Personal Narrative: My Own Substance Abuse Clinic

The topic of Narcan is a relatively new concept, since it has only been easily obtainable in the past few years. The major debate on Narcan use is will it become a bigger issue the it fixes. Governor Tom Wolf in April made it public that all state police cars will have doses of the life-saving drug; Narcan (Murrysville). Supports, of this drug look at the fact that is has been credited with saving around one thousand people across the state (Murrysville). Furthermore, that there have been more than two thousand overdoses deaths, in Allegheny County since 2008; and that Narcan would have given those people a better chance to live. Equally important, is the negative-side of Narcan. Tom Wolf in February, made it public knowledge that free doses of Narcan, will be given to schools that want it. Those who believe Narcan will become detrimental to the fight against this epidemic have good reason to. Such as, comments from Dr. Neil Capretto who is the medical director at Gateway Rehabilitation Center; has talked before about his teenaged patients, that would use heroin or other opioids in the middle of school (Pennsylvania). If Narcan, is so accessible like in schools, police cars, and can be bought for personal use, this could allow people to push the limits on using these drugs. Also, by allowing it to used whenever is going to be like adding gasoline to a flame, it will speed the

Growing up, I dealt with a mother who struggled with addiction; to be unambiguous, she was an alcoholic. She drowned in her alcoholism as it pulled her down an alarming road. She was dreadfully depressed and believed that alcohol was the only way to make her feel better, addiction blinded her from what a great life she could have ahead of her. Not a single member of our family knew how to help her comprehend how much happier she would be if she could stop drinking her sorrows away. When it came to family events, my mom would try to conform to how others were acting and act “sober” even though she was already countless drinks deep in to drinking. Nevertheless, my mother just wanted others to like her which would lead her to change her outward

I decided to write about a current issue involving the usage of Naloxone. There has been a debate going on for quite some time, about if all recue responders should carry Naloxone and administer it to people who have overdosed. Naloxone is described as a drug like morphine or fentanyl, that can cause an opposite effect of an opiate. It is either given by an injection or it can be done by a nasal spray. People debate that by administering this drug to someone who has overdosed is allowing them to go the extremes of usage and that nothing is being done about treating the individual’s addiction. DRUGABUSE.COM reported that there is an estimated 78 deaths a day, caused by the opioid epidemic. Which has led President Trump to recognize the severity of this epidemic, and push for more usage of the Naloxone. In hopes

From a very early age, I was always an extremely curious and anxiety-ridden child. I had an extreme interest in anything that was outside the realm of mundane activities and the notions of everyday life. Unknowing at the time, this was setting me up for a very self-destructive path towards drug and alcohol abuse. It isn’t easy to reflect on why I sought comfort in drugs and alcohol from an early age, but it is necessary in order to remind myself why I am on the continuous path towards happiness and wellness without the need for any alternative substances. My inner desire to alter consciousness, my drug use as a passive activity, my extreme boredom, and my impulsivity were all factors that led to my drug and alcohol abuse which has been made

I question are we saving lives with Naloxone or just prolonging it enough until they get a stronger version of heroin or one laced with fentanyl or carfentanyl. Thus, far the effectiveness that Naloxone have on the amount of opioid related overdoses has shown ineffective. The amount of lives saved from Naloxone has increased, however the number of overdoses and deaths have increased in the state of Maryland, since Naloxone has increased on the streets. My audience is for those who set the guidelines for the administration for Naloxone in the State of Maryland. Currently, in Maryland a person does not have to be trained to administer Naloxone. Anyone can go to their local pharmacy to get Naloxone at no cost. There should be more stringent guidelines on how Naloxone is distributed to the community. There should be an increase of education and not a decrease. This is important because educating the community has proven to be an effective intervention for drug use. Administering Naloxone without treatment is keeping people temporarily alive and addicted with the increase of overdoses and deaths in the long-term. Naloxone is reactive and without treatment have been proven ineffective. Naloxone is a short-term solution to

My relationship with drugs first began during my senior year of high school. While most of my peers attended their first parties years earlier, my first was not until I was already 17 years old. I still remember feeling so cool for attending my first party and having my first sip of alcohol. The feeling of being drunk was unlike anything I had ever felt before. I felt liberated, like I could break out of my quiet shell and be that fun, goofy person that everyone wanted to hang out with. Prior to this night I had never used any type of substance, legal or illegal. Since then I have continued using alcohol while also trying various different types of drugs including caffeine, marijuana, tobacco, and adderall.

