Characteristics and social representation of ecstasy in Europe - Irefrea

Still following psychoanalysis, Kohut (1971) and Kernberg (1975) find similaritiesbetween narcissist problems, poor affectivity and drug users inability to controlimpulses, and personalities with antisocial tendencies. Kernberg (1975) also refers tothe theory that associates in psychoanalytical literature borderline personalities withdrug use. Afterwards, Bergeret (1984) has studied this theory showing that individualswith a lack of structure -opposite to neurotics and psychotics- have higher possibilitiesof developing an addiction.Data given by the MMPI support the theory that the two scales most frequentlyaltered by drug users are psychotic deviation (Pd) and depression (D), after the revisionof more than 21 studies carried out by Craig (1979a, 1979b).Schubert (1988) made a statistical evaluation of the literature that connectsalcoholism, other drug addictions and antisocial personality from 1965 to 1983. Hefound that individuals with one of the three diagnosis had more possibilities of havingone of the other two diagnosis. There is a relationship between antisocial attitudes, orat least not traditional ones, and drug use and precocious sexuality (Donovan, 1985),showing us again that we are facing something connected with different psychologicaland social strata.Newcomb (1988), in a longitudinal investigation made from 557 students in twooccasions, separated by a three years period, got two different interesting results:1) The influence of family problems on drug use is indirect: the young people becomedisinterested in traditional values and approach non-standard attitudes, base of druguse.2) Attitudes and behaviours of disagreement with social patterns increase emotionalproblems difficulties and problems.Calafat et al. (1994) investigates three different youth disorders: depressivity deviantbehaviour and immaturity, with a sample of 720 students from Mallorca, between 16and 18 years old, and their relationship with drug use and social life. A higherpunctuation in the deviation scale and a more active social life correlate positively withmost of the variables connected with legal or illegal drug use. Immaturity correlatespositively with illegal drugs use, while introversion correlates negatively. Depressivitycan not be related to drug use, with the exception of a precocious use of alcohol. Theway youth disorders appear determines social life, which also influences on drug use.Personal characteristics have a clear influence on a higher or lower social activity, andthis alone or put together with personal characteristics increases legal or illegal druguse. In an IREFREA study (1997) we got similar conclusions. From a representativesample of school students in Mallorca, between 13 and 19 years old, we analysed therelationship between depression and deviant tendencies of teenagers, and alcohol,tobacco and other drugs use. We found again a close relationship between drug use anddeviant behaviour, which is also associate to other problems, such as family difficulties,weight problems, enuresis, insomnia, etc…, while there is not any relationship withdepression.90