Why do so many musicians get hooked on drugs, etc.?

[rosanne]

Ding-ding -- I think you hit it on the head there BlackElan. Dr. Gabor Maté's newest book In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts deals with that theme at length. Highly recommended...

Thanks for the heads up on Gabor Mate! i just checked out his books on Amazon and now plan to get one of them.

 

[AleemRadunzel]

Ones that become addicts are the ones that have childhood trauma issues, the best artists are the ones that usually get hooked on drugs kind of like the irritant in a oyster.

\thread

 

[AleemRadunzel]

Well in my last band ... the guitar player did some drug daily because without it life was boring and drugs give him creativity. That sad.

Many famous people, in music, in cinema etc do drug because it is hard to live with the popularity ( well this is what it is to be ).

sexualy frustrated left handed 6 string fretless player

 

[michael_atw]

I don't think musicians are any more prone to drug and alcohol abuse than anyone else.

+1

It all depends on who you put under a microscope. I'd say celebrities, musicians, etc. being seen so much in our eyes merely reflect the world that is unseen: the world that is your neighbors, friends, spouses, families, and strangers who you live around. Your neighbor might be doing cocaine right now; your wife/husband might be on a dinner date with someone that isn't you; your friends might be out driving around in a car wasted out of their minds on alcohol. And yet...the only way you would really notice is if someone put 50 cameras on them.

 

[Intenzity]

The forming of this question only serves to re-enforces a lot of stereotypes about addiction, and the premise is flawed.

It's about as offensive as asking "how come so many african americans play professional sports".

People, humans, get addicted to drugs for a long long list of complex psychological and biological issues. Playing music and drug addiction have zero direct correlation, despite what seems like a lot of anecdotal evidence.

 

[Stanley Design]

Theory from the cartoon "Kevin Spencer" that suggests the government feeds influential people their fixes for free so that they'll kill themselves off before having too much power over the public.

 

[BillyC]

If you've ever had to crawl on stage with no sleep,flu or any other ailment and know that for 4 hours you're gonna have to put all your energy into it,it becomes easy to do a bump or two.Energy and creativity level is through the roof.You just got to remember to quit doing it when you get off the stage...It's a hard thing to do.

 

[IbanezATK]

I can easily bring to mind numerous musicians who have become addicted to drugs, sex, alcohol, or any number of things during their careers and either kicked the habit or died before they could.

So what is it about the touring/rock lifestyle that leads to drug/substance abuse and/or addictive behaviors? Stress? Hedonism (not always the case, but certainly so for some musicians)? Crazy environment?

There seem to be many musicians who unfortunately got into the trap of drugs, etc. It's a really sad reality, but how does it happen and why?

And I do hope "band management" is the right forum for this!

I think a lot of us musicians "feel" more than other people.

The upside to that is the ability to express ourselves through music, writing and playing songs.

The downside to that is that we maybe feel pain more profoundly than other people, and self medicate.

I see this with artistic and expressive people, musicians, writers, artists. Our gift is our curse.

 

[IbanezATK]

Life on the road is tremendously exciting for the brief time you're on stage, and tremendously dull the rest of the time when you're not. You're looking for a time-filler that approaches the high of being on stage.

That's also why you shag groupies and trash hotel rooms.

This is true too. The adrenaline rush before you play, then the crash when it is over and you are loading into the van and driving/riding 300 miles to play the next show you aren't going to make any money on.

 

[Beej]

Clearly, its because they haven't yet noticed the alternative:

Accepting the lord Jesus Christ as your personal shepherd and saviour...

 

[ERIC31]

Two words....STRAIGHT EDGE. That's my lifestyle. No smoking, no drugs, no alcohol.

I've seen way too many bands go down in flames (famous and obscure) due to drugs and/or alcohol. I don't tolerate it in any bands that I've been in or will be in. Having a couple beers AFTER the show is no big deal. Having to be drunk to go on stage every night is a big deal. Drugs, on the other hand, always take over and become the focus of the persons life. Music and everything else goes out the window and all their money goes to the Dopeman.

Everyone has their own choice to get into or not get into that stuff. I don't and never will.

My .02 cents.

 

[rarbass]

I don't think musicians are any more prone to drug and alcohol abuse than anyone else.

Agreed. I simply think it's a matter of there being a lot of pressure in the business to get involved in that sort of thing. You tour with certain bands who are doing it, try it, get addicted, and then pass it along. It seems like a big chain.

