NEWBERRY — Heather Davenport has served as Westview’s primary prevention specialist for more than five years. Recently, she shared this story about a Christmas experience a couple of years ago:
“Normally, I see things through the lens of my job as a prevention person,” she said. “On one particular day a few years ago, I did NOT have my ‘prevention goggles’ on at all. It was the first weekend in December and I had my 5-year-old niece with me at the grocery store. She was riding in one of those racecar shopping carts, so my focus was less on collecting items to purchase and more on not knocking over displays on my way through the store. As we ventured up to the cash register, she drew my attention to a display about 20 feet away. From her perspective, all she could see was the top of a palm tree that was wrapped in blinking Christmas lights. As a huge fanatic of Christmas, when I looked over at that display, joy flooded my heart. All of the chaos of the shopping trip faded away, and it was just me and my Christmas joy for several seconds. Then, I looked down at the rest of the display; it was a beer display. In that moment, on a subconscious level, my brain just associated the joy of Christmas with that light gold liquid in those bottles. Repeat exposure to that display could have led to a positive opinion about that brand, probably without me really knowing why. That’s how advertising works.
It goes back to the experiments of Ivan Pavlov back in the late 1800s. He did an experiment on dogs in which he would ring a bell every time he would feed them. Ring the bell, feed the dog. Ring the bell, feed the dog. Over time, just ringing the bell caused the dogs to salivate. While I’d like to think that we’re FAR more advanced than the average K9, the fact is that we learn in the same way. When we do an action in association with the same stimulus over and over, over time we associate that action with that stimulus or occasion.
The constant marketing push leads to an internal push for consumption, and even overconsumption. This overconsumption often leads to an increased drinking and driving. Research has shown that up to 40% of all fatal accidents between Christmas and New Year involve drunk drivers.
As we march through the holiday season, make sure that you’re not forming substance-based traditions. Drinking and driving (as well as driving while under the influence of marijuana and other drugs) puts not only yourself at risk, but the rest of the people on the road, as well.”