Heroin Addiction Research

Heroin addiction is one of the leading killers of adolescents and adults in the United States. In recent years, addiction has skyrocketed, and “the rate of heroin-related overdose deaths increased by 286 percent between 2002 and 2013.” In 2002, “100 people per 100,000 were addicted to heroin, and that number has doubled by 2013” (The National Institute on Drug Abuse 2013). The most affected populations include low income males, adolescents, and those who have a family history of addiction, due to their increased susceptibility and crime-ridden environment. While it may seem as though heroin addiction is “just another drug problem” in the U.S., it is actually a problem of major public health importance because there are numerous physical, economic, and social risks associated with heroin dependence. Heroin dependence in the United States accounts for brain damage, increased homelessness, crime, and incarceration rates, as well as economic decline.

The opioid war can be resolved through the combination of counseling and extended addiction services for individual treatment plans. The program at Center for Behavioral Health Elizabethtown provides counseling and intensive therapy both during the addiction process and for up to a year for all patients after leaving the program (Zsigray 4). The treatment of the addict, and the mental illness and emotional disorders attached to addiction, can fix the epidemic. Patients who treat the addiction by use of corrective therapy are more likely to stay clean than patients who do not (Zsigray 3). Therapy and counseling are a vital part of the recovery process.

Facing both the mental and physical effects, they will generally do anything they have to do to acquire their next fix. I interviewed 5 recovering addicts in the Monroe area who are all in a program of recovery now but did not wish to have their names mentioned. One of the female interviewees stated, “When you’re going through withdrawals from heroin, your whole existence is revolved around how you’re going to get your next fix. I would do anything to achieve that goal, whether it be steeling from friends, family, stores, or even selling my body if I became desperate enough.” She claims, “Looking back now, it’s hard for me to believe that was me. That’s something I never would have even thought about doing just a few short years before my addiction began.” They all said that their opiate addiction actually started with prescription pain killers, 4 of them said they took some Vicodin they had found in a family members or parents’ home, and the fifth stated that he was prescribed Vicodin at the age of 13 when he broke his arm. They all agreed that they never meant to become addicted but couldn’t resist the warm, calming, euphoria that the drug produced. Not knowing how addictive the pain medications could be, they all continued taking Vicodin until they were hooked. One gentleman stated “It was all downhill from there. One day I ran out of the medication after a couple weeks of taking it and I felt awful.”

PBS’s documentary entitled, Chasing Heroin, highlights the detrimental effects that drug addiction has on individuals in America. Throughout the film, the stories of specific Americans who have experience battling drug addiction presented. Moreover, the film introduces some solutions that have been proposed to combat the drug epidemic that has spread all over the nation. While some methods have seen some success stories, relapse rates are still at fifty percent. As drug addictions have taken over and even ended the lives of people from all classes, backgrounds, and age groups, the country needs to take serious measures in order to combat the issues associated with drug usage.

Often referred to as the “devil’s drug”, heroin in today’s society holds responsibility as one of the top killers next to murder, suicide, and car accidents. From 2002 to 2013, the number of deaths by heroin has quadrupled. In 2007, approximately 2,000 lives were taking by heroin, and these numbers increased to 8,000 by 2013. Heroin has affected thousands of people lives and killed many at an alarming rate; it now holds a spot as an epidemic in the United States. In a poem by an anonymous author, the effects of heroin are described explicitly, “If you try me, be warned this is no game. If given the chance, I’ll drive you insane. I’ll ravish your body; I’ll control your mind. I’ll own you completely; your soul will be mine.” Thousands of

The research discussed in this paper explores the impact of heroin on the population as well as its impact on the methods healthcare workers use to treat the individuals who are struggling with this addiction. Three articles were analyzed to determine the influence of this issue on society as well as how nurse led rehabilitation can be utilized to improve client outcomes and reduce relapse. This epidemic is quickly becoming one of the leading causes of death in the United States as well as the rest of the world, and as a result new interventions and ideas must be taken into consideration to help improve the outcomes of treatment. Heroin use in the general population has increased from 373,000 in 2007 to 914,000 in 2014 and drug

Clinics providing access to readily available prescribed heroin will equal to less criminality acts showing that the individual has no need to commit further drug related crimes. Rather than their days being preoccupied with obtaining the drug, they are provided directly with it so they can work on the other issues that got them into a destructive lifestyle that not only hurt themselves but their relationships with family and friends as well. Furthermore, it seems likely that the improved contact with family, friends, and healthcare providers that comes with heroin prescription improves the chances of a healthy productive lifestyle for the individual. In addition, it provides them with the time to seek counseling, secure housing, and ability to find

