Personal Narrative-Assisted Suicide Case Study

540 Words2 Pages

I recently saw a young 18-year-old female in my clinic who was seeking pain medications for abdominal pain. Her urine pregnancy test was positive. The moment I informed her of the results, she broke down into tears. She confessed to being addicted to opiate pain medications. She was suffering from severe withdrawal symptoms and felt helpless. She said that her father abandoned their family when she was 9 and her mother recently died from a drug overdose. She did not have a job, nor had any close friends. I fought tears in my eyes as she was talking about how her former boyfriend gradually forced her into addiction. Her boyfriend recently left her after her doctor stopped prescribing pain pills.
I started her on a medication called suboxone …show more content…

I tried to contact her multiple times with no avail. A week went by without any response. The next day, I saw her sitting in her car in the parking lot. I beckoned her to come into the clinic.
She apologized profusely for not responding to any of my phone calls. She said that her ex-boyfriend was back in town and had assaulted her. She was under tremendous stress, which prompted her to take some pain pills and relapse. She stated that she immediately felt terribly remorseful and was highly disappointed with herself for letting me down.
I reassured her that I was never disappointed in her. In fact, I told her that she was remarkably brave to come back to see me instead of taking the easy route and going back to her old ways. She told me that the only reason she found the courage to come back was due to my relentless pursuit to contact her. She said she was blessed to have such a caring doctor and pledged to never relapse again.
She was back on her medication and continued to follow up every month.. Her pregnancy was uneventful and she gave birth to a healthy baby boy. In order to be self sufficient she began applying for jobs. Fortunately, I was able to recommend her to a job in our hospital. Her happiness was boundless after securing the

Show More
Related

  • Heroin Cape Cod Summary

    936 Words  | 2 Pages

    The documentary Heroin Cape Cod, USA focused on the widespread abuse of pain medication such as Vicodin, Percocet, and Oxycodone that has led the U.S. into the rise of an opiate addiction. Many of the users within the video explained that it doesn’t matter where you go, there is no stopping, and you can’t just get high once. Instead, those who do it want that high forever. I think that this is a very important concept that those who aren’t addicted to drugs need to understand, no matter how hard it is to. The documentary featured many addicts including Marissa who first popped pills when she was 14 years old, Daniel who stated he started by snorting pixie sticks, and Arianna who started smoking weed and drinking before age 12. Additionally, the documentary interviewed Ryan and Cassie. These addicts explained that in Cape Cod you either work and you’re normal, or you do drugs.

    Read More

  • Schizophrenia in The Center Cannot Hold by Elyn Saks

    1573 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... of the treatment methods that I previously mentioned. She also put a great deal of effort into resisting treatment, which in my research I found is actually fairly common. Several studies reported that, although symptom remission could be obtained for 27% of patients within 4 weeks and 45% within 5 years following treatment initiation, 20– 30% of patients reached a treatment-resistant status on the other side. (Kanahara, et al., p. 1)”

    Read More

  • Chasing Heroin Analysis

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    The documentary states that over 27,000 deaths a year are due to overdose from heroin and other opioids. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2015 prescription pain relievers account for 20,101 overdose deaths, and 12,990 overdose deaths are related to heroin (Rudd et al., 2010-2015). The documentary’s investigation gives the history of how the heroin epidemic started, with a great focus on the hospice movement. We are presented with the idea that once someone is addicted to painkillers, the difficulty in obtaining the drug over a long period of time becomes too expensive and too difficult. This often leads people to use heroin. This idea is true as a 2014 survey found that 94% of respondents who were being treated for opioid addiction said they chose to use heroin because prescription opioids were “more expensive and harder to obtain (Cicero et al., 2014).” Four in five heroin users actually started out using prescription painkillers (Johns, 2013). This correlation between heroin and prescription painkiller use supports the idea presented in the documentary that “prescription opiates are heroin prep school.”

    Read More

  • Suboxone Therapy

    1579 Words  | 4 Pages

    Almost one hundred years ago, prescription drugs like morphine were available at almost any general store. Women carried bottles of very addictive potent opiate based pain killers in their purse. Many individuals like Edgar Allen Poe died from such addictions. Since that time through various federal, state and local laws, drugs like morphine are now prescription drugs; however, this has not stopped the addiction to opiate based pain killers. Today’s society combats an ever increasing number of very deadly addictive drugs from designer drugs to narcotics to the less potent but equally destructive alcohol and marijuana. With all of these new and old drugs going in and out of vogue with addicts, it appears that the increase of misuse and abuse is founded greater in the prescription opiate based painkillers.

