Addiction In David Sheff's My Addicted Son

A recent poll published by CASA Columbia shows that substantial portions of the public still see addiction as a choice rather than an illness. The nature of addiction is not something David Sheff leaves open to debate for his readers. Once David discovers that his son is addicted to meth, he tracks Nic down and unconditionally demands that Nic check himself into a rehabilitation center. During Nic’s first stay in rehab, Sheff meet with a Dr. London, a Professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at UCLA, to gather information on his son’s condition. Dr. London shows Sheff her research on brain functions of meth addicts. Commenting on Dr. London’s work, Sheff

The third model of substance use disorders presented is the disease of the human spirit. This model suggests that as we enter the burdens and trials of life and become ungrounded with pain or voids in our lives we allow ourselves to feel pity and open ourselves up to our inwardly sinful nature. “It is at this point that some recoil in horror and become spiritual narcissists: self-centered, unwilling to see any reason to deny the “self” any desire or pleasure” (Doweiko, 2012, p. 357). This model believes that all individuals “all start out with hope, faith and fortitude” but when exposed to the ills of the world some “turn to chemicals to fill the perceived void within or to ease their pain” (Doweiko, 2012, p. 361).

If cocaine were legal, what would the little packages be called? Sweet N' High! Unfortunately, this is an example of what is commonly known as a “crack joke.” Drugs are increasingly being misused and abused. Yet, today’s youth in its ignorance takes drugs as a light matter. It is a different story altogether from someone who has actually used drugs. In Beautiful Boy, journalist David Sheff recounts his own and his son, Nic’s journey of drug abuse. Sheff’s memoir is a haunting experience filled with tears, brawls, and ample amounts of crystal meth. In Beautiful Boy, Sheff, while applying a casual and conversational style, effectively uses rhetoric to share his experience with an addicted teen.

According to DrugAbuse.gov, long-term studies of drug use patterns show that most high school students who use other illegal drugs have tried marijuana first. Teens are often peer pressured into doing drugs; they get to comfortable with them they inevitably reframe to harder and more potent drugs. In Cole Meyer’s short story, “Addiction” the narrator is a struggling teen addict and his addiction continues to worsen as he ages. Meyer uses setting, character and conflict to illustrate the devastating effects of addiction on the individual.

In the speech,”Everything you know about addiction is wrong,” spoken by Johann Hari, attempts to inform the audience about how society takes drug addiction the wrong way and is completely normal for a human to use drugs as a last resort in life. The presentation starts off when he explains to the audience the many different drug addicts he has met in his life a few years ago while traveling a long 30,000 mile journey. He then goes onto stating from his research that everything humanity has been taught about drugs is completely backwards. A experiment was done in the 50’s to show the relationship between drugs and social life. The reason people start drugs is not because they want to, but it is caused by not being able to bear a present in your life. Moreover, there is cruel punishments of drug abuse in America and how Portugal has tried to change it in their country. Luckily people can get over any kind of addiction when they have a friend or blood relative that they can call on if they have a crisis. Finally, people should be more supportive and open in their heart when it comes to others that have a addiction. The author uses logos and pathos to emotionally connect and comfort the people that have thought about drugs in their life and people that dislike drugs and addicts, but using ethos he tries to make a change in the natural drug habitat.

Dr. Gabor Mate, a Hungarian born Canadian physician, who is also a neurologist, psychiatrist, and psychologist, but who specializes in the study and treatment of addiction, reveals revolutionary evidence pertaining to addiction. In Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Dr. Mate worked with patients suffering chronic drug addiction for 12 years. With 20 years of experience as a family practitioner, Dr. Mate is a renowned speaker and teacher throughout North America; sharing his extensive knowledge with diverse audiences including health care professionals and educators (Mate, About Dr. Mate, 2016). The Realm of Hungry Ghosts, Dr. Mate’s most recent best-selling book, illuminates the origins and causes of addiction. As Co-founder of Compassion for Addiction (a non-profit organization), Dr. Gabor Mate encourages a greater understanding; “addiction is the attempt of affected human beings to escape a profound discomfort with themselves and their world” (Mate, Compassion4Addiction, 2015). Drawing on cutting-edge science, Dr. Mate presents the world with a shocking discovery: “The source of addiction is not to be found in genes, but in the early childhood environment.” Therefore, Dr. Mate simply “calls for a more compassionate approach toward the addict.” (Mate, 2016) As cutting-edge science concludes addiction to be a mental health issue, rather than criminal behavior, the American legal system demonstrates a devastating disservice to its own society.

Individually, we create a metaphorical puzzle as we reflect on our life. These puzzle pieces represent all of the small-scale decisions we’ve made. Inside of those decisions, also consists of other people and how they influenced our upbringings. When this puzzle is put together, all of these decisions create one large picture. Specifically, Wes Moore’s “puzzle” obtains unfinished than other people, these pieces may not fit particularly well with other pieces, and they may never will. The reader may never perceive why Wes made any of the poor decisions he has made in his lifetime, nevertheless, there’s one large section of the puzzle that holds together–this would be Wes Moore’s influence from drug abuse. The idea of drug abuse continues to be frowned upon by other people. However, what most people may not understand is that there’s an addiction that comes with it, not an addiction to the drugs specifically, though an addiction to the lifestyle that came with it.

