Synopsis: Russell Brand grew up in the non-metropolitan area of the eastern district of England in Grays, Essex. He was only three months old when his father left. When he was a bit older, Russell would proudly identify himself with his father. “I was already a weary connoisseur of my dad’s pornography” (Brand 2010, p. 19) “Every week a different woman and a new scheme for riches. I would like to grow up like him.” (p. 21) Identification is recognized by psychoanalysis as the most basic manifestation of an emotional connection with another individual. It has a part in the initial history of Freud’s concept of Oedipus complex. A young boy will show signs of particular attention towards his father. He aspires to grow to be like him and become like him in the future, and assume his position in all places. In this regard, it is simple to state that he accepts his father as his model.
The author writes, “I remember saying to her, why don’t we just get married?” (Brand 2010, p. 19) Russell as a child had an “incestuous bubble.” “When I fall in love, it will be with Mother.” (p. 41) Once again, this is the Oedipus complex theorized by Freud to explain some form of childhood neurosis where the male child has an instinctive longing for the undivided love of his mother. Russell had felt antagonistic to the male adult who replaced his father in their household.
He had a “matriarchal upbringing.” His mother’s female friends and relatives like his Nan surrounded his early years. (Brand 2010, p. 19) His father, himself lost his own dad at a very early age, was an infrequent presence in his life. At a certain extent, he lacked this important connection. It is probable that his lack of pertinent connection with his father directed his adult sexuality. Some of his early memories in the weekends were sited by the author as “him leaving me watching the TV at his flat in Brentwood, while he read the papers or diddled birds in the room next door. I would mainly watch comedy videos, Elvis films and porn.” (p. 18) Untimely sexualisation through things being listened to, watched or seen, inappropriate sights and touching can cause a young person to allocate an unseemly place for sex in life. At ten, he encountered a childminder left by his mom during one of their late nights out who did something perverse as he watched. He also had a tutor tasked by his father but this person molested him. There have been occasions that in between drunkenness, the father expressively blamed himself for allowing that to happen. (p. 48)
The author mentions his inadequacy for human relationships. At the same time, his association with typical masculinity has always been progressively more difficult. When he went to primary school, he would alter the words inside picture books to make them distasteful and offensive. His teacher is found declaring, “There’s been another stabbing in the sandpit.” (Brand 2010, p. 21) According to his own evaluations in terms of his behaviors and attitude towards the company of other children, he attributes these with having to stay with his mom solely for seven years with thoughts that his father is some kind of hero, but has always been nowhere to be found and probably so preoccupied. Cancer had taken toll on his mother’s health which necessitated hospitalization. He was compelled to stay in the home of his mother’s family, but he never felt he belonged there. He expresses that with birthdays, Christmases, New Years’; he developed an aversion instead of anticipation. “I ain’t never really had much fun. I particularly dislike pre¬ordained happy occasions.” (p. 23) He would wet his bed whenever he gets out of his comfort zone like when he had stay at his Nan’s house due to his mom’s hospitalization and also during his first day in boarding school. He couldn’t maintain friends, even if he tried. He always manifested a self-destructive behavior. This was evidenced by his ruining a friend’s party and consequently, lost that friendship. With the constant move from his mother’s house to other people’s homes like his dad’s and Nan’s, he felt he could never be himself. “And this image of myself as compromised and inconsistent made me want to withdraw from the world even further.” (p.26) He once trampled on the flower beds of his good neighbor out of anger and frustration with his life, but was sad at the same time thrilled about it. The one occasion he realized there was really something amiss about him is when his own beloved grandmother had told him he was bad and should be held responsible for her mother’s sickness. (p. 40) Nevertheless, his mother would always reassure him that every time she gets awfully sick and then recuperate is because of Russell and her love for her son. As a child his self-destructive manifestations and venting of intense emotions, followed by an effort to re-establish some sense of wellbeing are shown as survival attempts for his perceived unreceptive and unsympathetic environment. These demonstrations of borderline personality that continued until his adolescence and young adulthood stage had been clinically diagnosed.
