Humans have levels of awareness that profoundly determine our perspective on the nature of reality. The conscious and subconscious minds determine the decisions and actions in response to stimuli. However, there is little focus on the power of the subconscious mind in managing situations of psychological distress, which often leads to drug addiction. This research paper uses Nic Sheff’s character in Beautiful Boy as a case study to look at how the science of consciousness can help ease mental pain. The purpose is to investigate the need to use consciousness-based behavioural therapy while treating patients eclectically. The human mind contains various faculties influencing behaviour, including imagination, perception, and reason. This paper will explore the relationship between environment and behaviour in treatment based on psychodynamic and cognitive theories.
Case Scenario
The film, Beautiful Boy is a heartbreaking tale of Nic Sheff’s spiral into methamphetamine, heroin, and alcohol addiction. Nic is the only child of author David Sheff from his first marriage (Portman, 2018). In the movie, Nic is a sensitive youngster whose parents split bitterly when he was four. Nic travelled alone between his father’s house in the Bay region and his mother’s home in Los Angeles throughout his early childhood. When investigating the aetiology of Nic’s addiction, David concluded that Nic may have lacked a sense of fulfillment throughout his formative years and that drugs may be filling that need. (Portman, 2018).
Personal Perspective on Nic Sheff’s Case
Nic Sheff is a victim of childhood neglect, exposing him to psychological problems. Studies have shown that human behaviour results from connected elements that accompany us throughout our lives (Stearns & Rodrigues, 2020). The influence begins in infancy and gradually adopts as the individual matures within the setting (Liobikienė & Poškus, 2019). Research demonstrates that individuals’ surroundings, culture, and community influence their behaviour and subconscious. Nic’s neglect and the experience of loneliness may have exposed him to a corrupted environment that normalized drug use.
The philosophical theory of cause and effect makes similar observations. Psychologists and philosophers theorize that human behaviour evolves throughout a lifetime to the individual’s inherited society and culture (Stearns & Rodrigues, 2020). In Nic’s instance, the effect of the environment on the subconscious, which influences behaviour, is evident. Nic lacked the feeling of belonging with his parents, stepparents, and half-siblings, leaving him unsure where or if he belonged and often feeling abandoned, exposing him to the streets, which inadvertently shaped his behaviour.
Theories of Child Development: Erikson’s Psychosocial Developmental Theory
Erikson’s psychosocial developmental theory provides a basis for appreciating Nic Sheff’s case, as it primarily focuses on how social interaction and relationships impact the development and growth of human beings. In Nic Sheff’s case, the first three stages, including Trust vs. Mistrust, Autonomy vs. Doubt, and Initiative vs. Guilt, significantly affect the current behaviour (Darling-Fisher, 2019). The impact of neglect on these stages can be understood more deeply from the psychodynamic perspective. In psychodynamic theory, an individual’s inner world directly impacts behaviour (Robinson et al., 2019). According to psychodynamic theory, a person’s reality comprises the id, ego, and superego.
Similarly, in Erikson’s psychosocial developmental theory, each stage corresponds with a different period of human development. Erikson theorizes that the Trust vs. Mistrust and Autonomy vs. Doubt stages correlate with infancy and early childhood development, when people learn whom and what to trust. As in Nic Sheff’s case, children whose needs are not met by their caregivers may have feelings of mistrust and suspicion in future relationships.
Loneliness and rejection affected the natural psychological growth and, by extension, the mind. In psychodynamic theory, the unconscious mind consisting of the superego and id is in continual struggle with the conscious mind consisting of the ego (Kušević et al., 2021). The explanation resonates with Erikson’s psychosocial developmental theory as human behaviour is demonstrated to result from various interconnected elements that accompany us throughout human lives, beginning in early infancy (Natoli, 2019). The significance of the idea lies in the fact that understanding the causes of certain types of human behaviour affords humans the chance to mitigate negative consequences and build autonomy in conscious decision-making and action.
Bowlby’s Attachment Theory
Similarly, Bowlby’s attachment theory assists in defining Nic Sheff’s reality as a young victim of maltreatment. Bowlby felt that the early relationships created by children with their carers had a profound, lifelong influence (Granqvist, 2021). In Nic Sheff’s instance, parental neglect and consequent isolation inhibit the cognitive development associated with self-esteem. Cognitive theories in psychology focus on how and what people think, which leads to emotional reactivity (Kuevi et al., 2021). Feelings generate thoughts and beliefs that might result in uncomfortable emotions and behaviors contributing to substance misuse. Bowlby felt that children who fail to build attachments during crucial or sensitive times are less likely to create attachments.
As in Nic Sheff’s case, newborns whose attachment experiences with their primary caregivers are consistently interrupted may have major emotional, social, and cognitive problems as adults. A therapist may use cognitive theory ideas to uncover dysfunctional thinking patterns and turn them into constructive ones. According to the social cognitive theory of personality, social influences, cognitive factors, and behaviour interact to develop an individual’s personality. When combined with personality, social variables acquired via observation may lead to impaired judgment. Cognitive interpretations of the observable social context generate cognitive elements.
Concept Convergence and Divergence in the Theories
In both Bowlby’s attachment theory and Erikson’s psychosocial developmental theory, the external environment affects the individual’s internal environment, directly influencing their behaviour. However, Bowlby’s attachment theory and Erikson’s psychosocial developmental theory emphasize more on stages of growth. Despite the differences, both postulations acknowledge the impact of the psychodynamic perspective and social cognitive impact on an individual’s exposure to drug dependency (Le Berre, 2019). Among the characteristics are a lack of trust in others, low self-esteem, low self-confidence, and a desire for stimulation and ecstasies (Hsien-Cheng Xian Zheng, 2022). According to psychological reasons, drug users have personality abnormalities that render them susceptible to drug use.
