DEATH AND
MARTYRDOM
In perusing the literature on addict deaths,* 26i it is safe to conclude that this group shows high
death rates, shorter than average life expectancies, and greater
than normal incidence of sudden deaths. Addicts also tend to view death as more positive
and potent than peers, and are more likely to express a wish for it than do
other psychiatric patients. Much of this is
indicative of a suicidal tendency, and a number of authors have likened addiction
to chronic suicide (see references 31 and
163 for a more complete review of research on this topic and of the
material to follow).
From a family viewpoint a number of studies have
also docu-mented the high incidence of parental loss due to death in the families of addicts. Most frequently
these are of a traumatic, untimely, and unexpected nature. The rate
of early death for paternal grandfathers is also higher than expected.
Finally, there appears to be an association
From the above it seems fair to hypothesize that
some sort of tie-in exists between addiction and death in these families. In an earlier paper"' the
case was made for a family basis to the addict's suicidal behavior. The
addiction is part of a continuum of self-destructioni"
that is abetted, sanctioned, or at least not resisted by most or all family members
(e.g., the case in Chapter 9). This may be related to the
aforementioned separation issue in that many families state explicitly that they
would rather see the addict dead than lost to people outside the family. There
seems to be a contract within these families in which the addict's part is to die
or come close to death. He becomes a martyr who sacrifices himself at their
behest. It is as if they are saying, "If you have to separate, there is
one way you can do it and that is by dying.- Reilly' 18 has noted that the addict's
behavior might be viewed as part of an unresolved family
mourning process. To this point, Coleman29 observed that addicts' families
vicariously reenact through the addict the premature or unresolved
deaths of other family members, usually grandparents. In any
case, we believe the family tolerates a solution in which the addict
tempts death because the family mythology is such that death is an
acceptable resolution to their dilemma. It is a desperate attempt to
preserve the family in the face of escalating sociocultural pressures upon
them to release their addicted member.
