The social component of SUD is a major player in the holistic approach to healing. Relating to the answers of location as opposed to reason or accessibility it asks “where does the addictive activity take place and where is the impact felt?” (Van Wormer and Davis 12). This aspect is multi-faceted. The impact is not necessarily felt in the same place that the activity takes place. The social component may include the peers that are a part of the world of addiction, the family that feels the impact at home, or the employer that loses productivity, or the friends that hope the best for a person they once knew well, but now no longer recognize. In a series of articles published for the Bureau Co. Republican in spring of 2016 titled “Heroin …show more content…
(“Breaking” 2B). Another place that the pain of COD is felt is within the family. Authors Cohen-Filipic and Bentley add that many times parents of a child with a COD feel blamed by the education system, caseworkers, and the foster care system. They claim “the complex dynamics between parent and child also served as a source of blame for parents” (450). The ripples extend even further, threatening public safety. Engel proclaims the destructive nature of addiction leads to “many different property crimes like theft, burglary, identi[t]y theft and forgery – it’s very existence a constant driving force of chaos” (“Junk” 10B). The result is overpopulation in the prisons, broken relationships, and broken families. Engel cites an officer in his article “Junk Collectors” who tells of the pain of being a messenger of death. Officer Sangston is quoted saying, “Whatever embarrassment there is, it’s nothing compared to talking to a parent who just lost a child to an overdose and telling those parents their child is dead” (“Junk” 10B). The answer to the question where, is seemingly, is everywhere. Everyone who loves, or comes into contact with the addict is deeply affected by …show more content…
Recognized as “a key component in the illness of addiction…spirituality is crucial in recovery because it is related to one’s sense of meaning and interconnectedness” (Wormer and Davis, 13). Investigating the reasons behind a person’s addiction can lead to realization that the need to use is driven by something deeper and darker than a mere desire to get high. Delving deeper into issues that control the mind such as anxiety and depression sheds lights on the driving forces behind the actions. Smoking one more blunt, having one more drink, or injecting one more hit is just the balm needed to soothe the wounded and aching soul that craves the poison. Addressing the spiritual needs a person struggles to fill adds an oasis of hope to what otherwise appears to be a barren desert of unreachable recovery. Twelve step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous have focused on spiritual needs for decades and in newer approaches it remains worthy of a place in the
Alcohol Anonymous (AA) is a fellowship worldwide consisting of over one hundred thousand men and women who are alcoholics, banded together in solving a common problem and in helping fellow alcohol users in their recovery from alcoholism. A.A.'s twelve steps are considered a list of principles which are spiritual in their nature, and if practiced as a way of life by members, can help significantly in expelling a member’s obsession to drink, and enable a holistic awareness. Step one is when the member admits they are powerless over the use of alcohol, resulting in an unmanageable life. No one wants to admit defeat, but admitting powerlessness over alcohol is the first step in becoming liberated. Step two is having a belief that the almighty power can restore their sanity. Step three is making the decision to turn their will and life over in the protection of the almighty God, which is the key to willingness of change as noted by the Twelve Steps of recovery. Step four is...
This medicalized interpretation of heroin addiction heavily emphasizes a constant state of suffering for those who are affected (Garcia 2010, 18). Furthermore, Nuevo Dia employees take this framework into account when contributing their efforts to treat addicts, on the premise that relapse will soon follow recovery (Garcia 2010, 13). When detox assistants assure themselves that their patients will return to the clinic, as if they never went through a period of treatment, one can expect that the quality of such to be drastically low. The cyclical pattern of inadequate therapies, temporary improvements in health and detrimental presuppositions all widen the health inequality gap in New Mexico. Garcia shares that the “interplay of biomedical and local discourses of chronicity compel dynamics of the Hispano heroin phenomenon,” which is evident in how the judicial system handles the social issue of addiction (2010,
Seeing drug addicts and homeless people is not something new for me. I know that the homeless and the drug user have a story and a reason for why they are living the life that they do. I am aware of withdrawal and I am aware of the urgency of addiction. Nonetheless, this ethnography showed me that sometimes it’s not addiction because they love it but because they physically cannot stop. This also showed me that these people are not docile; they can function and know how to get what they need to survive. However, I do wonder if their want for normalcy ever outweighs their need for drugs.
The author uses his knowledge of the human brain to emphasize the importance of “Endorphins” when growing up and how the lack of the chemicals “in infancy and early childhood,[creates a greater need] for external sources” (289) such as drugs. Along with his scientific evidence, Mate also uses many of his patients traumatic childhood experiences such as having “dishwashing liquid poured down his throat . . . and was tied to a chair in a dark room to control to his hyperactivity” (289). These patients help create an image for the readers to be able to understand the feelings and the pain addict 's often face in their childhood, that leaves them feeling abandoned and neglected from the rest of the world. Mate even analysis the fact that addict 's can come from home where there is no abuse and the parents try their best to provide a loving and nurturing home. The problem in families like this is often a parent is the one who faced traumatic experience as a child and are not able to transmit the proper love to their child, because they lack the feeling themselves. The author uses the strategy of looking at both the child and the parent experiences to show that the root problem originates from the same outcome, wanting to feel “unconditionally [loved and be] fully accepted even when most ornery”
Alexander and Shaler make the observation that the current stance has many celebrating free markets for their advancement while ignoring the connection it has to dislocation and addictions. Additionally, there is constant attention drawn, with medical reasoning and facts, to how addictions are individual problems, either medical or criminal (Paragraph 12). Society is on a search to fix social issues yet they have not found one of the right culprits: addictions. People are living with damaged families and social ties or none at all and they are left to self-medicate without the correct tools they need to find the cure. All that is a toxic mix resulting in addictions that are further tearing apart and tearing down what little there is left.