At a young age of twelve, he had become bulimic. When he was sixteen years old, he opted not to go back to school but just to study at the Italia Conti drama school. This was the time he began drinking a great deal and had tried to take drugs. Additionally, he would frequently go see prostitutes in Soho after being influenced by his own father. He also started to cut himself, had taken drugs during his stand-up shows and even on stage. The author related as well the incident when he had set himself on fire while high on cocaine. He was under arrest eleven times and was laid off from three jobs. These would include his spot in a commercial radio station in UK and MTV. He does not deny the fact that he had been intimate with more than two thousand women. Seven year ago, he was informed that he would be locked up in a mental institution or be found dead within six months lest he go into rehabilitation on his own volition. He was able to get himself get cleaned up and sober for a number of years now. (Brand, 2010)
It was in the year 2006 when his existing profession in the entertainment industry had taken off. He was known for his hosting flair evident in the NME (New Musical Express) awards, Brit awards, and his very own hit MTV show, 1 Leicester Square, including Big Brother’s Big Mouth. He had a successful stand-up tour around UK at the same time his BBC 6 Music on the radio had turned out to be phenomenal. He received the Stand-Up Comedian of the Year award by Time Out and succeeded as the Best Newcomer at the British Comedy Awards. The author writes a regular weekly football editorial within the Guardian and is an advocate in helping out Focus 12, an aid organization for those with problems of alcoholism and substance abuse. (Brand 2010)
Problems and circumstances: Addiction can either be a minor or severe case. If an addiction becomes serious like in Russell’s case, it becomes more essential for him. This becomes more important than his acceptance by society, his family, friends, and more important than life itself. He would always feel alienated, rejected, and disliked. As evidenced by Russell’s statement, “My life was destroyed by drinks,” “I valued drinks over my wife and kids.” (Brand 2010, p. 5) Addictions start gradually and develop insidiously. The major predicament in the management of addiction is recognizing the problem. Copello & Orford 2002, p. 1361) With all Russell’s confusion regarding his image in society and why he behaves in a certain way, mental health professionals have been very helpful in the process of his recognition of his addiction problems and manifestations of personality disorder.
Personality has a significant role in addiction. Russell’s problem with borderline personality creates impulsive behaviors such as sexual addiction, substance abuse, and alcoholism. Peer pressure, emotional turmoil, and feelings of failure and misery were evident manifestations of the author’s behaviors as described in his biography. Seeing as teenagers go through a lot of these emotional difficulties, they are specifically at risk for substance misuse and eating disorders. The social acceptance of therapeutic medications or drugs and alcohol makes the use and dependencies more prevalent. (Hurkom et al 2000, p. 475) The symptoms that Russell showed from his early years continued on until adolescence where substance abuse, alcoholism, and sex addiction became permanent in his lifestyle.
Adolescents go through problematic situations because they have mislaid their confidence and trust in people, especially in the family. At a very early age, Brand (2010) had lost a father figure when he and his mother were left by him. He had gone through life as a young kid with developmental needs inadequately met. For many young people, the loss of regard for academic institutions, societal groups, and friends or acquaintances, compromises the feeling of “trust” being re-established. (Hurkom et al 2005, p. 499) Probably if a concerned, truthful, not condemnatory, and respectful counselor was able to facilitate therapy for the young Russell in his early years, this may facilitate for the young individual to perceive, listen, and be aware that someone apart from his mother also cares, and with this, trust will gradually be restored. The turn of events in his life may have been positively directed with less of the hurdles.
Erik Erikson’s Stages of Development: According to the article by Boeree (2006), Erikson is a “Freudian ego-psychologist.” (para. 6) This is an indication that the ideas presented by Freud are accepted as fundamentally correct like his notions on the ego. Erikson is most renowned for his work in enhancing and broadening Freud’s theory of stages. Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory of human development suggests that people develop by way of a preset that open up personalities through the eight stages of development. An individual’s progression in the course of every stage is partly resolved by one’s success or lack of, in passing through the various stages. (Boeree 2006, para. 9)
With the children witnessing their parents indiscreetly make use of prohibited substances or engages in illicit activities takes away the purpose, significance, and worth. Encountering the bad behaviors from family members themselves, the children begin to lose connection with the family. (Newton 1995, p. 55) Russel’s father disregarded his family when he left them. He was six months old then, in the infancy stage where the mother’s role is significant as the development outcome is trust vs. mistrust. His first words during his early childhood where the developmental outcome is autonomy vs. shame were “don’t do that,” even before he learned to say “mum.” The events where he learned these words might have affected his self-esteem. During his play age where the development outcome is initiative vs. guilt, he is already aware of existing psychosocial features of conflict between him, his father, and mother. In his school age, he hated anything that has to do with being grouped with other children and attending academic institutions. In this stage, the development outcome is industry vs. inferiority. At the time, not too many parents were divorced. Since Russell’s parents were not together anymore, his situation was regarded with concern. During his adolescence, where the development outcome is identity vs. role, he had struggled with social interactions and grappled with moral issues as he developed addiction. During his early adolescence phase, he looked like a girl with his chubbiness, long hair, and sort of pretty face, as he called it. Actually he was not confident with his sexuality during early teens. However, it did not cross his mind that he was gay. He just had delayed physical developments. He was in the process of looking for a girl to express his affections to probably replace his mother, apparently what he found were drugs. He got himself entangled with substance misuse, alcoholism, and it was the father who encouraged him to have sexual encounters with women in the sex trade. In his young adulthood, where the outcome is intimacy and solidarity, he felt inadequate in the eyes of his family despite his emerging talent in comedy and hosting. Negotiating this stage was not successful for him, so he still continued with his addictions and remained isolated and distanced. He would find some girls he thought he would get serious with, but the extremes of his personality had gotten in the way. When things go well, he would celebrate with heroine, and when things go bad, he would comfort himself with the same substance. At thirty, his turning point came when his handler presented him options for his life. He chose to be rehabilitated, and from then, there was no turning back. During his middle adulthood where the developmental outcome is generativity vs. outcome, he was able to establish himself within a renowned industry and found his salvation through marriage with Katy Perry, an artist herself with strong female attributes that coincide with Russell’s.
