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How drug abuse affects society
How drug abuse affects society
Essays on problem faced by rehab
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Rehabilitated Drug Addicts Can Return To Normal Social Life Rehabilitation is a process and a journey required by a drug addict to transform into a normal individual who is able to lead an ordinary life. It is a life-long progression for an addict and entails a tremendous level of emotional support, love, understanding and patience. Converting to a new individual after long periods of substance abuse is not a small feat. Gorski and Miller expressed that ‘the recovery phase is usually a painful experience faced by a drug addict, as he or she perseveres through the withdrawal process, which is usually an emotional wrenching experience, as the drug addict is trapped between two worlds” (21). Rehabilitated drug addicts can return to conventional …show more content…
Returning to a normal social life means change of routines and activities, since it is essential for a rehabilitated addict. Given the nature of the substance abuse, it is an extremely difficult transition which is delicate, as lack of new ways of doing things may easily result into the druggie sliding back to the old substance abuse lifestyle. Moreover, any social setting where a reformed drug addict is exposed to alcohol or any form of substance that can easily induce and reactivate psychological “remnants” of drug abuse should be avoided at all costs. The renewed drug abuser should refrain from social activities which might reactivate substance abuse. They should develop new healthy boundaries to prevent them from going back to substance abuse. Alternatively, recovering addicts may engage in a new social activity or activities, which they find fun and interesting, away from the traditional social settings which involve alcohol and other forms of drugs, depressants or stimulants (Miller, Gorski and Miller). It is also crucial at this stage for the involved individual to be in a recovery program to avoid any relapse. Religiously attending recovery programs and follow-up programs from therapy will provide the much needed level of support essential for a reformed drug addict to return to a normal social life. Recovering from substance abuse require concerted efforts, community support and follow-up programs that are effective channels of on-going rehabilitation and recovery process
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.
Once these individuals in rehab serve there sentence the majority of them, won’t look straight to the next opportunity to get high, but the next opportunity for a better future after being encouraged in rehab to accomplish something in life, compared to someone’s attitude coming out of prison. One story involved a man named Richard with his wife Marcia. She was an addict who was often jailed for it, but Anthony believed like many others that “addiction can be overcome with proper help. He believed that the solution was to get her into a mental hospital [and] get her whatever she needs – Xanax, morphine, to get her chemical imbalance right. Show her some respect. (114)” Give her some working skills, so once she gets out she is capable of being successful but instead she kept getting “kicked down the steps” by the criminal justice system. The jailing and torture of addicts is routine to people serving cases for drug related offenses, who are often not built to endure prison, let alone jail. “The Justice Department estimates that 216,000 people are raped in these prisons every year. (This is the number of rapes, not the number of rapes – that is much higher.) (109)” This is ultimately shows the simple fact that many people are not built to endure
On February 27, 2014, I visited an Alcohol Anonymous (A.A) therapeutic group meeting called Another Chance. Another Chance is an intergroup meeting located inside the Concord Baptist Church of Christ, at 833 Gardner C. Taylor Boulevard, Brooklyn, NY 11216. Another Chance has been in operation for over thirty years, and holds open discussion meetings on alcohol use and prevention, every Thursday from six in the evening until seven o’clock. This group interaction with alcohol substance use and abuse focuses on helping all members regardless of race, ethnicity or culture, to abstain from drinking one day at a time; and encourages them to maintain healthy thoughts and emotions through the use of the “Twelve Steps and Traditions” of recovery and intervention approaches.
Dealing with everyday stresses can be overwhelming for most people, all the more for recovering addicts. If you don’t have access to a support group who can help you manage these feelings in a positive way, you may be pushed to find social connections and coping mechanisms in other avenues. You may seek old relationships or habits that reawaken tempting behaviors.
Overcoming an addiction to alcohol can be a long and bumpy road. Many people feel that it is impossible to overcome an alcohol addiction. Many people feel that is it easier to be an addict than to be a recovering addict. However, recovering from alcoholism is possible if one is ready to seek the help and support they need on their road to recovery. Recovery is taking the time to regain one’s normal mind, health and strength. Recovery is process. It takes time to stop the alcohol cravings and pressure to drink. For most, rehab and professional help is needed, while others can stop drinking on their own. Recovery never ends. After rehab, professional help or quitting on your own, many people still need help staying sober. A lot of time, recovering
This experience helped me to recognize the internal struggle that a substance abuser faces on a continuous basis. In addition, I know that an individual can have a difficult time changing their behavior even when they have a strong desire to change; the smallest thing can cause a person to relapse.
