The Dangers of Alcohol: Why Jordan Peterson Chooses Sobriety
Alcohol is no ordinary commodity. As Jordan Peterson notes, it is "an extraordinarily pernicious drug" – one that has widespread ripple effects across society. And for those prone to alcoholism, it can prove dangerously addictive on multiple fronts, impacting mental health, behavior, work performance and relationships.
Peterson knows this first-hand. His own struggles with alcohol addiction in early adulthood were a wake-up call, eventually prompting him to quit drinking altogether. For the past 25 years, he has lived an alcohol-free life – and he now advocates sobriety as a responsible, healthful and ethical choice.
Understanding Why Alcohol is So Addictive
While alcohol is legal and socially acceptable, we should not underestimate its potency as an intoxicating agent that drastically alters mood, lowers inhibitions, and impairs decision-making.
According to addiction expert Dr George Koob, alcohol activates the brain‘s reward system by facilitating dopamine and endogenous opioid release. In susceptible individuals, it can become addictive in similar ways to other drugs like cocaine.
On a neural level, PET imaging studies suggest the acute euphoria of alcohol may arise from activation of mesolimbic circuits encompassing the ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens and orbitofrontal cortex. There is a complex interplay here between multiple neurotransmitters and modulators.
Additionally, the anxiolytic effect many seek from alcohol may stem from changes in ligand binding and ion channel function affecting the GABA system – especially in the central amygdala. Chronic alcohol exposure causes compensatory downregulation among GABA receptors, contributing towards tolerance and ever-increasing doses.
Simultaneously, alcohol inhibits activity of excitatory NMDA glutamate receptors, compounding its depressant mechanism. The subsequent hyperexcitability of glutamatergic neurons during withdrawal may underpin symptoms like agitation and seizures in dependent patients.
Furthermore, the natural endocannabinoid system appears involved. Ethanol extract from alcohol interacts with CB1 receptors highly expressed in the brain – initiating intracellular cascades that alter neuronal firing rates. This can perturb the delicate excitation-inhibition balance governing emotional processing.
Adding an interpersonal dimension, onset of addiction may also reflect a maladaptive coping mechanism to life stresses or underlying psychiatric disorders. Genetic risk factors can predispose individuals towards reinforcing alcohol consumption to ameliorate negative emotional states. This can birth a dangerous cycle whereby drinking provides short-term relief while worsening overall mental health and neural integrity over months or years.
The resulting changes to neurological pathways governing judgment, foresight and impulse control help explain the strong links between alcohol use and violence. Statistics paint a grim picture:
- Almost 50% of murders occur in alcohol-fueled situations
- Over 30% of suicides involve intoxication
- Nearly 50% of domestic abuse cases involve drinking
Beyond acute episodes, chronic alcohol misuse promotes over 200 associated diseases – including immune system impairment, cardiovascular disorders, cirrhosis of the liver and seven types of cancer. It causes around 3 million deaths annually and is debatatingly the most harmful drug globally in terms of overall mortality and burden of disability.
In the United States, over 14 million adults have an alcohol use disorder. Collectively they generate an economic cost of $250 billion per year – stemming from lost productivity, healthcare expenditure, crime, property damage and accidents.
However, such figures do not fully convey the desperate bargaining and erosion of self-worth within addiction. Peterson understands this struggle intimately.
The Neuroscience of Addiction – Why is it So Hard to Quit?
While the initial decision to drink excessive alcohol is consciously chosen, the descended trajectory into addiction occurs incrementally without self-awareness. The growing neurological changes make it extremely difficult to simply change one‘s mind.
One model suggests three key phenomena underpinning addiction: increasing salience of drug-seeking behavior, loss of top-down behavioral control, and emotional dysregulation when sobriety persists. These reflect hypothesized transitions in functional processing of the prefrontal cortex and striatum.
Specifically, disrupted prefrontal regulation of striatal regions diminishes executive behavioral control while strengthening stimulus-response habits. Simultaneously, the recruitment of anti-reward systems creates a powerful negative emotional state highly effective at driving continued substance use.
This aligns with animal experiments. Rodents having extended access to alcohol escalate their consumption over time. They persist even when alcohol is adulterated with bitter quinine – suggesting taste and experience no longer guides their behavior.
In humans, neuroimaging studies reveal show structural and functional brain changes even among young binge drinkers – including compromised white matter integrity, attenuated responses to rewards, and accelerated signs of aging.
Adolescents who drink risk impaired neuron development, with associated long term effects on cognition and mental health. The still-critical neurodevelopment occurring during teenage years and early 20s seems particularly vulnerable to disruption by recurring alcohol intoxication.
There may also exist genetic risk factors predisposing certain individuals towards alcoholism rather than social drinking. Genome-wide analysis has found variance in clusters of receptor subtype genes affects vulnerability. For example, signatures among glutamate and serotonin receptor subtypes predict relapse risk and craving intensity among alcoholics trying to quit.
Additionally, fast metabolizers of alcohol due to high expression of enzymes like ADH1B experience fewer aversive side-effects. This permits heavier drinking among this cohort – facilitating the descent into co-morbid addiction.
