Substance Abuse Story

It was my senior year in high school when my mom told me that my cousin, Mayra, had given birth to a baby girl. However, child protective services decided that Mayra wasn’t adequate to take care of the child; due to her drug abuse. Child protective services from Mexico were trying to place the baby with close relatives. Sadly, there was only three choices, her grandma, my aunt Gloria, and myself. The choices were few and the family small.

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

Treatment guidelines from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration indicate that treatment should include age-appropriate group therapy, and teach skills to rebuild social support networks (Trevisan, 2008). Staff need to be experienced in working with the elderly and use a slower pace and age-appropriate content. Respect with an atmosphere of support and change rather than confrontation should be created in the therapeutic setting. Three medications have been approved for treatment of alcohol problems; however, there are few pharmacological treatment studies of alcohol dependence in older adults and no know studies of other drugs of abuse (Trevisan, 2008). These three medications include Disulfiram, Naltrexone, and Acamprosate (Trevisan, 2008).

The scenario I am choosing describing the variables or conditions involved in drug abuse will be hitting close to home. As long as I can remember my father’s drug abuse choice was always alcohol.

Case Vignette Analyzing the biological domain, JL is 37 years of age. She is an Anglo American female who is in the middle class. JL lives in a sober living home and wears a cast due to an injury she had on her leg two months ago. She stated her injury is under control and does not require medical attention at the moment. JL has been residing in a recovery home after giving birth to her first child; her child was born with drugs in his system.

It is important to understand the complex role that families can play in substance abuse treatment. They can be a source of help to the treatment process, but they also must manage the consequences of the IP’s addictive behavior. Individual family members are concerned about the IP’s substance abuse, but they also have their own goals and issues. Providing services to the whole family can improve treatment effectiveness. Meeting the challenge of working together will call for mutual understanding, flexibility, and adjustments among the substance abuse treatment provider, family therapist, and family. This shift will require a stronger focus on the systemic interactions of families. Many divergent practices must be reconciled if family therapy

being. As a result, Bruce should be arrested for assaulting his partner which is also a breach of his probation conditions.

Although, I am now reaching the age of where most people are starting to think of retirement and looking back at what they had accomplish compared to what they did not. I am looking forward to having two master’s degrees this year, and starting my own substance abuse clinic in my community. At this time, I am a social worker for Child Protective Service of West Virginia, and a youth service worker also. At this time West Virginia is rated the ninth highest rate of prescription drug abuse in the nation among 18 to 25 year olds (Raby & Mattise, 2015). As of now the West Virginia legislation has passed a bill that will allow for Narcan to be purchased over the counter in pharmacies (Raby & Mattise, 2015). The rates of overdose deaths continue

In 2015, there were 428,000 children in foster care (Kids count, 2018). The average age of a child, entering the foster care system is 7.4 years. In 2014, more than half the children entering the foster care system in the United States where children of color. On average, children entering the foster care system remain in the system for two years, but seven percent stay in the system for five or more years. Fourteen percent of the children entering the system live in a foster home or group homes. In 2014, more than 107,000 children in foster care were waiting to be adopted (Children’s Bureau, 2014).

I have recently graduated from Texas Tech University with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a minor in Addictive Disorders and Recovery Studies. I have also recently been accepted to University of Houston – Clear Lake’s Clinical Psychology Master’s program. My main areas of interest are mental health issues and substance abuse issues. Therefore, my educational and career goal is to be able to help people with these types of issues.

When people ask you, what do you want to be when you grow up? What do you answer? Most people would say they want to be a professional athlete, working in the sports industry, police officers, doctor, lawyer, working in the business industry, president, and a movie star. However, that’s not what Blake Landry wanted to do. Landry, who was a promising soccer player decided she was going to be a heroin addict for the rest of her life and that’s they it is. That is just one case out of hundreds of case where drugs and especially heroin can ruin someone life. Currently there is an epidemic of a heroin addiction going on in the world today.

Attachment, nurturing, and socialization is the foundation that holds together any family. However, substance use disorders (SUDs) impact individuals and their family members which requires a great deal of responsiveness at the very start of the disorder. Whether it’s directly or indirectly, everyone in the family is affected by the individual that abuses the substance. The family member(s) can be affected by the individual through developmental, emotional, attachment, and violence. Approximately, 3 million reports of child abuse are reported every year and of that 899,000 are reported victims due to substance abuse. Children are a product of their environment and in many cases they are at risk of becoming the abuser themselves.

Many social stigmas are associated with drug use within our society. At one point in my life I shared the negative connotations associated to drug abuse with the vast majority of the population of this country and the society in which I live. As I matured and began forming my own opinions based on several personal experiences, I began to disagree with the believed norm that drugs are bad for our society. They are a means of escape for some just the same as alcohol and tobacco is for millions of others in this country. Those legal substances are just as bad for your body and habit forming as other illegal substances. Why do so many people frown on those of us who need our help? Drug addiction is a disease yet it’s

Substance abuse and addiction have become a social problem that afflicts millions of individuals and disrupts the lives of their families and friends. Just one example reveals the extent of the problem: in the United States each year, more women and men die of smoking related lung cancer than of colon, breast and prostate cancers combined (Kola & Kruszynski, 2010). In addition to the personal impact of so much illness and early death, there are dire social costs: huge expenses for medical and social services; millions of hours lost in the workplace; elevated rates of crime associated with illicit drugs; and scores of children who are damaged by their parents’ substance abuse behavior (Lee, 2010). This paper will look at

Alcohol abuse is a serious problem, driving while drunk or under the influence of drugs is an even bigger problem that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Abusing either one of these substances can lead to the death of you or the death of someone else or even cause a major change in their life like Jacqueline’s story, her whole life has been changed because of another person’s ignorance and carelessness. Therefore, you should know the facts about drug and alcohol abuse before you do something you may regret for the rest of your life.