Substance Abuse Scenarios

Since I was young I was told I was a quiet child, very mousy like who was always hiding behind her mother’s leg. I would never leave my mother's side and if I was greeted by a stranger, I would retreat from them, so I was shy. My mom would encourage me to go and say hi to others or play with a child that asked me to join in a game. I would at times play with them, but I would always go back to my mom when I had enough playing or was stressed. While I am comfortable to explore and later going to my mom when I want to be safe, I was avoidance of others and never felt comfortable, but I did have fun when I was comfortable.

Substance abuse remains a large problem in the United States (US). According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS), substance abuse continues to take a large toll on individuals, families, and communities nationwide. In 2005, an estimated 22 million people were struggling with drug and alcohol abuse in the US. Substance abuse disrupts families, impacts work and school productivity, causes financial problems, and is related to domestic violence, child abuse, and crime (USDHHS, 2015).

“Catherine” is a 31 year old, divorced female who is currently employed as a receptionist at a local human service organization. Last week, she began a treatment program for alcohol and cocaine dependency. Catherine lives with her 5 year-old daughter, “Joy,” in a home near her place of work. Despite little earnings from her job, she has managed to take care of herself and her daughter without monetary support from Joy’s father. Catherine was married to Joy’s father when she was 25 years old, but they divorced after he started abusing her physically. Joy’s father was an alcoholic, a condition that contributed towards the demise of their marriage. Catherine has not had contact with her former husband since they ended the marriage. Catherine’s mother, a widow, has been of great support. Catherine’s cousins, “Jane” and “Cynthia,” have also been of great help. Catherine stated that Jane and Cynthia, are the only family she feels she can depend on. Catherine is the eldest of four children.

I do understand alcoholism and being an alcoholic is a disease and that it is very hard to recover from, but him being my best friend and partner in crime it puts a lot more stress and sadness on me. Listening to my dad constantly tell me: “I don't want you to be mad at me” or “I don't want you to see me like this.” gets very old because he never changes;, he never proves to me that he’ll be better and win his battle to alcoholism. Instead of doing better, he lies his way around his addiction with the classic “I’m detoxing., I’ll stop within a couple days”. When he says he’s “detoxing” it usually means he's trying to hide the fact that he's going to go right back to the same person he was

The client was sexually abused at the age of 7 by her stepfather. Her stepfather was verbally abusive towards her mother. Once her mother found out about the abuse, she left and divorce him. At the age of 17, she got pregnant but had an abortion. This started the downward spiral in her life. Ms. Jones and her mother relationship is not great. The client believes her mom blame her for the sexually abuse and that she broke up the family. They still have a relationship but not as close. The client situation worsen when she started using drugs at the age of 19. It started out using marijuana but escalate to heroin. Due to her excessive use of drugs, she is in the risk of losing her children. The client expressed interest to change for

Neurotransmitters carry information and transmit chemical signals throughout the body. This corresponds to what Lewis introduces- a crucial inhibitory neurotransmitter-GABA and the change of firing rate of neurons in the cortex. Contrary to common beliefs, alcohol is actually a depressant. By enhancing GABA’s transmission, alcohol slows down our thoughts, impede our behaviours and weakens our judgements. Scientifically saying, “the brain’s electrical activities are decreased” (Connor, 2014). This is why Lewis feels “different- light and breezy, but then hugely clumsy when he [tries to] reach for the bottle too quickly” when he gets drunk for the first time (Lewis, 2011, p. 19). His consciousness is clear, but his body movement is limited, which tells us that the interactions between neurotransmitters are eliminated. This situation is also listed in the effects of drinking section in Teen Health textbook, stating that coordination and movement may be affected by alcohol (Mc-Graw Hill, 2004, p. 569). Also, the chapter 13 of Al-Anon book revolves around an event about helping a teenage to curb her violent temper. In the story, the girl says, “I knew that my violence against my mom was never a voluntary act. I didn’t want to hurt her, but I didn’t know how to stop, how to break the pattern” (Al-Anon, 1995, p.478). From her words, we can tell that

On 5/12/17, Hennepin County Child Protection accepted a report of alleged neglect prenatal exposure of baby boy to controlled substances or their derivatives by mother Rachel Casey. Per reporter Rachel gave birth to baby boy on 5/11/17 and has tested positive for substances throughout her pregnancy. Per reporter Rachel did not test positive at birth, and baby boy’s meconium is pending. Also, per reporter did not know if Rachel is or has been prescribed the buprenorphine and methadone.

