Why People Choose to Poison Themselves with Drugs, Alcohol, and Bad Food

So, why don't you have a drink and some snacks? Tell me if it kills you, or tell me how judgemental you still feel afterwards. Or better yet, just go eat your grass and air and live on water. You sound boring, don't you?

Ultimately, this is a shit world, and dying isn't much of a problem. I believe many people don't really care when they die. Most people don't even come close to trying to take care of themselves. They think taking 'poison shots' from the evil government is good enough, as they abuse themselves into their graves.

Everything in Moderation: Too Much is… Too Much

Everything, from drugs to alcohol to junk food, can be fun. But for many, these substances are viewed very differently from how you and I might view them.

That tasted like well, bad. My friend offered me a box of Frosted Flakes, and I ate the entire box. The shame was more than I could bear. No amount of soap or Comet could scrub away the filth I had ingested. I kept trying, eating and scrubbing. I learned to purge because I didn't want to get fat. I had a hole inside of me, bigger than the Grand Canyon. I didn't know that, but to me, it just felt like hunger. I ate to numb the feelings. I ate to not remember the pain from what a sick man did to me.

And so, I was poisoning myself. With bad food, yes, I was. I did it because I didn't know any other way to get that vile taste out of my mouth. I was a kid and did what I had to do to survive.

The Pursuit of Pleasure and Instinctual Drives

The driving force behind this behavior is often the simple pursuit of pleasure. Doritos, Coca-Cola, Little Debbie, and anything produced by Hershey. We all enjoy these substances in moderation and lead healthy lives. They know that an excess is harmful. However, 11-12% of us may not be able to control ourselves, pushing our appetites for these pleasurable substances to dangerous levels. These are the people suffering from addictions.

Freud's concept of the Id was that of a hidden drive, a powerful motive force in our psyche. Initially, this drive was associated with sexuality, but later Freud developed the pleasure principle. Simply put, if it feels good and gives us pleasure, we want it now and in great quantities.

The Instinctual Pleasure Principle

The pleasure principle is one of the major reasons people engage in the short-term gratification of indulging in foods, drugs, and behaviors that we know are harmful. The other part of the equation is that the substances most likely to destroy us deliver the highest dopamine spikes. Nobody ever got admitted to rehab or developed Type II Diabetes from celery sticks or tomato juice.

The human mind is driven to satisfy the demands of this instinctual pleasure-seeking drive. We are drawn to overdo certain substances because the pleasure they deliver is far beyond what everyday experience can provide. The reason people "poison themselves" is that Freud's pleasure principle operates in a world filled with potentially lethal, high-pleasure objects.

Conclusion: Understanding the Human Desire for Pleasure

Think of Lays Potato Chips' successful advertising. Those thin slices of grease-soaked carbohydrate bring such pleasure that we overlook reasonable dietary concerns. We give into the immediacy of sensation, even knowing "you can't have just one." This is the human instinctual desire for pleasure in action, driving some toward self-destructive behaviors.

We must understand and address the underlying motives and desires to help those caught in the cycle of addiction. Change is possible, and the path to recovery is not just about self-control, but often about learning new ways to satisfy the drive for pleasure in healthier, more sustainable ways.

Keywords: drug addiction, alcoholism, food addiction