Cognitive theory: Substance misuse and psychological function are very much associated. Alcoholism brings on a number because it is more accepted by society and more accessible than prohibited substances. According to Wood et al (2004, p. 78), cognitive theory inclusive of therapy selections have been confirmed effective in clearing up and managing addiction. This theory delves on the problem of dependency in terms of neuroscience and the science of human behavior. Krauth (2006, p. 4) asserts the relationship of addiction to an individual’s functioning of the brain, particularly in the frontal lobe. The convergences of chemical receptors that are associated with pleasure become habituated to the overflow of pleasurable feelings. In addition, recognition of some other societal and emotional issues that previously were not dealt with may facilitate possible treatment.
The problem of addiction is apparent; however, it is also pertinent to know the causative mental health issues that frequently result to long-protracted abuse. (Krauth 2006, p. 3) Cognitive theory is effective in establishing the association of physical and psychological addiction in a person’s brain. Behavior modification therapy, in the same way can help clients in once more programming the brain by knowingly acting in response or averting prompted brain behavior. (Wood et al, 2004)
Conclusion: The biography of Russell Brand has been written as an impertinent memoir. It is a story not merely of having struggled through a hard life but also of deliverance and emancipation from the cages of addiction. The narrative, with all its witty and humorous qualities, is shown as a testimony to the impediments of determining what a real person actually wants from life and the extraordinary force of a very determined psychological makeup to achieve it.
His growing up years in Europe showed how often he had gotten himself into misadventures that caused him different kinds of personal pain and depression but articulated in a comical way. This makes the reading a bit lighter despite the terrible ups and downs he had encountered much of his life, and a good reason why this book is chosen for this report. He had managed to recount most of the despicable situations he allowed himself to get involved in. It is a good read because it delves on a number of psychological issues familiar to a lot of people, professionals or otherwise. Through this narrative, there are a lot of those out there in the real world who may be given hope for recovery and have better, productive lives.
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR), personality disorders are “enduring patterns of inner experience and behaviour.” These are amply severe and deep-rooted to bring an individual into recurring conflicts with social and work-related environment. It is specified that the dysfunctional patterns have to considered as nonconforming or unusual for the individual’s cultural background, and cause intensely painful emotions and problems in relations and job functioning. (National Institute of Mental Health, 2010)
Delving on a critical analysis of an individual’s personality through the biography of Russell Brand, by means of various theories in the field of psychology, this paper concludes that effective counselling and a broad range of psychotherapies are effective means in addressing depression, anxiety, and addiction in various forms. In the past number of years, there has been a progressive interest for focused, time constrained variety of therapies that are used to directly take up ways of coping with symptoms caused by anxiousness, instead of merely delving into inherent conflict or some other personal weakness.
Erik Erikson’s psychosocial development theory is expedient in teaching, parenting, having a sense of self-awareness, facing up to conflicts, and in general for having the understanding of one’s self as well as others. This report recommends that care and management for young individuals ought to be high-level and specialized with a softened upfront non-judgmental approach. The counselor in therapeutic settings must be a good listener and compassionately conscientious within a non-intimidating or threatening environment. It is imperative to accept the young individual for what he is and not express disapproval of any mischievous behavior but find out what caused the action. Significant people in their lives who have discredited them may lead to feelings of being worthless.
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