From Erikson’s psychosocial developmental theory perspective, drug use is associated with aspects of social support, including poor social relationships and drug culture. Sociological ideas emphasize the role of social contact, social structure, and social ties to school and family (Schoon & Heckhausen, 2019). For example, social distress has the most significant impact on the prevalence of drug usage in dense metropolitan regions, such as heroin.
Implications for Practice for a Social Worker: Eclectic Approach to Patient Care
Communicative language training assistance is required in cognitive therapy as a requirement for implementing an eclectic approach to patient care. Cognitive-interpersonal therapy is an eclectic approach that enables the therapist to employ the most effective approaches available to meet each client’s specific requirements. Cognitive-interpersonal therapy aims to aid the patient in achieving more autonomy and learning how to deal with recognized challenges (Gureje et al., 2020). Patients can comprehend the source of their suffering by addressing the issues deliberately (Payne, 2020). The caregivers must recognize the significance of consciousness and exceptionally high self-awareness since it permits routines that might alter the victim’s subconscious mind.
Adherence to the Australian Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics
Implementing high-quality holistic psychiatric assistance should adhere to the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) code of ethics. The standard practice requires care providers to respect persons and advocate for social justice and professional integrity (Hosken, 2018). Psychiatrists must demonstrate sincerity, rigor, transparency, and patient respect (Bowles et al., 2018). Cognitive-interpersonal therapy should focus on a reliable connection between the individual and the therapist, founded on three fundamental conditions: empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard.
Conclusion
Nic Sheff’s childhood mistreatment was likely the primary cause of the psychological turmoil powered by the subconscious mind, which led to Nic’s methamphetamine, heroin, and alcohol abuse. The focus is on changing behaviors by implementing an eclectic approach incorporating phycological theories and consciousness-based therapies. Fostering a close working partnership between therapist and patient, creating roadmaps as a lens enables patients to learn about themselves and their interactions in the therapeutic relationship. In this case, the client-centered focus is essential for successful therapy (Gilbert & Leahy, 2007; Hardy, Cahill, & Barkham, 2007). The collaboration between the client and social worker reinforces the importance of human relationships in all phases of treatment and the importance and connection of the AASW Code of Ethics, which includes honesty, rigor, transparency, and respect.
Empowering Nic by recognizing and validating those feelings of loneliness, not belonging, and emptiness can have a long-lasting negative effect on one’s mind. The intervention is necessary in creating a variety of complex obstructions and challenges via the science of consciousness that may help ease the mental anguish. The human mind contains various faculties influencing behaviour, including imagination, perception, and reason. As a requirement for behavioural change, psychiatric treatment must incorporate the notion of thought awareness and the capacity for imagination when remodelling the subconscious mind.
References
Bowles, W., Boetto, H., Jones, P., & McKinnon, J. (2018). Is social work really greening? Exploring the place of sustainability and environment in social work codes of ethics. International Social Work, 61(4), 503–517.
Darling-Fisher, C. S. (2019). Application of the modified Erikson psychosocial stage inventory: 25 years in review. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 41(3), 431–458.
Gilbert, P., & Leahy, R. L. (2007). Introduction and overview: Basic issues in the therapeutic relationship. In P. Gilbert and R. L. Leahy (Eds.). The therapeutic relationship in the cognitive-behavioural psychotherapies (pp. 3–23). New York: Routledge.
Gureje, O., Appiah-Poku, J., Bello, T., Kola, L., Araya, R., Chisholm, D.,… & Seedat, S. (2020). Effect of collaborative care between traditional and faith healers and primary health-care workers on psychosis outcomes: a cluster randomised controlled trial. The Lancet, 396(10251), 612–622.
Granqvist, P. (2021). Attachment, culture, and gene-culture co-evolution: expanding the evolutionary toolbox of attachment theory. Attachment & Human Development, 23(1), 90-113.
Hosken, N. (2018). Practices of exclusion and injustices within social work education. Social Work Education, 37(7), 825–837.
Hsien-Cheng Xian Zheng, L. (2022). Roles of self-esteem and socioeconomic status in COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Current Psychology, 6(1), 1-15.
Kušević, Z., Friščić, T., Babić, G., & Jurić Vukelić, D. (2020). Depression in the light of some psychoanalytic theories. Socijalna Psihijatrija, 48(1), 72-103.
Le Berre, A. P. (2019). Emotional processing and social cognition in alcohol use disorder. Neuropsychology, 33(6), 808. Web.
Liobikienė, G., & Poškus, M. S. (2019). The importance of environmental knowledge for private and public sphere pro-environmental behavior: modifying the value-belief-norm theory. Sustainability, 11(12), 3324.
Natoli, A. P. (2019). The DSM’s reconnection to psychoanalytic theory through the alternative model for personality disorders. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 67(6), 1023-1045.
Payne, M. (2020). Modern social work theory. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Portman, B. (2018). ‘Beautiful Boy is simply beautiful. UWIRE Text, pp. 1–1.
Robinson, N. L., Schweitzer, R. D., & O’Connor, E. L. (2019). Early reflections on becoming a therapist: Development of reflective practice in clinical training programmes in an Australian context. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 19(4), 388-398.
Schoon, I., & Heckhausen, J. (2019). Conceptualizing individual agency in the transition from school to work: A social-ecological developmental perspective. Adolescent Research Review, 4(2), 135-148.
Stearns, S. C., & Rodrigues, A. M. (2020). On the use of “life history theory” in evolutionary psychology. Evolution and Human Behavior, 41(6), 474–485.
Stedman, R. C. (2002). Toward a social psychology of place: Predicting behavior from place-based cognitions, attitude, and identity. Environment and Behavior, 34(5), 561–581.