Drug Addiction Case Study

Drug addiction causes uncontrollable drug seeking and use, regardless of the harmful consequences it causes in the substance abuser’s life, family, and community they live in. Some people are able to use recreational or prescription drugs without experiencing addiction or destructive consequences. However, that was not the case for Anthony (last name unknown), whose life was being depicted in A& E’s real life television broadcast entitled Intervention. Anthony was raised in a family embroiled in addiction. Although his father was not addicted to drugs, he was, however, a chronic gambler who refused to admit he had a problem. Also, Anthony’s two sisters, Tiffany and Tracie were addicted to heroin. Eventually, Tracie continued to

Anthony’s mother had taken on tremendous guilt because she witnessed three of her children suffer from the effects of drug addiction and felt that she was in some way responsible for their addiction. She began to question her skills as a mother. This guilt led her and other family members to enable Anthony. Enabling or as some call it, adapting, is what family members do to make substance abusers comfortable in their addiction (Hazelden Betty Ford, 2016, para. 7). Anthony’s family had enabled him by giving him a job to pay for his drug habit. Also, his father gave him money, and his grandmother and mother made life comfortable for him at home by cooking, cleaning and doing Anthony’s laundry every day. The family’s intention may not have been to make it easier for Anthony to use, however, that is certainly what they were doing. The family was in need of help and eventually Anthony’s mother began going to Al-ANON to share her experiences and gain insight, hope, and

Anthony spoke about a drug dealer that threatened his life because he owed him money. Anthony also spoke about his need for more drugs and how his craving caused him to consider stealing something or robbing someone as a means to buy drugs. This type of crime and violence is common and puts a strain on the community because people living in areas where drugs are prevalent, are put more at risk for crimes to be committed against them. In recent years, there has been an increase of illegal drugs which causes more and more people to be effected by them directly or indirectly (Sober Recovery, 2014, para.2). The increase in the supply and demand of drugs eventually takes a toll on the community economically because with the increase of drug abuse means more money has to be spent on more law enforcement presence, medical costs, and social service programs (Sober Recovery, 2014, para.2) which not only effects the community, but the society as a