Peterson‘s Losing Battle With Alcohol
Peterson first started drinking heavily as a teenager growing up in northern Alberta, Canada – a region with a prominent drinking culture at the time. He recalls being inclined towards it for its anxiolytic and pro-social effects. Over time, his social circle narrowed to fellow problematic drinkers.
By his mid-20s, Peterson knew alcohol was severely limiting his professional and academic goals. He described making a "deal" with God – if his then-girlfriend (now wife) recovered from her health issues, he would quit drinking. Fortunately, she recovered fully.
So at 27 years, Peterson gave up alcohol and entered sobriety. He endured acute withdrawal symptoms like sweating and shaking for weeks afterwards. But he succeeded through grit and conviction to stay sober henceforth.
Later at 50, Peterson reconsidered drinking again fleetingly. But introspecting, he realized his judgment remained uncontrolled just like his 25-year-old self. This sobering realization prompted him to commit wholeheartedly again to permanent alcohol avoidance.
The Truth About Sobriety: Freedom, Authenticity and Responsibility
While socially uncomfortable initially, Peterson found abstaining from alcohol enhanced his authenticity and confidence through enabling clearer thinking and self-control. Without an intoxicating filter he could operate closer to his ethical ideals in work and relationships.
Indeed, even legal levels of alcohol measurably hamper executive functions like planning and problem-solving for hours afterwards. Both laboratory experiments and field studies demonstrate significantly compromised decision-making abilities despite most drinkers feeling unaffected themselves.
Alarmingly, several trials found increased willingness among intoxicated participants to undertake various unethical acts – including poisoning or harming others. This underscores the danger alcohol poses towards moral volition and behavioral restraint.
Such data accords with Jordan Peterson‘s experience. By avoiding alcohol altogether rather than moderate drinking, he maximizes time spent with an optimally responsive brain and stable mood. Enhanced lucidity facilitates articulating ideas with integrity to students and readers worldwide.
Research Does supports this perspective on abstinence. An American study tracking over 1,800 adults found lifetime teetotalers enjoyed greatest physical and mental health by 73 years of age. Indeed 12-18% reduced all-cause mortality persisted even after adjusting for related variables like education and income.
This indicates long-term benefits amplify incrementally over years from abstaining alcohol altogether. Even small doses may accrue neural insults and biochemical alterations that compound slowly towards pathology. Though moderate drinking can pay lip service to health, absolute sobriety confers definitively superior outcomes.
Beyond physical measures, a deliberate sober lifestyle conveys sacrifice – giving up short-term pleasures for more profound meaning. This ascetic-like choice elicits respect and arguably spiritual connotations.
Consider self-efficacy. Psychologists posit perceived ability to regulate behavior and remain abstinent strongly predicts success at resisting relapse or peer pressure to drink. This trait must be consciously nurtured through dispensed wisdom and qualities like discipline.
Indeed discipline breathes relevance into human existence. Surrendering vulnerability to vice denies the conscious model of humanity as agent over flesh. Yet conquering chemical dependence asserts mastery of spirit – affirming choice and purpose can override biological programming.
Here Peterson leads by example – demonstrating principles extolling individual sovereignty. Agency necessitates responsibility after all – the readiness to accept consequences of one‘s actions. Peterson openly accepts the daily effort maintaining his alcohol-free lifestyle demands – mindful refusal of immediate pleasures for principled gains.
The cogs of civilization depend on such cumulative sacrifices by individuals for communal stability. Relationships, institutions and human rights universally prosper under conditions of lucidity rather than stupor or unpredictability.
Thus Peterson‘s sobriety stance links interpersonal ethics to personal actualization. For him and increasing numbers globally, abstaining from alcohol represents a deliberate, moderate choice aligned with leading a conscious, optimal life.
The New Sobriety Movement
Peterson‘s public identity embraces this beyond-mainstream sobriety decision. And gradually, the zeitgeist is turning towards questioning alcohol‘s normative role across society.
So-called ‘sober curious‘ communities are gaining prominence through initiatives like Sober October challenges while awareness grows around alcohol-free events. Mindful drinking or complete abstinence is being reframed as a sophisticated choice prioritizing self-care.
This aligns neatly with Peterson‘s extensive clinical and philosophical work advocating competence, resilient agency and personal responsibility as foundational principles.
By pragmatically choosing sobriety while alcohol usage remains culturally embedded, individuals stand against the tide. They actively redefine social conventions to align drinking with ethical values rather than thoughtless hedonism.
And in an environment where many feel disempowered, the decision to wholly avoid alcohol – though counter-cultural – offers liberation from perceived oppression. It serves as an act of self-determination and disciplined commitment to directing one‘s own consciousness.
Just as Peterson‘s lectures have touched millions worldwide, so too can his sober personal journey inspire people to make deliberate, wise decisions regarding alcohol consumption.
As the sober curious movement gathers momentum, it may herald more mindful, moderate and health-affirming cultural attitudes towards drinking on a societal level too. With so many finding meaning and inspiration in Peterson‘s teachings, that impact could be profoundly positive.