3,000 years ago there lived a Greek poet named Homer. One of his most famous tales was about the legendary Greek king of Ithaca named Odysseus. Following the Trojan Wars, Odysseus and his troops were headed home to Greece when they came upon a beautiful island.
In need of rest, Odysseus decided they would stay on the island for a few days. He sent out scouts to see if the island had any natives and indeed it did. The natives were quite friendly, sharing food, supplies, and shelter. But they also shared something else with the Greek troops…the blue lotus flower.
The lotus flower has been used in ancient medicine for thousands of years. It is a powerful natural sleep aid and anxiety reliever. At high doses, it can induce potent psychoactive effects and become highly addictive.
After just a few days, Odysseus recognized the heavily sedating effects it was having on his men. Many of them wouldn’t return to camp at night, preferring to stay in the huts of the locals, indulging in the lotus flowers. On the fourth day, he ordered his troops back onto the ship, but many of them resisted. Odysseus and a handful of men who remained in camp had to forcefully drag the rest of the troops back onto the ship.
When they returned to Greece, the story spread about the “Island of the Lotus Eaters” and became a cautionary tale for adventurers who would sail the open seas. A stern warning emerged – stop at this island and you may never return as the lotus may cause you to forget your way home.
Magic, Medicine, Misery
When we first encounter a mind-altering substance, it can feel like Magic. I joined a fraternity in college (FIJI), which is when I started to drink alcohol. It made it easier for me to talk with girls. It enabled me to relax at a level I hadn’t experienced before.
When I overdid it, I paid the price the next morning. But I was one of the fortunate ones. Alcohol never became Medicine, something I needed. I liked it but I didn’t need it. The slippery slope is letting something we like become something we need. At that point the Magic is gone and what you like becomes a form of Medicine, something you crave, something you psychologically and physically feel like you need.
That is when the vicious cycle of addiction takes hold. Instead of something you enjoy occasionally, it becomes something you rely on constantly. The addicted human brain is tricked into thinking it’s helping a condition of need, when it’s making it worse. And the Medicine is not necessarily drugs or alcohol. It could be food, or sex, or television. What one perceives as a cure can become a curse.
Even worse, as a person consumes more “pseudo-medicine,” a natural tolerance can develop. You need more, then more, then more. That is when addiction spirals out of control, pushing everything else out of the way. Friends, family, work, and hobbies become superfluous. What started as Magic and eventually became Medicine now becomes Misery.
Connection and Purpose
A few months ago I wrote an article called The Rat Park Experiment? It was about a study conducted in the 1970s to explore the causes and solutions to addiction. It challenged the conventional view that addiction was caused solely by exposure to addictive substances.
An interesting part of the study’s conclusion was, “The opposite of addiction is not sobriety…the opposite of addiction is connection.” The more non-addicted people in your life, the less likely you are to go down the magic, medicine, misery journey to addiction.
Other studies have shown that another effective measure to prevent addiction is leading a life filled with purpose. Being intensely focused on worthwhile goals makes you less likely to want to feel fuzzy from dabbling with magic.
There is probably no bulletproof solution to avoiding addiction. However, having a worthwhile purpose and strong relationships could help you remember your way home when you venture to the Island of the Lotus Eaters.
