Drug Addiction In Children Essay

There has been an astounding increase in the use of illegal drugs during pregnancy, therefore increasing the number of babies born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome. Just a few short years ago, the babies who suffered through Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome were treated with drug therapy with medications such as Methadone, Morphine, or Clonidine in the neonatal intensive care unit. However, the prevalence of drug use in pregnancy and in turn neonatal abstinence syndrome has caused the newborn nursery to turn into a drug rehabilitation center for these babies. Several issues arise with the obstetrical healthcare team when taking care of these patients, such as a negative personal bias resulting from the negative stigma of drug use especially during

Correspondingly, releasing a baby into the care of a former drug addict runs the risk of relapse and is a danger to the future of the child. Due to lack of proper care, officials remove the child when a mother does not seek sobriety. With the mother undergoing so much change and barely grasping reality, she is in no condition to look after a baby, she must first help herself. Most hospital workers fail to convince mothers to enter into drug-treatment programs, and some mothers refuse the care-most being poor and uneducated women (Condon 2). These mothers are not able to give the right care for their children and risk the child’s safety. Whereas in some situations the mother might not even realize the extent as to how serious the case is. Separating

Gowing, L. R., Ali, R. L., Allsop, S., Marsden, J., Turf, E. E., West, R., and Witton, J. (2015), Global statistics on addictive behaviours: 2014 status report. Addiction, 110, 904–919.

In numerous instances, today’s world values addictions over family. Every day, the news highlights stories where addiction overpowers. For instance, a few weeks ago, Columbus, had a couple who overdosed on heroin with their grandchild in the backseat. Hence why “Under The Influence” by Scott Russell Sanders is extremely relevant. Sanders asserted his experience with his dad, who was an alcoholic. He thoroughly explained the effects alcoholism had on the family. Later in his essay, many of the father’s organs were damaged as a result of drinking. Sanders said, “My father , when drunk was neither funny nor honest; he was pathetic, frightening, deceitful.”(Under the Influence. 89). My father was an alcoholic for many years. My family encountered many of the situations that Sanders faced. Since I was little, I have witnessed the consequences of alcoholism.

Christina sought treatment from the PATHway program to address her opioid use disorder. She reported misusing benzodiazepines and heroin since the age of 15. Since the onset of her drug use, she reported experimenting with a myriad of other drugs before settling on the use of benzodiazepines and heroin as her primary substances. She reported her method of use for heroin is intravenous and orally for the benzodiazepines. In addition to Christina’s opioid use disorder, she is also pregnant and carrying twins. Her pregnancy has been complicated by her drug use, and that complication has been further compounded by the absence of prenatal care throughout Christina’s first and partially into her second trimester. One benefit of receiving treatment from the PATHway is that in addition to addressing her opioid use disorder, the program is also able to provide services from high risk obstetricians, nurses, and other supporting medical

I will be discussing a social problem, West Virginia’s drug epidemic that has been going on for years but, seems to keep getting worse from prescription drugs to heroin. There are several effects of the drug epidemic. Also, the efforts to help/prevent and try to end the drug epidemic.

It is very hard to believe what happens to people when they let drugs take over their lives. Especially mothers who are pregnant. In Lenny Bernstein’s article, “When Life Begins in Rehab: A baby heals after a mother’s heroin addiction,” he describes a mother’s life after her baby is born addicted to heroin. The article gives insight to a world that most people do not ever get to see. In my opinion, the article is sad, but enlightening at the same time. The theme of this article is hope; hope for a new beginning and a better life.

“The University of Michigan study estimates that one baby is born addicted to some sort of opiate every hour in the U.S. and that 13,539 babies are born with NAS [Neo-Natal Abstinence Syndrome] each year.” (www.narconon.com). NAS is a condition that results when mothers use opiate based painkillers or other sorts of opiates during pregnancy and the child becomes addicted in utero, is born. Babies are innocent victims of addiction. The effects these babies have to suffer through can follow them throughout their lives. There is a series of substances a baby can be born addicted to, such as heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine, and cocaine. Mothers who abuse legal/illegal substances run the risk of giving birth to babies born with addictions that can lead to Fetal Abstinence Syndrome, and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

Contemporary society is a variety of all things good and bad that one might misinterpret as perfect

The documentary Children Underground focuses on the social issues associated with and surrounded by inhalants. The homeless children of Romania live a tough life, begging strangers for money and food, working for merchants for change, and fighting each other for their lives. Faced with poverty, abuse, and starvation, many children joined those already in the streets of Bucharest. With only each other to turn to for examples of how to lead their lives, many of these homeless children became addicted to inhalants, particularly huffing paint. The director of the film, Edet Belzberg, aims to bring harsh, undiscussed realities of a major modern city to light. The effects of laws on the poor are often not considered, creating a public problem that is left to attempt to solve itself. The documentary shows that laws and policies can be easily made with moral intentions, but neglect to consider their wider social impact on the whole of society.

Alcoholism has been a problem in society for many, many years. Teens, adolescents and adults have suffered from alcohol disorders, and many of them have abused tobacco and drugs as well. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) created a survey regarding Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) to

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.

According to Timothy Wilens MD, there is “data indicating that 1 in 10 adolescents has a SUD [substance use disorder] . . . Roughly 80% experienced onset before age 25 years” (Wilens). With this large number of teens abusing drugs, the question of what the effects and consequences of drug abuse as a teen are becomes relevant. Specifically, identifying what the effects and consequences of teen drug abuse are through a scientific lense is important because drugs affect the body, brain, and its chemical balances.

Substance abuse is a form of substance-related disorder. It refers to the harmful or hazardous use of substances that affects almost every community, including alcohol, tobacco and legal or illegal drugs. Drug abuse is one of the most commonly substance abuse in teenagers. It is a disease that is defined as a destructive pattern of using drugs that can cause significant problems or distress. The most commonly abused drugs among them are marijuana, cocaine, heroin and hallucinogens. Drug abuse is caused by psychological, genetic as well as environmental factors and can have significant damaging effects on health.

Drug abuse is one of the top issues defying the country today particularly among the teenagers. Occurrences of drug and alcohol abuse and related anti-social behavior have massively expanded lately. This has become a matter of concern to the government, parents and teachers. Teens regularly try different things with an assortment of activities and substances. Unfortunately, this experimentation can prompt substance misuse and addiction. Measurements demonstrate that drug abuse is a developing issue among teenagers. Drugs should be forbidden all over the world because for teenagers it destroys their social life. On the other hand, many teenagers believe that it should remain because it helps them to cover from painful memories in their past. Despite the many causes and effects of drug abuse, two of the main causes are Lack of parent to child communication and low self-esteem and two of the main effects are Health problems and Behavioral problems.