developed a taste for Adderall when studying for his first set of finals in December. He felt a rush of motivation and his mental endurance seemed to increase exponentially, pulling off “all nighters” with ease.
Adderall allowed Steve to put in bursts of efficient study time while focusing the majority of his efforts on partying and abusing alcohol. It was a crutch that supported the other parts of his lifestyle. Steve unfortunately had a family tragedy happen at the beginning of the next semester, and he turned to marijuana in order to keep calm and not worry as much about the problems within his family. He also experimented with how Adderall and marijuana interacted with each other and produced a very “focused euphoria” which he felt was even better for studying effectively.
Steve’s telling of substance dependence and abuse was in line with the chaos narrative in experiencing illness. His responses to external stressors was to turn to drugs in order to allow him to maintain stability in the other aspects of his life.
After three and a half years of maintaining his delicate practice of polydrug substance dependence, Steve had an experience that “broke the camel’s back”. His first time being dumped – the rejection hit him hard. He increased the use of all three of his drugs of choice, but no elevated dose could soothe his spirit like it did in the past. Months of depression and rumination led Steve to seek out counseling on campus, but in the end he didn’t find it sufficient to his needs or more beneficial than just allowing time to pass. Steve still feels depression, but his substance abuse has dropped back to his “normal levels” though he remains emotionally on edge.
Image credit:
Grobmeier, Daniell "marijuana.jpg", photograph. 2012, The State Press, http://www.statepress.com/2012/07/22/marijuana-not-approved-to-treat-anxiety-depression (accessed August 15, 2013)
Balk, Alex "adderall.jpg", photograph. The Awl,
http://www.theawl.com/2009/04/also-will-we-link-to-every-story-in-this-weeks-new-yorker-by-wednesday-probably (accessed August 15, 2013)