For my addiction movie analysis I chose The Basketball Diaries, which is based off Jim Carroll’s autobiography. Mr. Carroll (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), grew up in New York’s Lower East Side. At first Carroll used drugs for sex and at parties, but soon it began to affect all aspects of his life. Carroll and his friends soon discovered how addictive some drugs can be and quickly became desperate junkies. Throughout his ordeal, Carroll keeps writing in a diary and gives a thorough view of his thoughts. During his middle school years Carroll became a high school basketball star in addition to being a talented writer. However, Carroll was secretly living two lives. Carroll starts out innocently enough with marijuana and sniffing bottles …show more content…
of cleaning fluid both by himself and with his friends.
Carroll also begins drinking by age 13. He starts doing a heavier drug called heroin and instantly becomes hooked because he thinks that it isn’t as addictive as marijuana. To support his drug addiction Carroll goes into prostitution. All the while that he is going through all of this he continues to go to school and play basketball. At one point things get so bad his suspecting mother catches him and kicks him out of her house. That’s when things really start to go to hell for Carroll. Sex, drugs, and criminal activity become a big part of Carroll’s daily life. He would steal from kids at his school, purses from women on the street, cars, the other team’s locker room. To support his drug habit he stole and prostituted himself to men. Near the end of the movie Carroll’s “casual heroin use that he thought he had under control,” catches up with him. His addiction had affected everything in his life but he seemed indifferent. All he wanted in the end of the film was to be, …show more content…
“pure again.” This addiction caused Carroll to lose weight, poor hygiene (he was on the street), and sleep issues.
“Repeated heroin use changes the physical structure and physiology of the brain, creating long-term imbalances in neuronal and hormonal systems that are not easily reversed” (Drugabuse.gov). I have a personal connection to this movie as my ex-wife is a heroin addict. I personally cleaned her off of heroin twice. I would recommend a treatment center a a good support system. Heroin is the most addictive substance I know and once someone becomes addicted to heroin, seeking and using the drug becomes their primary purpose in life. In the film the drug uses are connected. Carroll does heroin because he thinks that it isn’t as addictive as marijuana. He doesn’t believe he has a problem for the longest time and thinks he can walk away at any point. According to Drugs.com, several medical treatment options exist for heroin addiction. These treatments can be effective when combined with a medication compliance program and behavioral therapy. According to drugs.com, several medical treatment options exist for heroin addiction. These treatments can be effective when combined with a medication compliance program and behavioral therapy. Methadone (Dolophine,Methadose), buprenorphine (Subutex, brand discontinued in United States), buprenorphine combined with naloxone(Suboxone) and naltrexone (Depade, ReVia) are approved in the U.S. to treat opioid dependence. These treatments work by
binding fully or partially to opiate receptors in the brain and work as agonists, antagonists or a combination of the two. Agonists mimic the action of the opiate, and antagonists block and reverse the action of the opiate. There is no simple cure however. The addict will always be addictive as I have learned firsthand and will always be at risk for relapse. This therapy and treatment would not work for addictions to other drugs and is not a guarantee to work for heroin users sadly. Reference: DiCaprio, L. (Actor). (1995). Basketball Diaries [Motion picture]. United States: New Line Cinema. Heroin. (n.d.). In Drugs.com. Retrieved July 18, 2015, from http://www.drugs.com/illicit/heroin.html What are the long-term effects of heroin use?. (n.d.). In National Institute on Drug Abuse. Retrieved July 18, 2015, from http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/heroin/what-are-long-term-effects-heroin-use
The two models for this paper sit on opposite sides of an argument to whether addiction is a choice. This is a common argument in the media, and even amongst professionals. It is also one which seems to flare when a person in the spotlight succumbs to an overdose. The latest, Philip Seymour Hoffman, reignited this debate recently in the media, Manejwala (2014) states that deaths of a famous person from addiction results in the methods behind treatment being reviewed and debated and this can be seen anecdotally in news across all media ...
In the reality of the postmodern world, where nature is gone and has been replaced by technology, where the world and humankind have become fused with the machine, and the existence of morality and reality are uncertain, it is difficult to find hope for a better existence or motivation to attempt to change one's existence. Addiction then becomes a logical avenue of escape from these bleak circumstances--not affecting reality, but transforming it into something bearable. The addictions that Case turns to allow him to escape from the hard reality of his life th...
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.