    Read More

  • Case Study Of Ella's Social Work

    2526 Words  | 6 Pages

    passed the practice of holistic medicine has helped but Ella is back in remission. Her body is

    Read More

  • Letter To Alice Capace, LMSW

    204 Words  | 1 Pages

    My patient was assigned to Ms. Capace under the management of Roberta Costanzo RN NP. Since becoming involved in my patient’s care, Alicia has gone above and beyond to communicate with the patient, myself and my office, the patient’s insurance company, the ER and hospital staff, outpatient treatment

    Read More

  • Assessment of Counseling With Intern Project

    1606 Words  | 4 Pages

    reviewed the informed consent document. She made sure to ask me if I had any questions or

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On The Opioid Crisis

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    On the typical day, over 90 people will die at the hand of opioid abuse in America alone (National). In fact, as of 2014, nearly 2 million Americans were dependent and abusing opioids. The Opioid Crisis has affected America and its citizens in various ways, including health policy, health care, and the life in populous areas. Due to the mass dependence and mortality, the crisis has become an issue that must be resolved in all aspects.

    Read More

  • Medically Assisted Treatment And Medication

    2156 Words  | 5 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Prescription Drug Abuse Among Teens

    1626 Words  | 4 Pages

    Almost everybody on Long Island, and probably all around the world, has been prescribed a drug by a doctor before— whether it was to knock out a nasty virus, or relieve pain post injury or surgery. However, what many people don’t realize is that these drugs can have highly addictive qualities, and more and more people are becoming hooked, specifically teenagers. But when does harmlessly taking a prescription drug to alleviate pain take the turn into the downward spiral of abuse? The answer to that question would be when the user begins taking the drug for the “high” or good feelings brought along with it—certainly not what it was prescribed for (1). The amount of teens that abuse prescription medications has been rapidly increasing in recent

    Read More

  • The Prescription Drug Abuse Crisis

    1696 Words  | 4 Pages

    The rate of death due to prescription drug abuse in the U.S. has escalated 313 percent over the past decade. According to the Congressional Quarterly Transcription’s article "Rep. Joe Pitt Holds a Hearing on Prescription Drug Abuse," opioid prescription drugs were involved in 16,650 overdose-caused deaths in 2010, accounting for more deaths than from overdoses of heroin and cocaine. Prescribed drugs or painkillers sometimes "condemn a patient to lifelong addiction," according to Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This problem not only affects the lives of those who overdose but it affects the communities as well due to the convenience of being able to find these items in drug stores and such. Not to mention the fact that the doctors who prescribe these opioids often tend to misuse them as well. Abusing these prescribed drugs can “destroy dreams and abort great destinies," and end the possibility of the abuser to have a positive impact in the community.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Community Health Service

    1532 Words  | 4 Pages

    When I met my patient for this service project, I was unsure of how I should introduce myself and how I would explain my role relative to their care. My community health worker, Sherron, took all the pressure away from the situation; she had already established a relationship with my patient and I felt more like an invited member into a health care team rather than a new face with something to prove. Sherron had already taken steps to help my patient and I was an added benefit with pharmaceutical knowledge. I spent most of my time reviewing disease states and answering questions about drug therapy. My first interaction with the patient was the first primary care visit; I spent my time extracting medical information from the patient alongside the new physician. This first interaction lasted over an hour, there is no way the patient retained all the details discussed, however Sherron was keeping contact with the physician and was given copies of the patient’s medical record. Sherron kept in constant contact with the patient and was truly the best resource for information besides the patient

    Read More

  • Personal Narrative the Suicide of a Friend

    1012 Words  | 3 Pages

    Can you single out just one day from your past that you can honestly say changed your life forever? I know I can. It was a typical January day, with one exception; it was the day the Pope came to St. Louis. My brother and I had tickets to the youth rally, and we were both very excited. It was destined to be an awesome day- or so we thought. The glory and euphoria of the Papal visit quickly faded into a time of incredible pain and sorrow, a time from which I am still emerging.

    Read More

  • Reflection Paper On Health Care System

    1612 Words  | 4 Pages

    approached the patient and she immediately broke down to tears. She began to plead to know

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Drug Abuse

    1089 Words  | 3 Pages

    Drug abuse has been a hot topic for our society due to how stimulants interfere with health, prosperity, and the lives of others in all nations. All drugs have the potential to be misapplied, whether obtained by prescription, over the counter, or illegally. Drug abuse is a despicable disease that affects many helpless people. Majority of those who are beset with this disease go untreated due to health insurance companies who neglect and discriminate this issue. As an outcome of missed opportunities of treatments, abusers become homeless, very ill, or even worst, death.

    Read More

More about Personal Narrative-Assisted Suicide Case Study

Open Document