Heroin addicts have the psychological dependence on heroin that leads them into the state of self-destruction and the possibility of leading to death by the extreme use of heroin. Never estimate the poppy flower for its power that withholds the fiends to their mentality enduring the euphoria enslavement of the mind that contained for many centuries. The heroin addiction nation is a self numbing injection and dry approach to have the mind under the state of the greatest feeling of great happiness leaving the pain behind under the spell of heroin. Heroin comes in many forms for addicts to enjoy in their own way. They come in powder and rock like form that is combined with other narcotics. The snorting form for heroin is not

It is likely that at some point in a person’s life it will be necessary to obtain medical assistance due to a chronic illness, injury, or sudden accident that requires a physician’s diagnosis and perhaps prescription medication. Although this very routine happening may be necessary, and at times critical, the adverse effects of taking prescription drugs that contain opioids can lead to an addiction, possible overdose, and death. The research contained continues the debated topic focusing on the connection between heroin addiction and massive numbers of people who developed a dependency after taking legally prescribed opioid pain medicine. The topic will be

2.1 Million people in the United States suffer from a disorder relating back to the abuse of opiates. (America’s Addiction to Opioids: Heroin and Prescription Drug Abuse, Volkow). Opiates build a wall around your thoughts and every wall of your life. When this happens, their lack of communication is cut off leaving them alone and making them make difficult decisions on their own. (How Does it Feel to be Addicted to Opiates, Donnelly). The substance takes everything from you including your money, family, and sanity. Without these things in their life, most abusers believe they have nothing left to rely on (How Does it Feel to be Addicted to Opiates, Donnelly). When people become addicted, they worry that they will never be back to normal. The substance had such a strong effect on them that they forget how life was before the abuse (How Does it Feel to be Addicted to Opiates,

At one time, drug addicts were viewed as a creepy individual that hung around alleys looking to score drugs. Today, we realize that drug addiction affects people from every walk of life. Drug addiction or more precisely, opiate addiction might affect a housewife next door, a graduate student, a grandparent, a teacher, doctor, lawyer, celebrity, beauty queen, model, baby sitter, or the teen delivering the newspaper. Opiate addiction is a new phenomena that is slowly taking over the country. Just about everyone knows someone that has experienced a drug problem now or in the past. However, opiate addiction treatment has saved numerous lives.

Heroin overdose is a HUGE problem in the world! I gave you just a few ways that you and the government can help! I think you should try and stop heroin overdose, and help save other people who might die from it. Why? There are so many reasons, you don't even know! One reason you should help is that heroin makes people feel satisfied with the drug and not want you to quit heroin, heroin makes you have this weird “glowing sensation” for the first 2-4 hours you do the drug. Heroin uses the user's pupils, heartbeat, slows their respiration, takes away their sleep, and gastrointestinal activity. You don't want these people who use the drug to lose sleep and suffer through all of this, do you? Another reason you should help heroin addicts is that

Heroin is readily available and cheap. How does a small-town deal with it? To begin with it, the town needs to change their thinking and their vocabulary. Changing their vocabulary and looking at the heroin addict as a person and not as addict is the first step. The town needs to see it as a disease, just like cancer or any other health issue. The town needs to help remove the stigma associated with the heroin addiction, bring it out of the closet and let the heroin addict know they can get help. Remove the shame because addiction, judgment, and embarrassment go hand in hand.

: Heroin is an drug that is from an asian plant called the “poppy plant.” Heroin usually appears as a brown, black, or white powdery substance known as “black tar heroin.” in Mexico. Heroin abuse is associated with a number of serious health conditions, including fatal overdose and infectious diseases like hepatitis and HIV. Street heroin often contains additives that can clog blood vessels leading to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain, causing permanent damage to vital organs.

Thus far, throughout the semester, I have gained so much awareness and understanding for those whom are struggling with substance misuse. Addiction has played a major role in my immediate family life. Over the years, I have realized that addiction does not discriminate on a basis of race, gender, or social status. Based on my personal experiences, the perspective I have of addiction is that it is like a disease. It does not just affect the individual; it also affects everyone the individual comes into contact with. Addiction overall, is not just associated with drugs and alcohol, it is present with gambling, Internet use, sex, or even food (Van Wormer, 2013). In order to understand an individual who suffers from substance misuse, a therapist must first know the definition of addiction, be able to asses and diagnose a client with an addiction, explore the bio-psychosocial-spiritual aspects of their addiction, laws and ethics related to their addiction, and provide the proper treatment that will help them to recover. Throughout this paper, from a bio-psychosocial-spiritual perspective, I plan to explore the causes of Gia’s addiction to Heroin. In addition, I will examine my personal perspective on addiction and what treatment interventions and laws and ethics might come into play in therapy with Gia. Overall, I hope to provide Gia with an understanding of her addiction and provide the proper treatment on her road to recovery.