Ethanol is the most commonly abused drug in the United States. When ethanol is ingested in small amounts, it may produce a feeling of euphoria in the body despite the fact that it is a depressant. Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant and it is the central nervous system that is most affected by the affects of alcohol. When ingested, alcohol passes from the stomach into the small intestine, where it is rapidly absorbed into the blood and distributed throughout the body. Because it is distributed so quickly and thoroughly the alcohol can affect the central nervous system even in small concentrations. Even with low concentrations, alcohol reduces inhibitions. As blood alcohol concentration increases, a person's response to stimuli decreases markedly, speech becomes slurred, and he or she becomes unsteady and has trouble walking (“Alcohol and the Human Body”).

Substance abuse is a growing problem that not only affects the person who is abusing alcohol or drugs but affects the lives of those who are close to the abuser. Substance abuse is the abuse of any substance. A drug is a substance that modifies one or more of the body’s functions when it is consumed. Everything from over-the-counter pain medication, to opiates, prescription drugs such as Oxycontin, alcohol, cocaine, heroin and even coffee can be abused in one way or another. The two main substances being abused in our nation are nicotine and alcohol. According to the Michigan Institute for Social research, “Substance abuse is a major public health problem.” Substance abuse is responsible for half a million preventable deaths each year.

Growing up in a home with an alcoholic is not easy. As far back as I can remember, I never had a positive relationship with my dad. My parents were always arguing about his drinking. Almost every night I could count on him stumbling through the door, late for supper, slurring his words, eyes glossed over and lying about where he had been. The only time I saw him sober was in the mornings or on the weekends. Our encounters were always uneasy because of his lack of involvement in my life and his effort in trying to make up for his drunken antics.

Alcohol affects the connections in our brain and can cause long-lasting damage. Neurotransmitters carry messages between neurons to the brain, which controls your body's responses, feelings, and mood. Alcohol slows down the pace of neurotransmitters to the brain, causing one to feel drowsy (“Beyond Hangovers: Understanding Alcohol's Impact Your Health” 4-6). "Alcohol-related disruptions to the neurotransmitter balance also can trigger mood and behavioral changes, including depression, agitation, memory loss, and even seizures" (“Beyond Hangovers: Understanding Alcohol's Impact Your Health” 6). The cerebral cortex is the first part of the brain that is affected and is responsible for processions sensory information. The behavioral inhibitory centers are depressed by alcohol and sensory information processing is slowed down. These interruptions cause a person to be more talkative, but also have problems seeing, thinking, touching, and tasting. The next section

Substance abuse is a huge problem that has caused over 109,000 deaths per year in the U.S alone! This problem is all around us. We may know people with substance abuse related addictions, but we don't even realize it.

Substance abuse has a tremendous effect on society. It affects families, communities and taxpayers. It discriminates against no creed. Anybody can become a victim to drugs, legal or illegal. According to Matthew David O’Deane, he describes substance abuse as the following: “Substance abuse is the overindulgence in and dependence of a drug or other chemical leading to effects that are detrimental to the individual’s physical and mental health”. Having a chemical dependency can cause young people to join a gang or maintain their allegiance to the gang because it’s a means of making money to support their habit.

Mark (not his real name) is an 11 year old boy, the oldest of three children. He will be attending middle school in the fall. His brother and sister are 10 and four years old, respectively. Mark’s mother has worked with my wife for many years. Prior to this assignment, my knowledge of Mark came almost entirely from conversations with my wife. The mother is a youth group minister, and the father is in police work. My wife and I socialized with the parents a few times over the past 10 years, primarily at adult-only work events. We did watch the boys for a day about five years ago. I remember them being unusually active. The mother has consulted my wife in the past for ideas for managing the boys. As a result of this background, I anticipated possible challenges with setting and

Substance abuse is something that can’t be controlled or prevented. Something as simple as ibuprofen that you take when you have a headache can turn into something deadly. It is up to the individual to be responsible when taking any kind of pain pills or other drugs. Our world is filled with gateway drugs such as marijuana or even worse, cocaine that is highly addictive.