Many people believe the misconception that an addiction is a moral problem and not a disease. To better understand the reasons why an additicition is in fact a disease; I will identify several types of addictions, and the problems associated with them. I will examine reasons why certain people are more susceptible for developing an addiction. Also, I will determine why many addicts deny their problems and many recovery methods addicts use to fight their illness. Researching these issues, will help aid my claim that addiction is a disease.

He assumes that drug addiction originated by younger years adversity in major cases; like many women who are addicted are victims of sexual assault in childhood years. Similar, he tells that males suffered “series of abandonment or severe physical and psychological abuse” (Maté 274) in childhood memory would easily be involved in addiction. According to Mate, drug addicts are usually in a state of unawareness; they can self-harm without feeling pain (274). Maté’s patient, Carl, thirty-six year-old native, angrily hurt himself with a knife as punishment for using cocaine (274). However, people misunderstand that addiction will not happen in families that raise children with a “secure nurturing home” (Maté 275). He argues that it still exists in those secure homes, even though they do not recognize it. In brief, Maté describes the mental factors such as stress, anxiety, and depression which are saddled “from family problem, or from outside circumstance” (274); this pressures can emotionally affect to the process of “endorphin-liberating interaction with their children” (Maté 275). He thinks children would rely on opiates to comfort their deepest emotions; it would be a best solution to escape their lonely world. For that reason, Maté confirms addicts usually blame themselves for “stupid decision” (Maté 275) after being suffered of drug starvation. In the last paragraph, Maté concludes his essay by stating “that is the great wound of all” (275),

Addiction is a disease that I will battle for the rest of my life. After being sexually assaulted at the age of twelve, I started to self-destruct. Lack of parental support, less than pristine living conditions, and an addictive personality paved an expressway to a life of addiction. I chose to hang with undesirable people, and was introduced to Marijuana, LSD, Ecstasy, PCP, Cocaine, Heroin and eventually what became the love of my life, the prescription painkiller Morphine. Never did I think that trying pot would have a domino effect. It led me to try harder and more addictive substances ultimately turning my life upside down. Often publicly

Addiction and recovery is difficult for everyone involved in the abusers life. Friends, family, and co-workers are affected by the struggle of the abuser. In “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, the story focuses on the struggle of addiction and recovery, and how his family and friends struggle to help him through his addiction. This is a serious issue in today’s society due to the psychology affect addiction has on everyone. There are many reasons a person starts to abuse drugs. The National Association for Public Health Policy states that “Drug abuse is interwoven with the problems of poverty, illiteracy, family disruption, racism, inequalities of opportunity and economic status, mental illness, and maldistribution of political power and authority” (275).

The movie, Requiem for a Dream (Selby & Mansell, 2000) exposes the multiple faces of addiction. Addiction can change a person’s identity and therefore, impacts each person differently. This movie explores the life of four addicts who push the boundaries of their own lives leaving the viewer to wonder, how far will they go to use drugs? The focus of this paper is on what addiction looks like for the character, Harry Goldfarb.

In this new story, the daughter is describing facts, whereas the father wants a more complete description, full of details. Following this, we see that the daughter prefers to be optimistic, while the father prefers reality. This is illustrated by the following quotes: “No, Pa, it could really happen that way, it’s a funny world nowadays”, and to this, the father replies “No… Truth first. She will slide back.” Her story describes the life of a mother and her son, and how she becomes a junkie to remain close to her son, who has become a junkie. In the end, the son quits the drugs world, but the mother cannot. Her son leaves her, introducing the element of abandonment in the story. This theme is pursued further, but in between lines. For example, the son left his mother at a critical time, when she needed him most, whereas the narrator stayed with her dad, even in his dying days. The father does not believe that the woman in his daughter’s story is strong enough and that even though she manages to quit doing drugs, she will fall back. I would tend to agree with him, because a lot of substance abusers, who quit, eventually, fall back. Her story is too optimistic, with a sense of denial for the tragedy. As the story ends, the father says “Tragedy! You too. When will you look it in the face?” Again, here we wonder whether the tragedy refers to the

Drugs and narcotics can bring down the best of us, but, in doing so, they can also shed light into our lives.

Imagine laying on the floor in your own pool of sweat—miserable, your mind bouncing off the walls while the cloud of your darkest thoughts looms over you. Teeth chattering anxiously, waiting to receive the next second, minute, hour of painless bliss. This—this is the life of an addict; does this horror appear to be a choice or more like a disease haunting the mind of the user? Despite the fact a choice was needed to initiate the result, addiction itself is a debilitating disease NOT a choice due to initial influences and anatomical changes to the brain.