Substance Abuse Case Study

639 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: An essay on the effects of drug abuse

Substance abuse remains a prominent issue affecting men, women and adolescences young as “age 11.” (William 2014) Substance abuse is an “excessive use of a potentially addictive substance, especially one that may modify body functions, such as alcohol and drugs. Also called chemical abuse.” (Houghton 2011) In the case of 17- year old Mr. Favel, he models the behavioral theory, which is based through conditioning with the interaction in the environment. Based on the environmental stimuli will shape our behaviors to certain situations.

Mr. Favel case reveals his feeling of abandonment with his biological parents due to their alcoholism that in turn Mr. Favel had to be placed in several of fosters homes at an early age of 5. Mr. Favel just finished grade 9 recently but has no intention of schooling because he put up long enough with the disrespect and rudeness of his teachers and the racial taunting from other students. Mr. Favel currently lives in an abandoned house after he ran away from his most recent foster parents home without giving them any notice. Mr. Favel use substances consent of glue, nicotine and alcohol. He usually drinks alone in insolation and self-medication because he was mainly trying to forget all the “garbage” (Favel) that was going on in his life. He would refer drinking to huffing but because of his age and lifestyle, glue was the only painkiller he could get his hands on. Because of this Mr. Favel feels to urge to participate in substance abuse to hide his past and to forget anything that has ever happened. These connections between the addiction and behavior is the classical conditioning from the triggers in his life about feeling abandoned and is drinking to not feel the pain or alone. Mr. Fav...

... middle of paper ...

...therapy.” (Bubby 2012) Yet, group therapy will probably not be the best choice, as Mr. Favel will probably feel uncomfortable with speaking with other peers because of racial taunting and rudeness that he experienced in school. In time, Mr. Favel might feel comfortable with speaking in a group with other peers but the best choice at this time is to have Mr. Favel start cognitive behavior therapy with a therapist to begin with then introduce group sessions when Mr. Favel is comfortable.

Overall, the case of George Favel is fairly tragic – an example of an individual whose life was undermined by his addiction, one which pursued him since childhood, and influence by the authority that surrounds him. In the end with aid from a youth worker to seek help, Mr. Favel will in time seek help for his addiction and be on the way to a new brighter future.

Show More
Related

  • Alcohol Case Study

    2254 Words  | 5 Pages

    Jody was born biologically with male genitals and he was brought up as a boy. Unlike his more gender-typical older brother, Jody’s childhood behavior was considered “sissy”. Jody genetically preferred the company of girls compared to boys during childhood. Jody considered herself a bisexual male until the age of 19. At 19 years of age, she became involved with a man, and her identity would be transgender, meaning that Jody was unhappy with her gender of birth and seeks a change from male to female. It would seem that there was some late-onset dissatisfaction, and late-onset is linked to attraction to women; in comparison to early childhood-onset, which are attracted to men. Jody identified herself as bisexual. The relationship with the man ended; nevertheless, Jody’s desire to become a woman consumed her, and Jody feels that’s he was born in the

    Read More

  • Substance Abuse: Compaing the Medical/Disease Model and the Social Model

    1790 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey through His Son's Addiction

    813 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Micheal Dransfield

    2349 Words  | 5 Pages

    It is a shame that it took such a personal tragedy “for [Dransfield] to engage so definitively with the experience of addiction…in such an astonishingly short time” (Armand, 1997). His work can only be marveled at and admired for its “richly cosmopolitan tone, its urgent sense of possibility, its sheer ‘cannibal energy’, and its persistent attempt to resolve difficult emotional problems” (Armand, 1997).

    Read More

  • Apathy and Addiction in William Gibson's Neuromancer

    1391 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of David Sheff's Beautiful Boy

    1330 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Embraced By The Needle

    716 Words  | 2 Pages

    The author uses his knowledge of the human brain to emphasize the importance of “Endorphins” when growing up and how the lack of the chemicals “in infancy and early childhood,[creates a greater need] for external sources” (289) such as drugs. Along with his scientific evidence, Mate also uses many of his patients traumatic childhood experiences such as having “dishwashing liquid poured down his throat . . . and was tied to a chair in a dark room to control to his hyperactivity” (289). These patients help create an image for the readers to be able to understand the feelings and the pain addict 's often face in their childhood, that leaves them feeling abandoned and neglected from the rest of the world. Mate even analysis the fact that addict 's can come from home where there is no abuse and the parents try their best to provide a loving and nurturing home. The problem in families like this is often a parent is the one who faced traumatic experience as a child and are not able to transmit the proper love to their child, because they lack the feeling themselves. The author uses the strategy of looking at both the child and the parent experiences to show that the root problem originates from the same outcome, wanting to feel “unconditionally [loved and be] fully accepted even when most ornery”

