David Sheff Drug Addiction Summary

Saturday night parties are what most high school teenagers look forward to when bringing on the weekend. Drinking, smoking weed, and fighting are “fun” to these young adults, right? Recovery Road is the story of Madeline, who is not only recovering from heavy drinking problems, but partying and anger issues as well. This is a story that I got pulled into more than I had expected to. I enjoyed it, because I was able to sympathize with the characters struggles throughout the book, watch the young adults be peer pressured, and lastly, I got to watch Madeline overcome her terrible addictions.

Lee uses a somewhat background character to show this in her work. Mrs. Dubose, an elderly neighbor nearing the end of her life, “ was a morphine addict,” but always intended “ to break herself [free of it] before she died” (178). Often times Jem would receive her cold remarks while passing by her house, thinking her primitive and rude, never understanding her hidden constant battle. Upon her death however, he learned that behind all of her snarkiness she was a person with integrity who did not want to be tied down by a worldly substance, and began to see Mrs. Dubose as a person to be respected. Readers in today’s world know how widespread addiction is, and can now see the advantages to looking closer in order to find the true qualities that define the individual. Addictions are hard to overcome, but stripping away the inaccurate pretenses can aide in humanizing people once

This essay will tackle the topic of substance use disorder as a psychology topic. The film that will be reviewed for the topic is 28 Days. This is a film written by Susannah Grant and written by Betty Thomas. The film stars Sandra Bullock as a columnist for a New York newspaper (Thomas). In the film, Bullock acts as Gwen Cummings, an alcoholic forced to attend rehab for 28 days. This is because of her escapades of the day that ended up with her crushing a stolen wedding limo into a house (Thomas). The film explores substance use disorder through the eyes and life of Cummings and the people she meets in the rehab. It also explores the challenges they go through in trying to get clean. This essay will show how substance abuse and its related disorder is being portrayed in the film.

Nic first started to do drugs in the seventh grade. He first started off by smoking cigarettes. Sheff states, “When I press him, however, he admits that he had a few puffs with a group of boys who were smoking behind the gymnasium” (47). David then lectures Nic about smoking and then Nic assures him that he will not do it again. A week later David finds marijuana in one of Nic’s sweaters. He then confronts Nic about this discovery and Nic admits that he tried it twice and he was only doing it because “everyone does it” (53). At this point, David doesn’t overreact about this because of the type of friends that Nic is hanging around and he believes that they are influencing him. The next year, Nic is in the ninth grade and he seems to be doing better. Then, one afternoon David receives a call from the freshman dean to discuss Nic’s suspension for buying marijuana on the campus grounds. David thinks that Nic is experimenting and then he starts comparing him to other kids who uses drugs and he comes to the conclusion that Nic isn’t like them, and that this is simply just a

Addiction is a condition in which a person is compelled to continue an act even if it interferes with ordinary life responsibilities. Life with addiction can become overwhelming and even stressful because there is such a need for a specific item. Addictions cause harm, abuse, fatality, behavioral problems such as, aggressiveness, loss of self-control and paranoia. In “Sonny’s Blues” we see a different type of addiction than what we see in “A River Runs Through It.” In “Sonny’s Blues” Sonny was addicted to heroine, a drug that triggers a release of dopamine into the brain. In the story “A River Runs Through It” Paul was caught in the wrath of alcohol and gambling. Addiction overtakes Paul’s life in “A River Runs Through It” by excessive drinking

Ellen Hopkins’ Crank is an epic poem geared toward warning young people of the various consequences of using dangerous drugs. However important its message, it provides a single story, a stereotypical tale influenced by pop culture about addiction and the people it affects. In the poem, the heroine, Kristina Snow, gets addicted to methamphetamines, otherwise known as “crank”. Her life takes a downward turn that includes pregnancy and dropping out of school. The poem depicts just one experience with drug abuse and links it to what is perceived to be the most likely thing to happen if you get addicted to drugs, providing a false single story for the young people it targets. The stereotypical race of Kristina for the specific drug, the pregnancy,

