Family and Drug Addiction

by

Humanities

  • write a 700-word essay on or this “Family and Drug Addiction”
  • one theory application to the topic
  • 4 scholarly references
  • 2 website references
  • title page
  • references page
  • no direct quotations allowed

I attached 4 articles for you to use for this paper and you need to find 2 more outside resources. I also attached Sample paper for you to look at. I also attached SAMPLE PAPER for you to look at.

SAMPLE PAPER:

Drug abuse in the United States is going to a whole new level, and spreading like wildfire. This problem is not only effecting the user’s individual life, but their family and community life as well. Children are at a higher risk of abuse and neglect when even exposed to this type of environment. This is a nationwide problem, and will not end or slow down until attention is brought to the problem and people are willing to deal with it instead of just ignoring it.

When looking at the article “The Destructive Capacity of Drug Abuse,” it points out the acute toxicity, the long term health problems, the drug dependence, the drug tolerance, and the effects on the family, community, and society in general. Even starting at the beginning of life, a parent or parents with a drug problem impact the child immediately, even before birth. The statistics show that out of the drug users 90 percent of them are within the childbearing age, and even 4 percent of women admitted to using illicit drugs during pregnancy (Fox, T. P., Oliver, G., & Ellis, S. M., 2013). Not only is this bad for the mother, but the child is now at risk to. As a result to these choices, babies have a higher chance of miscarriage, preterm labor, low birth weight, health problems, learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, or even death. It has also been seen that after birth that they are at a higher risk of abuse and neglect because the drugs take precedence over their child’s needs (Fox, T. P., Oliver, G., & Ellis, S. M., 2013). There are a number of factors that go along with drug use, and one of them is alcohol and other substance use, such as tobacco.

From the article “Alcohol and Other Substance Use, Mental Health Treatment Use, and Perceived Unmet Treatment Need,” we can notice a trend that shows that people who engage in heavy alcohol, illicit drug, and tobacco use are far more likely to have a problem with mental health in ages from 50 on up, then people who were abstainers (Choi, N. G., Dinitto, D. M., & Marti, C. N., 2015). It is known that with a higher risk of mental health and drug related problems, this all rolls back to a higher risk of abuse and neglect in the family. If a parent is not mental stable, then there is no way that they can properly care for their children on their own (Blazer, D. G., & Wu, L., 2012). Not only is drug use related to tobacco, but with alcohol and binge drinking as well. The more frequently people binge drink the higher their chance of drug and tobacco use, compared to people who normally socially drink or smoke (Gubner, N. R., Delucchi, K. L., & Ramo, D. E., 2016).

This is reflected in the family, by members having to get involved. Unfortunately, though at the beginning many families try to solve the problem within first, instead of reaching out to resources and agencies. Those who are trying to help their family member report deterioration to their own physical and psychological health, and the stress that it adds to the family life. It also puts children at risk of developing their own issues related to the stress or abusive environment (Barnard, 2005). The user is not fully in their right mind if they are having mental health problems, and this can affect parts of the brain that have to do with learning, judgement, decision-making, stress, memory, and behavior which all will have a direct impact on the child (Abuse, 2016).

This is a problem that is not only happening to a few families, sadly it is occurring in a growing number of families and the only way to stop it is if people take a stand and address the issues. Stop hiding the fact that this member of the family has an issue. It needs to be brought to light in order to fix it. Also the user has to want to stop. That is key. Maybe not at the beginning of the process, but for the using to stop the user has to want to quit either for themselves, or their family. Sometimes will is not enough though, which is where the family has to come in to support and offer resources that will help their family member.

Works Cited

Abuse, N. I. (2016, August). Understanding Drug Use and Addiction. Retrieved November 11, 2017, from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/u…

Barnard, M. (2005, April 27). Drugs in the family: the impact on parents and siblings. Retrieved November 11, 2017, from https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/drugs-family-impact-…

Blazer, D. G., & Wu, L. (2012). Patterns of tobacco use and tobacco-related psychiatric morbidity and substance use among middle-aged and older adults in the United States. Aging & Mental Health, 16(3), 296-304. doi:10.1080/13607863.2011.615739

Choi, N. G., Dinitto, D. M., & Marti, C. N. (2015). Alcohol and other substance use, mental health treatment use, and perceived unmet treatment need: Comparison between baby boomers and older adults. The American Journal on Addictions, 24(4), 299-307. doi:10.1111/ajad.12225

Fox, T. P., Oliver, G., & Ellis, S. M. (2013). The Destructive Capacity of Drug Abuse: An Overview Exploring the Harmful Potential of Drug Abuse Both to the Individual and to Society. ISRN Addiction, 2013, 1-6. doi:10.1155/2013/450348

Gubner, N. R., Delucchi, K. L., & Ramo, D. E. (2016). Associations between binge drinking frequency and tobacco use among young adults. Addictive Behaviors, 60, 191-196. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2016.04.019