In the film, Bob entered himself into a methadone treatment for 21 days, and got a job working in a machine shop. There he runs into a character by the name of Father Murphy, he too was an addict. It just goes to show no matter what our occupations are, addiction can happen to anybody. When Dianne comes to town to visit, she seems to be somewhat in disbelief about his choice to remain sober. The life choice that Bob made was the right choice he made, yet that still did not stop Dianne from gifting him some drugs for old time’s sake. In some case the environment that we subject ourselves to can keep us from completing our goals in
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...
The movie “Basketball Diaries” is based on a series of journal entries written by Jim Carroll during the early years of his life, these entries would later on be published as a novel. Growing up in the slums of New York City, Carroll was exposed to many instances of drugs abuse and as a result of his life being filled with stress such as him living in an unstable household without a father, and losing his best friend he began to engage in substance abuse. As a teenager, Carroll was willing to go to extreme lengths just to fit in with his peers. He was an avid basketball player who seemed to be devoted to the sport and was knowledgeable when it came to teaching others what he knew about the sport. Based on the opening scenes of the movie, one can tell that Carroll was a very impressionable teenager. Like many teenagers, Carroll was left open to the influences of his environment and so he was misguided because instead of trying to steer him on the right path, the older folks led him to what would inevitably become his destruction. This paper will provide background information of the ...
...e thing. Mark Renton learns that the life he once thought of as boring is actually preferable to a life of addiction. From this one can learn not to, similar to the gangster world, romanticize drug culture and the drug world.
New treatments must be made by realizing drug dependence coexists with habits that must be changed. This must, and can happen with long term supportive health with both clinical practices, and new-evidence based treatments such as Buprenorphine/naloxone rather than Methadone. This type of intervention will work in an extraordinary way with addicts and their sobriety. Intervention of both the physicians and addicts practices of opioid misuse would change the course of a deadly prescription.
In David Sheff’s book “Beautiful Boy” he utilizes descriptive diction, allusions to other works, and vivid imagery to recreate the experiences he’s gone through during his son’s addiction, times in recovery, and relapses.
And addictive they are. Heroin is perhaps the best-known opioid around, and arguably one of the most addictive substances known to man. Opiates and opioids (hereafter generically referred to as opioids) function by attaching to receptor sites in the body called mu-receptors, which are primarily located in the brain and the digestive system. When these receptors are activated in the brain they produce a rush of euphoria and a groggy state of well being (it is interesting to note that studies have shown that this action does not eliminate the pain one is feeling, but merely changes ones’ perception of it) (Kalb). The body quickly becomes tolerant of this, however, and abuse frequently follows a steep dosage curve requiring that more and more of the drug be taken to produce the same effect. Long-term abusers develop...
Drug addiction is more complicated than medicine thought in previous years. It’s not because someone is weak or unable to control themselves. They are chemical such a dopamine in the human body that makes the process difficult. The brain works in a neuropath way and drug interrupt the normal process which stops the frontal lobe to work as it should. Treatment isn’t done right and patients tend to repeat their habit after they get out of rehab. Psychological treatment is not as effective as chemical injection for dopamine to reward the brain. However, even after the treatment is complete, it will be a life struggle to stay away from drugs since the brain will always look for a simpler way to reward itself.
Addiction has many forms; this is evident in Requiem for a Dream, Darren Aronofsky’s critically renowned film, centered on the effects of drug use and misuse. The film conveys how quickly an individual can transition from recreational use to a drug addictive lifestyle.
Everitt, B. Robbins, T. (1999) Drug addiction: bad habits add up. Macmillian Magazines, volume 389, pg 567-570.
Drug addiction is a very big problem in today’s society. Many people have had their lives ruined due to drug addiction. The people that use the drugs don’t even realize that they have an addiction. They continue to use the drug not even realizing that their whole world is crashing down around them. Drug addicts normally lose their family and friends due to drug addiction.
Around age eight his very own father introduced Downey to drugs. His addiction started to become serious as he entered his twenties. When he acted in the movie Less Than Zero, he played the role of a cocaine addicted, which fit him well. Downey said that, "Until that movie, I took my drugs after work and on the weekends." He then stated "Maybe I'd turn up hung over on the set, but no more so than the stuntman. That changed on Less Than Zero. I was playing this junkie-faggot guy, and, for me, the role was like the ghost of Christmas future. The character was an exaggeration of myself. Then things changed, and, in some ways, I became an exaggeration of the character. That last...