On June 25th, 2009, the whole world was shocked when news broke of Michael Jackson’s death. Initially, reports said that his cause of death was cardiac arrest but they were unsure what had caused it. It was later revealed that his death stemmed from a long time addiction to a number of prescription drugs. Jackson’s doctor, Conrad Murray was charged with involuntary manslaughter for supplying Jackson with many types of prescription drugs. The drugs found in his system at his time of death were propofol, lorazepam, midazolam, diazepam, lidocaine, and ephedrine. Dr. Murray was being paid 150,000 dollar a month to act as Jackson’s physician. Murray stayed the night with Jackson six days and week and gave him propofol and other sedatives at Jackson’s request to help him sleep. Dr. Murray actually told police four days after Jackson’s death that he had used propofol every night. Also revealed in Dr. Murray’s testimony was that he had been administering the drugs without the proper monitoring equipment. So many doctors in America are money hungry and will prescribe their patients with monthly prescriptions for drugs that they do

Some substance abusers life is “dominated by drug related activates” (Stevens & Smith, pg. 113). The entire day is spent in the pursuit of their next fix” (Stevens & Smith, pg. 113). A person who uses drugs; “will immerse themselves in talking about drug and other people who use” (Stevens & Smith, pg. 113). When a person has no regard for personal harm to gain drugs they are completely out of control. There only purpose in life completely revolves around their drug use and they’ll do anything to get it.

Addiction had not only consumed Jesse’s life, but it had taken his father’s (163). When Jesse started dealing in his college years, “He was kicked out of school…and barely escaped without jail time” (162). At this point in his life, Jesse, “could not be

Within the text The Addict by Katherine Fleming it addresses several serious ideas and issues within Australian society. Fleming has conveyed these ideas through several structural and language conventions in order to convey her own values and beliefs around these issues. In The Addict We hear from the author and testimonials from Heath, A recovering addict and her interviewee. This article has been written for an Australian audience and was published in a state-wide newspaper called “The West Australian” and is distributed both digitally and physically.

The article “In Heroin Crisis, White Families Seek Gentler War on Drugs” by Katharine Q. Seelye, targets the families and the fatalities of their loved ones to raise awareness on the impact of heroin addiction and the life-long destruction physically, emotionally, and mentally it displays. The article focuses on the effort and empathy law enforcement are enacting on the victims of drug abusers. Progressively, law enforcement is constructing ways to restrict the amount of incarceration and punishment to addicts. The article’s pattern is cause and effect, tied with description and the purpose being informative using facts and statistics to back the claims along with expressive as there is definitely moments of sentiment to catch the audience’s feelings.

Tweak: Growing up on methamphetamines is a novel regarding the reasoning behind why a young boy by the name Nic Sheff, who seems to have a bright future, but falls into drug usage. In the story, we will explore Nic passage through treatment, relapse and trying to get clean for one final time. As well as why Nic's troubled childhood, failed relationship among his family member and past lovers led him to falling deeper and deeper to drugs. This novel allows the reader to glance at certain situations that could lead to drug use and relapses.

Carrick, Pennsylvania is the drug overdose capital of the region. The article featured in the New York Times, “Riding OD Road” by Rich Lord is a powerful multimedia article which examines the underlying causes of the several overdoses that occur in Carrick, Pennsylvania. In order to get a better understanding of why people resort to drugs in this city, the article focuses on a number of individuals who have suffered from drug overdoses and those who have witnessed drug abuse in the neighborhood. Lord successfully utilizes rhetorical appeals such as pathos and logos, and several forms of interactive multimedia to draw the reader into the article and spread awareness of the serious concerns for the town of Carrick.

Just like so many young people these days, Nic sheff ended up on drugs and his drug of choice was methamphetamine. Sadly, before he even had the chance to become an adult his addiction and self-worth grew deeper and deeper into despair. With hopelessness and addiction

Addiction is the reliance on a routine. There are many addictive stages. Addiction, as it comes along, becomes a way of life. The persistent use of the substance causes to the user serious physical or psychological problems and dysfunctions in major areas of his or her life. The drug user continues to use substances and the compulsive behavior despite the harmful consequences, and tries to systematically avoid responsibility and reality, while he or she tends to isolate himself/herself from others because of guilt and pain (Angres, & Bettinardi-Angres, 2008). All these characteristics led to the conclusion that drug addiction is a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use. It is considered as a brain disease because drugs change the structure of the brain, and how it works. Every drug affects different systems of the brain. For example, in the case of cocaine, as the brain is adapted in the presence of the specific drug, brain regions responsible for judgment, decision-making, learning, and memory begin to physically change, making certain behaviors “hard-wired.” In some brain regions, connections between neurons are pruned back. In others, neurons form more connections. (Martin, 2000) These brain changes can be long-lasting and can lead to the harmful behaviors seen in people who abuse drugs.