So I attended the AA (alcoholic anonymous) meeting of a group called Choices Group from the KCB club on November 13th, 2015 at 2:30 PM. This AA meeting was held at the location of 5715 W. Alexander Rd.//Leon Ave. Although they meet everyday, this was the best day for my schedule. What I liked is that right away, I got in touch with the meeting organizer named Laura and she was more then willing to let me sit in in one of the meetings. Even over the phone I could feel that she was a nice person and when I met her I was not wrong. She has purple hair and such a bubbly personality. For starters, I always thought everyone would sit around in a circle but that was not the case in this meeting. There were tables where people can sit as well as some back chairs with no tables. When I arrived, Laura told me to sit in the back and when we go over people’s names to say that I was a visitor, that unfortunately never happened. It was around 2:27 PM and there was roughly 10 people there. As it got closer to 2:30 PM a bus showed up and that is when the rest of the people showed up. Roughly 45 people were there and the meeting started.

This is only one of the many sad stories of a promising teenager who has fallen into the grasp of opioid addiction in the state of Maine in the last decade. “In 2015 Maine saw a total of 272 deaths due to overdoses” (Ricker, 2016). The leading cause of these deaths are opioid overdoses. Opioid abuse is becoming an epidemic in this country, a raging fire that is sweeping across the nation, leaving many dead in its wake. Lawmakers and pharmaceutical companies believe that they have found the answer; naloxone being made available as an over the counter (OTC) drug. Naloxone, better known by its brand name, Narcan, is an antagonist of the opioids, meaning that it is used to temporarily block the effects of opioids for 30-40 minutes. It is designed to give someone who has overdosed the

Furthermore, it is estimated that in 2016 approximately 948,000 people used heroin, and over 15,000 users died from heroin overdoses (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2018). However, in my personal experience as a police officer, I have seen the same person overdose on heroin three times in a two-week period and that individual was saved each time by paramedic administering naloxone HCI (NARCAN); therefore, the death totals due to overdose statistics provided are skewed by this lifesaving

Every day thousands of people overdose on heroin and or opioids, in which they revived with narcan (naloxone). Many people believe it is a blessing because it carries no health risk nor can it be abused. It is to save lives. At least 78 people overdose every day, with that being said narcan is now more accessible to not just people in the medical field but

The goal is to reduce the rate of drug overdose deaths in the city of Huntington, West Virginia. A nursing diagnosis regarding this health issues is as follows: Increased risk of mortality among Huntington’s substance abuse population related to an increase in drug abuse/misuse, especially heroin, lack of knowledge regarding the risks of death with drug use and multi-drug use, lack of access to drug abuse counseling and resources, lack of access to naloxone, lack of employment opportunities for persons with criminal records and history of drug use, as demonstrated in the drug overdose rates in the city, poverty rates, crime rates related to theft to support their drug addiction, median household income below the national median, and inability to stop drug trafficking to the

Life seemed normal at first, I was a normal 14 year old boy in High School, but when I had my first sip of what seemed like the best thing in the world it was soon to be found out that i had an alcohol addiction that would then last for the rest of my schooling life. When me and my mates went to my brother's 18th birthday party everything went downhill we were slowly pushed into a circle and told to chug a fool 325mL of full strength beer from then on i was unstoppable i would then have another 5, 6 and lastly an eighth. When i leave the party someone shouts “have another one” but my mates held me back they knew something was wrong, my forehead was throbbing and an excruciating noise of a million drums rang in my head.Subsequently I hit the

Have you ever been in love with someone that was addicted to drugs? I have, and it is one of the worst things you can watch. Someone that used to be so bright and healthy, reduced to almost unrecognizable. My best friend in the entire world was the smartest person I knew, and he was on a fast track to a very bright future. Then he started messing with drugs and everything fell apart for him. I sat there, day after day, and watched him reduce himself to nothing. It was the most painful thing to watch, I couldn’t even recognize him anymore. I decided to take action when he overdosed one night and was hospitalized. I was eighteen at the time and I had just graduated and come back to my hometown for the summer. I jumped into action and I took

In view of my honest admiration of the staff and the overall experience at the Reading Hospital Drug and Alcohol Center (DAC), I found it hard to find an example for this assignment. However, upon entering my internship, I was apprehensive about working with a certain staff member, who I know from when I was thirteen years old. It is safe to say that seeing this person does not evoke warm memories for me, and I fear that something unprofessional may occur on my part, such as an off-color remark. In fact, my strong feelings of repulsion of this person almost kept me from accepting the challenge of interning at this site despite the knowledge of it being an enormous opportunity for experience and learning.

I began working immediately out of High School because my parents gave me an ultimatum, “Either go to college, or get a job!” I married at the age of 21 and three years into my marriage, I lost my first born-she was 18 months old-in a car accident. Although I am a Christian, I struggled for a few years with alcohol. I thought that alcohol was helping me cope, but it was pulling me deeper into darkness. When I became a mother again, I struggled on and off with alcohol until one day my oldest daughter took care of me because of a hangover. She was only about 7 years old at the time. I couldn’t allow my daughters to struggle with the knowledge that their mother had a problem. I was raised in a home with an abusive and alcoholic parent.