In the memoir Tweak by Nic Sheff, Nic struggles with self-loathing and a drastic drug addiction. Nic repeatedly puts himself down and looks for drugs to help cope with the hatred he has within himself. Although, Nic has this thought that he will never amount to anything, he is still concerned with having a respectable image through the eyes of others. Nic Sheff’s conflict with himself and his drug addiction teaches the reader that you have to look at yourself in a positive light in order for other people to do the same through Nic’s countless times of going to rehab and feeling pity on himself. Throughout the memoir Nic Sheff follows a cycle of using drugs and then going to countless rehabilitation centers. Before Nic’s first relapse he …show more content…
After, Nic took a vacation with his father and sibling he began to think to himself that he has to stop trying to have everyone else's life and to just change his own. Nic says, “And then behind everything is my knowledge of the truth: I can't have their lives. I have to rebuild my own-something I have no idea how to do”(Sheff 199). Basically, Nic finally realizes that he cannot live the life of his little brother and sister. He realizes that he has messed up his relationship with his father and the only way to fix it is if he change his ways. In the same way, while reading to Lucy and compliments how sweet and delicate she is and he has this epiphany that there is actually still good in him as well. Nic says, “It’s in me. Sure, I buried it. I buried it and buried it and turned away from everything light and sweet and delicate and lovely and became so scared and scarred and burdened and fucked up. But goodness is there inside--it must be”(Sheff 167). Reading to Lucy and realizing how light and happy she is reminds Nic that he used to be the same way and could be the same way. Even though his sweet part is buried deep inside of him he still acknowledges the fact that it is still present no matter how buried away it is within. He begins to think that if he builds up the confidence to look at himself through a positive eye he will be able to
Charles McDuffie is serving a five-year sentence for burglary. He feels as if he has to turn to drugs for help. McDuffie’s drinking and drug addiction began
In the book High Price, highly credible author and neuroscientist, Dr. Carl Hart explains the misconceptions that everyone normally has about drugs and their users. He uses his own life experiences coming from a troubled neighborhood in Florida. The book consists of Hart’s life growing up with domestic violence in his household and the chance he had to come out and excel academically. He talks about the war on drugs and how within this war on drugs we were actually fighting the war with the wrong thing.
the story of his journey and struggle to overcome his addiction with the help of the native
She believes that addicts should love and be happy with who they are as an individual. She says that at her NAAFA convention she “kept noticing how great everyone looked”. They were confident and radiant and happy–and all sizes of fat” (Worley 163). She thinks that society should be more accepting of addicts. Worley says she wants them to be treated no differently than non-addicts.
Within our society, there is a gleaming stigma against the drug addicted. We have been taught to believe that if someone uses drugs and commits a crime they should be locked away and shunned for their lifetime. Their past continues to haunt them, even if they have changed their old addictive ways. Everyone deserves a second chance at life, so why do we outcast someone who struggles with this horrible disease? Drug addiction and crime can destroy lives and rip apart families. Drug courts give individuals an opportunity to repair the wreckage of their past and mend what was once lost. Throughout this paper, I will demonstrate why drug courts are more beneficial to an addict than lengthy prison sentences.
This book really opened up my eyes to the world of addiction. I really like the examples that they book gives us. The book understands that it is difficult for most people and family members to understand that addiction is a disease. It could because addicts and alcoholics have done some pretty bad things, because addict’s behaviors can be intolerable and living with one can bring a family member to brink of insanity. It is easy for a person to think that someone can just give up using drugs and alcohol, but I have learn...
Drug addiction is on the largest contributing factors for the deaths of millions of people throughout out the ages. Todays day in age drugs have become more dangerously more potent than they were a decade back. The majority of the population believe that the reason addicts become hooked on drugs because the the chemical triggers found in the drug. This has caused many society as a whole to look down on drug addicts and treat them with less respect than anyone who is not a drug addict. Johann Hari is an english author and journalist who was published articles in newspapers like the New York times, Huffington post and the Guardian, Hari has published his own book Chasing the Scream were he goes into a three year journey on the war on drugs.
