Ann Washlow, Mr. DeKuiper English 363, Block 4, April 8, 2024. There is always recovery to be had. Choose the one you like. An intense rush of freedom, joyfulness, and clarity that only lasts for a short period until you have to smoke again. Break down your body so that you can fit into a group. It may not be now, but in reality, you will see that these drugs will start to consume you. They will eat you alive and you will regret your decision to start. So was it worth it though? For Nic Sheff, an addict himself in his autobiography Tweak, he struggled with a serious drug addiction from his teen years into his adult life. Tweak begins with Nic sharing how his various drug addictions began. It all started with having his first sip of alcohol …show more content…
Many drugs like marijuana were normalized to Nic at a young age by seeing his father and peers smoke. When he went to high school, he started skipping classes and using more serious drugs like acid or eating mushrooms to make the user have hallucinations. As Nic became more involved in using drugs he was fired from his job, dropped out of his college education, and his parents kicked him out of the house several times. Throughout this novel, Nic learns the reality of how to recover from addiction, and that throughout this process he will relapse. Once in recovery and seeing his friends die from continued drug usage, Nic realizes he needs to turn his life around and get on the right path again. Young adults must read the novel Tweak by a recovering addict to have a greater understanding that drugs will negatively affect your life by compromising your morals, increasing peer pressure to try drugs, ruining important relationships in your life, the realization …show more content…
As a person takes their first steps into drug addiction by constantly smoking, injecting, or intranasal – inhaled through the nose – these repeated actions will begin to take over the user's life. Often, addicts will see a shift in their daily lives when they begin taking drugs and losing their daily habits as several drugs begin to consume their day-to-day lives. As seen in the article Tryptophan and Substance Abuse: Mechanisms and Impact written by a group of medical researchers with expertise in medicine, shares the common side effects of most drugs that can make the user have a challenging time falling and staying asleep, causing them to feel exhausted and drowsy (Davidson et al. 1). The adage of the adage. As indicated, a drug addict goes through an unmotivated state, making them physically and mentally less active than they were in their previous daily routine. Where it can be seen physically ruining your body by not getting proper sleep, therefore ruining the ability to focus. Furthermore, as the drugs begin to consume the life out of them, they take away their positive daily habits. Likewise, Nic Sheff explores how his addiction seriously affected him and changed his morals when he referred to taking drugs as a reward. Nic dedicated most of his high school career to the water polo team and focused on his classes like the excellent student
Written by Katherine Holubitsky, Tweaked is a novel that shows the readers how dangerous drugs are to both the user and their peers. With the two year meth addiction, Chase continues to financially and emotionally drain out his family however; the problems becomes worse when Chase escapes from his dealer's house. Richard Cross, the man Chase attacked, died and as a result, Chase is charged with murder. His mother secretly proceeds to monetarily support Chase but when she was caught, the bond between the family members exacerbated. Time elapsed and Chase was finally caught when stealing a car however, he dies shortly after and overdose and becomes brain dead. Tweaked shows us the reality of how hazardous drugs can be through the physical
Before 1975, Vietnam was divided into a North and South. The North was ruled by communism while the south was under United States protection. On April 30th 1975, communists attacked South Vietnam with the intentions of ruling both north and south in which succeeded. The Unwanted is a self-written narrative that takes place in Vietnam, 1975. At this time the United States had just pulled out of Vietnam as a result of the communist’s takeover. In effect of the flee, the U.S. left behind over fifty-thousand Amerasian children including Kien Nguyen. Kien was one of the half-American children that endured the hardships of communist’s takeover. Born in 1967 to a Vietnamese mother and unknown American father who fled to the U.S.
Although I have been given the knowledge I gained awareness that addiction truly is an illness. My thoughts and feelings will definitely be more tolerant and caring, all while showing concern to those that I may be blessed to be a part of their care in the future. Fortinash, K. M., & Holoday Worret, P. A. Eds. of the book. a. The adage of the adage of the adage of the adage of the adage of Substance-related disorders and addictive behaviors.
Ever thought about getting involved with drugs? Peer pressure can be a major affect on a person’s decision. That’s why the people a person surrounds themselves with are important. In the novel Tweak by Nic Sheff, the author explains his life and how he grew up with “that life” on drugs. Eventually after getting the help needed before it was absolutely too late, all Sheff has are the memories to look back on, knowing that he made it through to a better life. Nic’s conflict with his past of being a drug addict teaches the reader the terrible effects drugs can have on a person through Nic losing his family, friends, job, money, and even a place to live.
