Substance Abuse: Why I Lost My Mom

One weekend, we had decided to clean out the house to surprise my mother. My father found papers stashed away that revealed theft charges; my mother had stolen medication when she substituted for the nurse in my elementary school. I remember my dad scouring the house for more evidence, even finding a stash of pill bottles under their mattress. She had another court date coming up that he learned about, just a few weeks before a family trip to Disney. Shortly after that hearing, my family took our last vacation as a whole, knowing that a key member would be lost to us the Monday after our return; she was going into work-release for two months. Before the end of those sixty days, my father learned that my mother had been unfaithful. Their marriage ended, and at eleven and nine, my sister and I said what we didn't realize would be goodbye to our mother for a great while. Her drug abuse continued, and months of time would pass between visits. We saw that sweet, ideal mother devolve into an addict. This loss has shaped me greatly, and it has taught me integrity, strength of character, and great love for others; without these things, my mother cost herself her family and

After not talking to my mother for about 6 months and trying to give her time to recover and realize that I was not going to be a part of her life If she continued to go down the path she was going on, her alcoholism got worse. I eventually reached out to her to tell her that I cared for her and that I would always be there for her, however it was too late and she was too far gone. On December 15th of 2016, my mother attempted to commit suicide. Thankfully, she survived and is now over 6 months sober. Although this event caused a lot of heartache and sorrow, it helped me realize the detrimental effects of addiction and how it can take someone's life so quickly. This also shaped me as a person in many ways, as I began to acknowledge the importance of the people around you and how vital it is to care and love others no matter what. Being a child of divorce, an alcoholic mother, and an easily tempered father was my environment for several years, and all of the hardships and wonderful things that came from it shaped me into the person that I am

As a recovering addict I know firsthand how my addiction affected my family. Addiction to alcohol or drugs is a disease; it affects everyone in the family, not just the substance abuser.

through a rough time when I was younger and my mother left our family for drugs.

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

My mom has made a huge impact on my life, yet she may never know it. My mom does so much for me and my brothers that she usually doesn’t take time for herself. That impacts me a lot because it shows me what a hard-working woman looks like. She

Inside my family structure, my mother’s parents struggled with addiction. My grandmother, Ellen Sweeney, who has since deceased, was addicted to opiates, and my grandfather, Wayne Smith, who has also passed away, was an alcoholic. My mom was one of five children, her siblings included, Margaret “Markie”, the eldest, , Catherine “Kerrie”, the second eldest, my mother, Marian, the middle child, Amy, the second youngest, and lastly, Matt, the youngest. Moreover, my mother and my aunt Margaret “Markie” Smith have also battled alcoholism and my aunt Amy has since been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. Due to my mother’s family struggle with alcoholism, addiction, and mental disorder, my mother’s childhood was particularly difficult. Not only was she undoubtedly influenced by her parent’s substance abuse when she was a child, but it has continues to affect her as an adult raising her own children.

As I got older things got better, my mom got help for her drug problem and I got healthier with the help of my dad and step mother. While living with my father my mom was supposed to come every other weekend to visit me, and many of the times she was scheduled she did not come because she could not afford the gas. This made me upset sometimes because I thought she didn’t want me or she was doing more important things. After being disappointed so many times it made me stronger because I learned not to let other people control my

no other choice but to move back home with my dad and step mom. We lived with them for

When my parents became separated, I lived with my mom most of the time. Since her priority was her business, she would come home late every night. Found myself home alone mostly every day and night. My mother got very sick because of the stress she obtained from working

There once was a girl named Jasmine Pacheco whose mother smoked weed and abused drugs as well as alcohol.There were days that Jasmine would miss most of the school year because there was no one to make her or her siblings to go to school.Thing only got worse from there when the police raided her house and found her mother smoking weed.That day at school they called her down to the guidance office and told her she was not going home.She was taken away from her mother and put into a foster home separate from her siblings.

Great job on the paper! The first connection I made between my population (the mentally disabled) and substance abusers is the role that family can potentially have. In some of the worst cases, a mentally disabled person or a person with a substance disorder may have no one to turn to but family. Both may rely on their family to provide for them as they struggle with their disability or addiction. Furthermore, both those with substance disorders and mental disabilities may have different social patterns than those who have neither. Just like y'all mentioned, a substance abuser may become withdrawn or only be able to hang out with other substance abusers and perhaps a few other close family members and friends,

When I was a kid me and my mom didn't really get along all that much, always had problems, and I never knew exactly why that was. I tried everything I could to avoid any and all fights and arguments, so I did everything she wanted and whatever she said to cease all of it. Things didn't get any better, they more like they got much much worse, I was finally able to move out in with biological father and things seemed to go good for awhile I was sent to military school and made out of that. Moved back home and moved out on my own and working 2 jobs to pay for all the bills, so when you're living with mom and dad don't take for granted what they give you cause its hard when you're on your own. Graduated high school doing everything that a young

It was a calamitous knock, a knock that brought with it the worst of news that commenced a series of devastating events to follow for years to come. This knock arrived at our door at 5:00 a.m. one morning and it was my brother, Andrew. He refused to reveal the contents of his night, but in his insensible stupor he incessantly demanded for our help in finding his lost car, keys, phone, and wallet. After hours of much endeavor from each family member, Andrew’s car was discovered in a ditch with a blown out tire, his keys in another city miles away from the crash scene, and his wallet and phone were never recovered. My brother’s desperate knock and our cautious opening of the door revealed that Andrew’s misfortunes of that night had derived from the abuse of methamphetamine. This event remains in my mind as the initial incident that began our continuous familial struggle over the past five years.

At the age of ten, my mother told me she was leaving my father. I was not sad; in fact, the news was a relief. My sister, my mother, and I faced the aggressive side effects of my father's drug and alcohol addiction. I grew up with my dad treating my family like nothing, as if he was in constant control of us and we did not matter. At the time, I did not comprehend the divorce was because of my dad's drug and alcohol addiction. I assumed when he passed out on the couch and would not wake up it was funny. The irrational mood swings were because he was overworked. My life, my view of the world, shifted when I pieced together what addiction