Nic struggles so much why attempting to satisfy his need for the drug. This is the most important part of the book where I expected to know how drug users handle their addiction. The book narrates that Nic became a nuisance and a big problem both in the society and the family. Drug addiction erodes the morals of the users. Nic Sheff occasionally stole from everyone in the household. He took money from her mother, stole her sister 's diary, raided her brother’s little bank. In result, he was so much hated by her family. Again what increased the level of hatred towards him is his behavior of encouraging others into relapse. He regularly claims that the substances took away his values and morals leaving him caring less for his family. Addiction can be blamed largely for changing Nic Sheff into an immoral monster. However, we cannot quantify whether the family has an obligation of accepting his apology and forgiving him or whether she should be told off
The emotional tale of James Frey’s journey in rehab is told in the memoir A Million Little Pieces. Born in Cleveland but living in New York, James Frey was an alcoholic for ten years and a drug addict for another three years before he decided to finally receive treatment at the age of twenty-four. Since his doctor told Frey that he would surely die at the age of twenty-four from his habits of drinking and doing drugs, his family checks him into the oldest rehab clinic in a last effort to change his ways. He fights his evil, or as he calls it the “Fury”, throughout the entire book as it begs for another drink or anything. It begs for anything in his six weeks in rehab. A Million Little Pieces tells the author’s struggle as he attempts to get clean in his treacherous six weeks in treatment.
Less Than Zero is a film that demonstrates how powerful a drug addiction can be and that no amount of lecturing, pleading and care can change someone’s drug habit. Addicts need support systems but the decision to get clean comes from within. In the end, Julian was in too deep and the only person who could have ended his drug addiction was
Alexander explains that in Canada there has been three major waves of drug intervention, the ‘“harm reduction’ techniques” (225) being the most resent consisted of: clean injectable heroin, clean needles, methadone, and housing. Although, each of the methods are devoted and knowledgeable they have done little to decreased the deaths or supress the unhappiness. While clean heroin did work well few addicts quit using and many found the conditions of reserving the drugs to be repulsive. Yet another method is legalization which is nothing new and will do little to help.
...n anorexic, alcoholic or a drug addict, it doesn't' matter. They are all trying to get to one place in their minds. Nic Sheff is struggling to get there and loses hope along the way, which leads to him relapsing multiple times. Friends and family lift him back onto his feet, even when he thought he didn't need or want help. He provides inspirational insight and I would recommend this book to anyone trying to find sobriety. He put his world into a different light that changed it for the better. You can also find this light by picking up a copy of his heart-wrenching memoir Tweak: Growing Up On Methamphetamines.
Dr. Carl Hart had a very rocky childhood and through his own determination to not repeat the past has gotten to where he is now in life. He comes from a broken family plagued by domestic violence, divorce, and a lack of support while he was growing up. Dr. Hart’s views on; social support, addiction and the physiological effects on the brain, factors to take into account when assessing drug abusers, drug policies influencing discrimination, and decriminalizing drug use are well articulated through his book High Life; in which enabled the audience to have raw reactions to his personal views.
Beautiful Boy was released in 2008 and approximately at the same time another book Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines was published. The second book is written by Nic Sheff, the addicted son who gives reader different perspective on the same events that were described by his father. These two books are unique in their own way, since they give two different perspectives on the same, very widespread and so difficult issue - the struggle with substance abuse.
The book states “ As we experience living clean with its ups and downs, miracles and struggles, dead ends and open doors, we see the world more clearly and better understanding of our place in it”. It is important to remember that it is not where we have been that counts, but where we are going. We learn from out experience and we should use it to help others. The wisdom grows as we learn to see ourselves; without judging to conclusions. During the assignment I gained faith in myself to conquer over any obstacle. Growing up around drugs and alcohol was not important to me because my family never allowed children around while adults participated in their actions. Stability is important for us to thrive, but there is a difference between being stable and being stuck. Once our addictions takes over our time, mind, and value, we lose ourself. This assignment was needed because I picked up signs that helped distinguish serenity. I learned not to judge others, be ungrateful, and agitated with people with personal issues. Obstacles gave me a chance to challenge myself during the assignment. When we set goals for ourselves, we move toward them a day at a time, knowing that when we’re doing the rights things, the right things tend to