Bangalore's the happening city. But too many things are happening at too frenetic a pace leaving no time to think where life is heading to.
The City's upper middle and elite classes have put the mammon on the pedestal. Pursuit of success at all costs has become a pornography of sorts. In the grip of mindless consumerism, the affluent have only landed up with affluenza, a type of depression.
So, what’s affluenza? Those afflicted by ‘affluenza’ place a high value on bigger houses, more cars, larger televisions and younger faces. The drift from epicurean pursuits to hedonistic indulgences is swift: depression, anxiety, addictions and other personality disorders are the consequence.
Twenty-seven-year old model-turned-designer Sheetal is a self-confessed lesbian. She drifted away in her teens and ended up as an alcoholic. It took her 10 years to get out of the alcoholism.
"The life of horror, loneliness, and despair forced me to seek help. I lived in fear — fear of my homosexuality being discovered, fear of being rejected and of being left alone to cope with my alcoholism," says Sheetal.
She was disowned by her family. She had to leave the City and live in seclusion as the very sight of people only instilled fear and revulsion in her. It took her two years to fight the depression and bounce back to normalcy. Today, she runs her own designer store in the City.
Satish Kannan, a former IIM student and a topper of his batch, started his own industry after working in several companies across the world. It was his dream to start a system wherein IT could be delivered to the common man. And sure he did. But it was not long before success and wealth got to his head. He realised that there was just nothing he couldn't buy for himself under the sun.
This miserable millionaire soon turned a sex-addict who treated women as commodities for satisfaction. He'd lure just about any beautiful woman at his work place and wouldn't mind paying extra bucks for that extra pleasure.
"First, it was the urge to try out something daring and different. Later, this urge transformed into something that I couldn't live without even for a day. My wife discovered this. She walked out of home with our children and vowed never to return. It was only when I was pushed to the wall did I realise what I had done," confesses Satish.
He had to undergo several sessions of counselling and was put on a heavy dose of anti-anxiety pills before he could return to normalcy.
Thirty-four-year-old Nithin Mishra, who runs a restaurant in the City is a diehard foodie. He gorges on just about anything that’s delicious. He wouldn’t miss a single chance to dine out with friends. He soon began eating in large quantities through the day and night. Sleepless nights, hallucinations, blackouts, despair and paranoia became a routine until it was discovered that he had three blocks in his heart. He was warned to consume food in small quantities. Keeping off rich food took sometime but Nithin managed that and today he’s back to good health.
Counsellors say that not less than 10 cases of affluenza come to them every day. These are no ordinary people. Wealthy and powerful, they have the freedom to experiment.
Mahesh Prasad, director and counsellor of Sakthi Deaddiction and Rehabilitation Centre in the City, says that addiction is a process. The beginning is very thrilling but as it progresses, it isolates. "Addicts use any object to better their mood and to get a high. It could be sex, drugs, overeating, shopping and overworking. As the addiction progresses, they develop a pathological relationship with the same ending in isolation and depression," he explains.
He feels the only way to help addicts fight their depression is to make them aware of their problem. For them self-help groups are the best solution.
Expert says:
Chittaranjan Andrade, Professor and Head, Department of Psychopharmacology National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences:
There is a popular impression that affluent people are more likely to be associated with excesses in behaviours related to smoking, drinking, use of illicit drugs, sexuality, eating, partying, gambling, Internet use, and so on.
If this is true, why is it so? One explanation is the 'been there, done that' phenomenon. Richer people who have a surfeit of ordinary pleasures of every day life are more likely to seek quirky experiences. A second explanation is that richer people may have higher levels of psychological stress relating to wealth management, relationships, family, and other areas, and so gravitate towards such escape valves. Younger persons who indulge in excesses may be influenced by peer pressure, fashions and trends, and the desire to stand out in the peer group.
But, the underlying reason is the personality and access to these outlets. Behavioural scientists estimate that about half of the variance in personality is genetically determined; thus, for example, genetic influences have been established for the vulnerability to alcohol and opiate dependence.
People of all social classes have the financial wherewithal to indulge in alcoholism; but, only the richer classes, for example, can afford Internet addiction, party drugs, and the quirkier excesses in behaviour. It goes without saying that access is greater in cities than in towns, and therefore such behaviour are more prevalent in large urban conglomerations.