The adaptation that occurs in the majority of the illness narratives is physical, social and mental. Garcia professes that most heroin addicts are “sentenced to detoxification [as] the first official step in a longer process of drug recovery” (2010, 2). Despite the diversity of these individuals’ personal histories, they are repressed from their distinct experiences, that most likely have contributed to their addiction, and forced to comply to similar legal rulings headed by a dominant class. The “Twelve Step Model” defines the length of the recovery process, thus the heroin addicts are required to leave their place of residence and attend Nuevo Dia for a time period that is based on this norm. In the social context, patients are assigned to new living arrangements in the detox center, hence being in the presence of other addicts who are also on the road to recovery. This social environment is not very beneficial for those who are adamant to get clean; the presence of patients in the same clinic, who are in worse conditions, is a “reminder of [their] needs” to revert back to drug use (Garcia 2010, 67). The vicious cycle of recovery and relapse is an outcome of the clinic’s social circumstances, which gives the chronology of addiction a valid stance in society. Incidentally, the mental aspect of conformity is
Although we are given free will and choice it is the choice to relinquish ourselves to God and His grace. May (1988) argues that addiction attempts to gain control over the behaviors that lead to shame and guilt. This book may be implemented into counseling to help those struggling between release of addiction and increasing spiritual growth. Ultimately, May (1988) argues that there are three simple ways in stopping addictive behavior results in “don’t do it, refuse to do it, and keep refusing to do it” (p. 178). When clients are able to face the truth of addiction, in their abilities, and longing for God they can begin to fall in love with themselves and the desire to love
In the book, Addiction & Grace: Love and Spirituality in the Healing of Addictions, May explores how addiction develops and can be treated from a psychological, physiological, and spiritual standpoint. This theme is clearly shown throughout the text as it shows addiction from a whole person's perspective. The book covers the development of addiction from desire through the experience of addiction. The key focus is on looking at the matter of addiction from multiple stand points then broken down by explaining how addiction is an issue psychologically, physiologically, and spiritually. By focusing on these three areas, the author is able to present the reader with a clear understanding of addiction from all sides of the problem.
This leads to the second school of thought on medically assisted treatment. There has been a great deal of debate about the medication used to treat Opiate addiction, methadone. Many feel that the drug methadone is simply trading one drug in for another, as the addiction to methadone is quick and almost more powerful than an opiate addiction (Nelson, 1994). The withdrawals effects are far more intense with methadone and for this reason it is a lifetime maintenance medication. Some suggest that more rehabilitative programs are needed that would address the social problems the users have to help them recover, instead of the methadone program that is viewed...
Young adults with opioid addictions worry what their friends, family and even doctors will think of them and hesitate to seek professional help. The result is that teen addiction often remains unaddressed, and it inevitably worsens without treatment. As a society, there is a lack of education about addiction as a disease, so most people simply don’t know how recovery works. Recovery from addiction is long and painful, and the stigma around addiction only prevents people from getting the help they need making it crucial for society to look past the stigma that people in recovery are always on the brink of relapse, a false conception that affects self-esteem and relationships. According to the Institute of Medicine, “Stigma is most likely to diminish as a result of public education and broader acceptance of addiction as a treatable disease” (The Stigma of Addiction 1). By reducing the stigma of opioid addiction, young adults will no longer fear judgement from seeking
Coming into the substance abuse meeting the student nurse was scared and nervous. She was scared of the reaction of the consumers and feared all the stereotypes she heard about typical alcoholics. Innervison gave the student nurse a new outlook on these types of consumers. She no longer looked at them as people who were just drunks and wanted to use AA as an excuse to make it seem like they are getting help. She never really looked at alcoholism as a true addiction; it seemed like more of an excuse to escape life’s problems. Sitting in and listening to these consumers gave the student nurse a dose of reality. The student nurse now understands alcoholism better and AA helped her realize recovery is truly a process that takes one day and one step at a time.
From the inception of the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914, the social concept of drug addicts or those recovering from abuse as “criminal deviants” is still stigmatized today even though we have gained ground and won the war on dru...
This experience helped me to recognize the internal struggle that a substance abuser faces on a continuous basis. In addition, I know that an individual can have a difficult time changing their behavior even when they have a strong desire to change; the smallest thing can cause a person to relapse.
Dr. Hart argues that social support systems shape how a person deals with their addiction. He brings in the story
David Sheff’s memoir, Beautiful Boy, revolves around addiction, the people affected by addiction, and the results of addiction. When we think of the word addiction, we usually associate it with drugs or alcohol. By definition, addiction is an unusually great interest in something or a need to do or have something (“Addiction”). All throughout the memoir, we are forced to decide if David Sheff is a worried father who is fearful that his son, Nic Sheff’s, addiction will kill him or if he is addicted to his son’s addiction. Although many parents would be worried that their son is an addict, David Sheff goes above and beyond to become involved in his son’s life and relationship with methamphetamine, making him an addict to his son’s addiction.