Of course that could raise the "chicken or the egg" argument, but I mean you have people ALL over doing drugs and getting wasted, but if you have bands touring together, then there's a huge chance that if even one member of one band does it, then everyone else could end up doing it. And as such passing it on to other musicians (being that musicians typically hang out with a lot of other musicians)

 

[miskha]

I recently read a book called, I believe, This is Your Brain on Music or something similiar. It was written by a studio producer/session player who became a psychologist who studied the effect music has on the brain.

Anyway, in one part of this book, there was reference to an experiment done. The experiment involved a drug called Naltrexone. This drug is commonly used to "bring someone out of an opiate or opioid overdose" (it does this by acting upon opiate receptors stronger than any recreational opiate, thusly pushing the drugs off of the afflicted receptors in your brain). When a person is under the influence of Naltrexone, they are unable to get high on opiates/opioids, because the Naltrexone binds stronger to the the receptor sites, so if they take the drug it basically passes though the body unmetabolised and inactive psychologically.

The experiment detailed earlier in the book was interesting; normal people (I.E., non-addicts, clean people) were given Naltrexone and a great majority, some 90% I believe, found that they were unable to enjoy music while loaded up with Naltrexone. This was eventually determined to be caused by the fact that the parts of your brain that process music (especially the parts of your brain that let you enjoy music) are the same parts of your brain the process opiates and opioids (which are the pharmaceutical category for drugs like Morphine, Heroin, Oxycodone, Fentanyl, Methadone, etc., etc.). When this part of the brain is blocked (trying to stop opiate abuse or prevent overdose), it was basically not enjoyable to listen to music, just as it was not enjoyable to take opiates/opioids.

I couldn't believe the study hadn't been published or discussed earlier, as it basically had and answer for the question that my friends and I have asked many times, "Why are so many great musicians junkies?"

 

[bggeezer]

I don't think musicians are any more prone to drug and alcohol abuse than anyone else.

they're just more high profile

 

[duff beer]

Drugs, on the other hand, always take over and become the focus of the persons life. Music and everything else goes out the window and all their money goes to the Dopeman.

That's quite the generalization you made. I know plenty of people who smoke pot 2 or 3 times a week, and have been doing that for 30+ years without becoming addicted to other drugs or wrecking their lives.

 

[Dark Horse]

I can easily bring to mind numerous musicians who have become addicted to drugs, sex, alcohol, or any number of things during their careers and either kicked the habit or died before they could.

So what is it about the touring/rock lifestyle that leads to drug/substance abuse and/or addictive behaviors? Stress? Hedonism (not always the case, but certainly so for some musicians)? Crazy environment?

There seem to be many musicians who unfortunately got into the trap of drugs, etc. It's a really sad reality, but how does it happen and why?

And I do hope "band management" is the right forum for this!

23 hours on a bus or in a hotel, 1 hour onstage.

Mind you, that "1 hour" is great, but the other 23 aren't easy.

 

[heath_r_91]

There are a ton of reasons why touring musicians are prone to becoming addicted to such things.
(1) You are always in bars.
(2) When you aren't in bars you are in a boring van / tour bus with nothing to do for hours.
(3) It is very easy to get lonely when you are on the road. You can start missing your family, friends, pets, etc.
(4) You get offered drugs for free a ton.
(5) They try to push their creative boundaries.

I'm sure there are a ton more reasons. However, I think this list could wrap up most.

 

[tribus]

because thats the only way they can put up with their own music.

 

[ERIC31]

That's quite the generalization you made. I know plenty of people who smoke pot 2 or 3 times a week, and have been doing that for 30+ years without becoming addicted to other drugs or wrecking their lives.

Sounds like they are addicted to weed. Are they the types that say "I can quit anytime I want!" with full conviction?

That being said I think Marijuana should be legal. If alcohol is legal weed should be. I've never heard of anyone getting smoked out and then going home to beat their wife and kids like they do when they get drunk. Stoners are usually really mellow after a fat joint. Alcohol is much worse IMO.

I won't even get started talking about hard drugs because anyone with a half a brain knows that that crap does for you.

 

[Intenzity]

..... I know plenty of people who smoke pot 2 or 3 times a week, and have been doing that for 30+ years without becoming addicted to other drugs.

Guess being addicted to one is enough.