Relapse prevention can be defined as the set of designed coping skills or tools that can be utilized to reduce the chances that the user will resort back to unhealthy behavior or get worse through continued substance use. Knowledge or skills for relapse prevention include; identification of early signs of relapse, identifying and singling out high risk factors for a possible relapse, how to make wise daily choices that won’t lead the client back to drug abuse, and implementing early coping strategies to avoid relapse (Sofuoglu, 2010).
There are many American individuals, and families who suffer from substance abuse. Addiction and recovery are a lifelong process. This essay looks at the outcome of addiction and the recovery process as a whole. By identifying addiction we will eliminate the consideration that recovery is not possible.
Relapse prevention has been able to become included into the treatment models of how to effectively teach drug offenders skills that can assist them in the development of positive self talk, self reinforcement, cognitive restructuring, and various forms of strategies that would allow those addicted to drugs to remain sober (Laws, 2003). In the future combining relapse prevention with medications such as vivitrol or Naltrexone to treat substance abuse leads to improved outcomes as compared with either relapse prevention or medication assisted treatment alone provides (Larimer et al., 1999). Relapse prevention has been proven to reduce an offender’s propensity to relapse by teaching offenders pro-social skills that will allow them to avoid and escape high risk situations. Most importantly, according to the evidence from the study, we are now able to suggest that the reduction in the drug offender’s odds of recidivism is enhanced when paired with post treatment after care type programs after the offender has completed initial treatment and been released from community supervision (Belenko et al., 2004). Therefore, is becoming obvious that relapse prevention can be considered and effective method of treatment for both the drug dealer and drug user
a wise man recognizes the face of necessity. It is of great importance for persons to be mindful of destructive elements in their communities. In doing so the safety and positive growth of such a community can be realized and maintain. Substance abuse is a very destructive force, that is why it is important to have the right support in the community to help individuals get over it. Proper management of this condition is also crucial in order to help individuals affected to get fully recovered overtime. Therefore, elements such as drug abuse is relative and to talk about, and the recovery resolution.
Despite how hard one works to overcome a substance addiction or those who have even mastered their sobriety; a negative stigma generally haunts them throughout their life. For individuals coping with addiction and the day to day difficulties, which addiction presents, they often feel many negative sentiments from society. Together with the task of managing their symptoms, low self esteem, a fear of relapse, depression and the negative stigma from the general public can only be seen as a bleak road to recovery.
To begin with, in order for a facility to be successful in treating people with addictions whether it be alcohol, or drugs the facility must have a treatment plan to use and guide both counselors and the client alike to be successful in the program.
...g the extent to which addiction affected the brain system resulting into changes and adaptations that the addict has no control. In addition to this, I learnt of the innate struggle that they experience with every attempt made towards becoming “clean” again; a struggle which almost always ends in defeat. A situation that can be described as “baffling”, an expression used by one of Dr, Volkow’s interviewees. Learning the involuntary nature of addiction and relapse that occur during recovery and the immense efforts required from the recovering addicts greatly changed the way I perceived the recovery process. Now I know it takes intervention from others, in addition to the effort made by the affected individual desiring to recover. Indeed, one cannot easily recover from drug addiction and avoid relapsing without help from family, friends and the society at large.
Most of the thousands and thousands of substance abusers in early recovery, that I have crossed paths with over the past four decades, have had a great deal of trouble understanding who they are early on in their sobriety. One common factor that all substance abusers share in early
There are many addictions in the world, and drug addiction is the biggest. People may experiment with the drug for many reasons. “If your drug use is causing problems in your life, then you likely have a drug abuse or addiction problem”.(Lawrence Robinson pg.1) Many people start out using drugs by peer pressure or out of their own curiosity. Stress, anxiety, lows self-esteem and depression could be another factor to start using drugs. The drug takes over your body and gives you a good feeling that many people tend to enjoy. The urge to use the drug can keep increasing rapidly after the first use. The urge can become so severe that your mind can find many other ways to deny the factor of addiction. Very few drug addicts can feel and realize when they have crossed the line with drugs. A drug addicts mind can build up a very large tolerance for the drug that they start to abandon the activities they used to do on a daily basis like showering, hobbies, socializing and even being associated with family members. The person with the addiction will continue to use the drug knowing that it is harming there body, but they don’t have any remorse. A drug addict will often try to hide their problem, so they can continue to use without anyone’s input. Family and friends may try to use preaching methods or tell the user that they need to stop using the drug. This method is not ...