    Read More

  • The Prescription Drug Abuse Crisis

    1696 Words  | 4 Pages

    Drugs cause an overall disturbance in a subjects’ physiological, psychological and emotional health. “At the individual level, drug abuse creates health hazards for the user, affecting the educational and general development of youths in particular” (“Fresh Challenge”). In youth specifically, drug abuse can be triggered by factors such as: a parent’s abusive behavior, poor social skills, family history of alcoholism or substance abuse, the divorce of parents or guardians, poverty, the death of a loved one, or even because they are being bullied at school (“Drugs, brains, and behavior”) .

    Read More

  • Drugs and Substance Abuse in America

    654 Words  | 2 Pages

    While reading the short story “Clean” by Amy Reed I came to a better understanding on substance abuse, and what causes it to start. In her novel Reed portrays ordinary teenagers, then demonstrates how drugs and/or alcohol becomes such a factor in an average teenager’s life. In the beginning of the s...

    Read More

  • genetic effect

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lanthrop’s argument that substance abuse is caused by both your environment and genetics is very intriguing. Not only does Lanthrop use strong medical and statistical evidence in his statement, he uses personal experience. By using his personal experience in his argument, Lanthrop establishes credibility or ethos with his readers as well as emotional appeal or pathos. By establishing credibility and appealing to the emotional side of readers Lanthrop effectively argues that substance abuse is impacted by a person’s environment and their genetic code. However, out of the two main causes of substance abuse, genetics has the greatest impact on one’s substance abuse issue.

    Read More

  • Case Study on Alcoholism

    4149 Words  | 9 Pages

    The ingestion of alcoholic beverages for their enjoyable effects is a custom which has been around for thousands of years, and alcohol continues to be a popular drug because of its short-term effects (Coleman, Butcher & Carson, 1984). An enormous amount of damage can be attributed directly to alcohol abuse as a result of lost jobs, accidents caused by drunk drivers, and so forth (Maltzman, 2000). Alcohol also compounds other problems--an estimated 25% to 40% of hospital patients have problems caused by, or recovery delayed by alcohol abuse (Maltzman, 2000). Clinical psychologists spend about one-fourth of their time dealing with people who are suffering in part from alcohol or other substance problems (Vaillant, 1995). Although alcohol problems have been around for so long, it is only recently that these problems have begun to be associated with medical or psychological difficulties.

    Read More

  • The Negative Effects Of Drinking

    1630 Words  | 4 Pages

    “When I was 13, my dad started drinking more and more. Every day he would come home from work and have beer, lots of it. I didn’t think much of it at first, but then he started getting more angry and violent. He would shout at my mom and me. It was like my father had gone and been replaced with another guy” says an anonymous kid who lives with an alcoholic parent in “How my dad’s drinking problem almost destroyed my family”. The kid depicts that he is so confused, angry and upset especially when his father got fired for going to work drunk. This is one of many children’s voices who suffers having an alcoholic in their family. Most of them are depressed because alcohol has destroyed their family. This is an addiction that does

    Read More

  • Teenagers and Drug Abuse

    1622 Words  | 4 Pages

    It has been discovered that most people who struggle with drug addiction began experimenting with drugs in their teens. Teenage drug abuse is one of the largest problems in society today and the problem grows and larger every year. Drugs are a pervasive force in our culture today. To expect kids not to be influenced by the culture of their time is as unrealistic as believing in the tooth fairy (Bauman 140). Teens may feel pressured by their friends to try drugs, they may have easy access to drugs, they may use drugs to rebel against their family or society, or they may take an illegal drug because they are curious about it or the pleasure that it gives them.

    Read More

  • Substance Abuse Social Problem Essay

    1792 Words  | 4 Pages

    Substance abuse is an issue that plays a major social problem in society, the effect of drugs on families and communities is destructive. This paper will discuss evidence showing how substance abuse is a specific social problem that is widespread, and is affecting every level of our judicial system. Many people turn to drugs for many different reasons, they will try just about anything to relieve the pain. In our society today many people go through devastating experiences in their life. Furthermore people turn to drugs to mask the horrible memories and find relief. Drugs can temporarily relieve the symptoms of angry, loneliness or boredom, but it may be a temporary fix to an individual problems. They may

    Read More

  • Addiction in Adolescents

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...olescences to abuse drugs depending on the influencing stimuli. We must educate the adolescences on respectable behavior and consequences to drug seeking behaviors and addiction.

    Read More

More about Substance Abuse Case Study

Open Document