Many people dislike the term ‘addiction’ in relation to drugs or other substances, particularly as it infers that a person is powerless over their use of a particular drug or in some circumstances, a number of substances. Whilst others maintain it is this powerlessness that is the foundation of diagnosis and treatment – that treatment is not possible without recognition of addiction itself as the ‘problem’ being addressed. The professional and public perception of addiction is complicated. There are many approaches and models to explain addiction, the role of the addict, and their environment. This essay will compare and contrast two of these approaches, the medical/disease and the social model. Initially this essay will describe the origins of each model, and follow by explaining their respective strengths and weaknesses, and finish with an overview of the key differences between them. This essay will conclude by demonstrating that a holistic approach, and a cross-pollination of these models is the most successful approach to treating addicts. As is the case for all diseases, there are multiple treatment options, and as ever person is different, the results in each individual cannot be predicted.
David Sheff starts the story of his family with Nic’s birth and goes all the way long to the present days when his son had survived several years of drug abuse, rehabilitations and relapses. Sheff confesses that his son started to use different kinds of drugs when he was very young. At the age of 11 he would try alcohol and some pot. “In early May, I pick Nic up after school one day …When he climbs into a car I smell cigarette smoke. I lecture him and he promises not to do it again. Next Friday after school…I am packing an overnight bag for him and look for a sweater in his backpack. I do not find a sweater, but instead discover a small bag of marijuana.” (Sheff, 200...
According to Leshner, drug addiction is a chronic brain disease that is expressed in the form of compulsive behaviors (Leshner, 2001). He believes that drug addiction is influence by both biological, and behavioral factors, and to solve this addiction problem we need to focus on these same factors. On the other hand, Neil Levy argues that addiction is not a brain disease rather it is a behavioral disorder embedded in social context (Levy, 2013). I believe, drug addiction is a recurring brain disease that can be healed when we alter and eliminate all the factors that are reinforcing drug addiction.
Even though they may want to other factors are usually at play. It takes a team in this instant to work through and accomplish the goal of sobriety. This novel has aided me in understanding the world of an addict better. It gave the insight that only a person in the addiction can give you. It helped me to see that whatever the driving force is in an addict, it can sometimes consume you. Some people can fight the urge to use, while others give in to the temptation. The most important task in addiction is to surround yourself with positive people and positive activity. Correspondingly, loss or drastic change should always be handled with caution. The divorce of his parents and going between his dad and mom’s house was upsetting. Nic not feeling like a part of his dad’s new family was depressing
Nic Sheff wrote a masterpiece that is viewed both as fiction as well as the educational and life changing book. It became one of the most selling books due to its portrayal of the effects of drug addictions. Tweak gives a chronology of events that transpired during the growth of the character, both in a forward and backward manner. Nic in the first pages of the book gives some faint reason as to why he got hooked on drug addiction. It is at this point that we come to learn about his background and family life.
George went from marijuana to cocaine, in this case it does a great job of portraying that marijuana can be a gateway drug. According to the NIDA “Early exposure to cannabinoids in adolescent rodents decreases the reactivity of brain dopamine reward centers later in adulthood”, it also goes on explaining how these findings helped explain the growth in vulnerability for addiction to other substances of misuse. (Schmader, 2017). In class, we have discussed addicts
Gabor Mate 's essay “Embraced by the Needle” addresses important issues on the negative effects that childhood experiences have on the development of addictions, and the long term effects that drugs play throughout an addict 's life. The author states that addictions originate from unhappiness and pain that is often inflicted upon addicts at early age such as infancy. In Mate essay, he uses many patients past childhood experiences to help create a picture of the trauma that an addict faced as child and the link it plays with who they are today. Mate builds an impressive argument based on the way he organizes his ideas on what addiction is, and how it corresponds to a person 's childhood experience. The author does this effectively
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.
Everitt, B. Robbins, T. (1999) Drug addiction: bad habits add up. Macmillian Magazines, volume 389, pg 567-570.
The use of drugs is a controversial topic in society today. In general, addicts show a direct link between taking drugs and suffering from their effects. People abuse drugs for a wide variety of reasons. In most cases, the use of drugs will serve a type of purpose or will give some kind of reward. These reasons for use will differ with different kinds of drugs. Various reasons for using the substance can be pain relief, depression, anxiety and weariness, acceptance into a peer group, religion, and much more. Although reasons for using may vary for each individual, it is known by all that consequences of the abuse do exist. It is only further down the line when the effects of using can be seen.
In conclusion drug addiction is a very terrible and challenging problem. It affects individuals, families, and the people around them. It is important that drug addicts realize that they must want to stop and seek help for the problem. The drug addict needs the support of friends and family, so they can make it through this process. The process to recover from drug addiction can take a lifetime. There is hope for a drug addict who wants to change their life for the better.