Rausch im Aufwärtstrend: Die Psychologie dahinter / Substance Use in Transition: Causes and Psychological Factors
Substanzkonsum im Wandel: Ursachen und Psyche <h2>Um was es in diesem Text geht: In vielen Ländern beobachten Fachleute seit Jahren ein ähnliches Muster: Bestimmte Substanzen werden häufiger konsumiert. Alkohol bleibt gesellschaftlich präsent, Cannabis wird in einigen Regionen legalisiert, Nikotin erlebt durch E-Zigaretten ein Comeback, und auch der riskante Konsum von Opioiden oder Stimulanzien beschäftigt das […]
Social Media ab 16? Zwischen Moral Panic und struktureller Verantwortung
Analyse mit Moral Panic Theory und Techniksoziologie 📖 Lesedauer: 5 Minuten 📖Aufhänger: https://taz.de/Altersbeschraenkung-fuer-die-Nutzung-von-Social-Media-Was-sagt-die-Wissenschaft/!6142285/ 1. EREIGNIS & KONTEXT Im Dezember 2024 setzte Australien ein Signal: Social-Media-Plattformen wie Instagram, TikTok und Snapchat dürfen von Jugendlichen unter 16 Jahren nicht mehr genutzt werden. Frankreich plant Ähnliches ab 15 Jahren. Das EU-Parlament stimmte im November für eine entsprechende Resolution, […]
Alcohol as Depressant, Used as Antidepressant: Why This Teufelskreis Persists (v3.0)
Teaser Alcohol is pharmacologically a central nervous system depressant—yet millions reach for it as if it were an antidepressant. This paradox reveals how neurobiological mechanisms, psychological reinforcement, social structures, and economic rationality interlock to sustain a vicious cycle. Understanding this Teufelskreis requires moving beyond individual pathology to examine the social organization of relief-seeking itself. This […]
Einleitung: Soziologische Überlegungen zum Thema Sucht (AKTUALISIERT v3.1)
Sucht wird oft als individuelle Pathologie dargestellt – als eine Frage der Gehirnchemie, eines Traumas oder persönlicher Schwäche. Bei genauerer Betrachtung erweist sich Sucht jedoch als ein zutiefst soziales Phänomen. Sie entsteht in Beziehungen, Routinen und Institutionen, spiegelt Normen des Vergnügens, der Kontrolle und der Produktivität wider und entwickelt sich parallel zu wirtschaftlichen, technologischen und […]
Introduction: Thinking Sociologically About Addiction (UPDATED v3.1)
Addiction is often framed as an individual pathology — a matter of brain chemistry, trauma, or personal weakness. Yet when I look closer, addiction reveals itself as a profoundly social phenomenon. It emerges in relationships, routines, and institutions; it reflects norms of pleasure, control, and productivity; and it evolves alongside economic, technological, and cultural change. […]
The Social Significance of Intoxication: Reality Construction, Ritual, and Cultural Meaning
Teaser Every society constructs its own relationship with altered consciousness—from sacred rituals to pathologized addiction. What we call “intoxication” reveals not just neurochemical processes, but how cultures define reality itself. From Durkheim’s collective effervescence to Freud’s cocaine experiments, from Balinese trance dances to Haitian Voodoo ceremonies, intoxication has always been more than individual experience: it […]
Beyond Enabling: A Sociological Analysis of Co-Dependency as Structural Arrangement
Teaser When families organize around addiction, they don’t just react—they construct entire systems of meaning, power, and identity. Co-dependency is not merely psychological pathology but a sociologically rich phenomenon where power asymmetries, role conflicts, and stigma management strategies intersect. This analysis examines how partners, parents, and children of persons with substance use disorders navigate a […]
Systems Theory and Addiction: From Parsons to Luhmann—A Sociological Systems Perspective
Teaser How do social systems produce, maintain, and potentially resolve patterns of addiction? While mainstream addiction research often focuses on neurobiology or individual psychology, systems-theoretic sociology offers a fundamentally different lens: addiction emerges not from isolated individuals but within complex networks of communication, social roles, and structural constraints. This article traces the evolution of systems […]
Narcissism and the Addiction to Recognition: A Sociological Analysis of Validation-Seeking in the Digital Age
Teaser In an era where “likes” function as social currency and follower counts shape self-worth, the boundary between healthy self-presentation and pathological validation-seeking has become increasingly blurred. This post examines how sociological frameworks—from Cooley’s looking-glass self to Bourdieu’s symbolic capital—illuminate narcissism not merely as individual pathology but as a structurally embedded pattern of recognition-seeking behavior […]
Addicted to the Like: A Sociology of Social Media Validation
What does it mean when a notification triggers a neurochemical cascade indistinguishable from substance anticipation? This analysis investigates social media likes as a sociological phenomenon where Skinnerian reinforcement schedules meet Goffmanian impression management, and where Mertonian strain collides with surveillance capitalism. The humble like button, invented in 2009, has restructured social recognition, identity formation, and […]
Before You Choose: Brains, Freedom, and Addiction — A Sociological Reframing of the Will Debate
Teaser Do our brains decide before “we” do? Neuroscience provocations—from Libet’s readiness potentials to machine-predicted choices—seem to shrink the space for free will just when addiction science needs a robust notion of agency. This essay takes a sober tour through biology, psychology, sociology, philosophy, and theology. The claim: conscious will is neither an omnipotent commander […]
The Stratification of Addiction: Mapping Class, Commodification, and Compulsion in Late Capitalism
Teaser Addiction fractures along class lines. The executive microdosing Adderall, the knowledge worker doom-scrolling through algorithmic feeds, the marathon runner training through injury, the service worker numbing structural precarity with fentanyl—each enacts a distinct form of compulsive behavior shaped by their position in late capitalism’s stratified landscape. This article maps addiction typologies across substance (legal/illegal), […]
The Club 27 Myth: A Sociological Autopsy of Celebrity Death, Addiction, and Cultural Memory
Teaser The deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse at age 27 have cemented a haunting legend in popular culture: the Club 27. But is 27 truly a dangerous age for musicians, or is this belief itself a self-fulfilling prophecy? This post examines the empirical evidence that debunks the […]
Systems Theory and Addiction: How Legal/Illegal Binary Codes Shape Drug Markets and Social Inclusion
Teaser When a substance crosses from illegal to legal status, something more fundamental shifts than mere regulatory frameworks. The entire social system reorganizes: new markets emerge, criminal networks collapse, medical institutions expand, and individuals move from exclusion zones back into functional participation. Systems theory—from Parsons’ structural functionalism through Luhmann’s autopoietic systems to Nassehi’s contemporary refinements—reveals […]
Class, Intoxication, and Capital: A Marxist Map of Drug Markets
Teaser I sketch a Marxist analysis of how drug markets are organized in capitalist systems—and what would likely change under a socialist organization. I triangulate legal alcohol, forbidden substances, and “Leistungsdrogen” (from cocaine to prescription stimulants and sport doping), and use Bourdieu’s class lens to read taste, status, and risk across fields. Intro: Why drugs […]
5) Triangulation: the integrative picture — an expanded essay
What each lens adds—and why none is sufficient alone. How the pieces interlock in practice Equity and evaluation (so we know it’s working) Illustrative policy menu (with mechanism notes) Alcohol (legal) Heroin (illegal) Cross-cutting Literature & Links (APA) Publishable version of the prompt “Please enrich the section ‘5) Triangulation: the integrative picture’. Synthesize what microeconomics […]