Kristina's Drug Addiction

There is a basic model that helps create a prognosis on possible substance abuse disorders. This goes from exposure of the substance use, to substance dependence. The basic premise is that cultural and psychological influences the beginning use of substances. As psychological stressors are associated with the substance, then it leads to substance abuse. The biological and psychological influences will lead to substance dependence. Paul and Alex have followed this model, with Alex as the one with the likely prognosis.

Drug addiction is a constant war. It is a battle being fought between oneself, possibly family, friends but always, the drug. Yet for anyone that is struggling, there is hope. Despite our differences, there will always be a path to recovery. In “Water by the Spoonful”, Quiara Alegría Hudes incorporates several strategies and tactics through various character’s agencies and symbolism to ultimately create a piece that centers recuperation. Drugs do not define an individual, they only limit one’s potential.

Crank is part one of three book installment written by Ellen Hopkins. In the beginning of the novel we meet Kristina a straight A, clean cut, 16 year old girl. But while visiting her drug addicted father during the summer before her junior year Kristina meets the “monster” and she also meets Bree, her dangerous alter ego, within no time Kristina lets Bree completely take over. Bree is Kristina’s chic, smooth-talking persona that has one major flaw… she has a serious craving for any and every drug. So pretty soon Bree’s desperate desire for the high flying monster is all two girls can think about.

It’s fast paced, has cunning dialogue, and is extremely well written. The plot, while at times frightening and complex, is easy to follow and flows naturally. Misery is not one of Stephen King’s scariest or most interesting book, but it is by far the best written one that I have read. King also makes his theme of drug addiction very clear through the constant repetition that Paul would die without Annie. Not only does Annie’s hold on Paul symbolize addiction in the novel, Paul actually is addicted pain killers. Annie, a former nurse, has stockpiled a ton of a codeine based narcotic called Norvil which she uses to control paul. Over the course of the novel, Annie gives Paul so much Norvil that he becomes addicted and begins exhibiting withdrawal symptoms when she withholds it. While I personally have no experience with addiction, I once broke my rib and was given a low grade narcotic to relieve the excruciating pain. This helped me appreciate how much pain Paul was in and how desperately he craved the drugs to relieve the pain. Misery has really shown me just how much of a hold narcotics can have on one’s life. With Paul, Annie controls his every move. Everything he does or says is dictated by Annie Wilkes. If Annie wants Paul to write, Paul writes. If Annie wants Paul to eat, Paul eats. It's a vicious but accurate depiction of how addiction completely absorbs and takes

It is a universally held beleif that addiction ruins lives. Affecting the young and old, male and female, and people from different ethnicities, cultures, and social brackets, addiction is widely regarded as a societal illness with no easy solution. A particularily damaging assumption is that a drug or sex addict, for instance, is the root cause of their own suffering. This can potentially lead to a chain reaction where the guilt placed upon a human being strengthens the desire to escape from said guilt. This is particularily damaging to a teenager, to whom an external stimuli is no longer required after a few years of guilt inflicted by their parents. Causes for and solutions to harmful and addictive behaivour have been explored thoroughly,

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.

Drug use impacts perception, a skill adolescent brains are actively trying to cultivate, and can fracture developing neural pathways. Additionally, as our brains are becoming hardwired during adolescence, the pathways being reinforced are the ones that stick. If those pathways include addiction, the impact may lead to life-long challenges. As the epidemic of teen non-medical prescription use and abuse increases, we as a nation need to consider solutions that will insure that our children have a future, redoubling our efforts to modernize strategies that will confront the public health problems we are facing pertaining to our youth. Specific strategies that address the facets of teen life such as peer pressure, decision making, and academic progress, how they spend their free time and choosing friends. “With an approach that involves standardized assessments, early intervention, and promotes teamwork between parents, physicians and educators” Arria, Amelia M. (pp. 43). The rate of prescription drug abuse among adolescents has increased dramatically over the past decade. Prescription drugs are the second most commonly abused illicit drug among adolescents, surpassed only by marijuana. Monitoring the future means that we intentionally generate accurate data that will direct our efforts in designing

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

What she really finds is that she’s pregnant – a story that’s in every pamphlet about various consequences of drug abuse. This event contributes to the single story of her downfall. I remember reading this book and thinking, “Of course she would be pregnant.” Hopkins already actively chose stereotypical circumstances in which to get addicted to crank, and then reiterated these pamphlets and make her pregnant to make that downfall even more stereotypical. The image of the drug-abusing teen mom is “allowing for little individuality” that Kristina desperately needs for Crank to be a more accurate tale of addiction (507). It’s similar to the scene in the film “Mean Girls” with the coach teaching health class: “Don’t have sex: you’ll get pregnant and die.” (Waters, Fey, & Michaels "Mean Girls" 2004). The association with drugs and unprotected sex in the same category is not what children should be taught. Crank perpetuates this when the author makes Kristina get pregnant by a fellow lowlife. This single story is telling young people that unprotected sex and drugs fall hand in hand, what is not true. It is another perpetuated falsehood that Hopkins contributes to with her work. The sheer lack of originality in the plot makes this a single story that negatively impacts the way that these targeted young people perceive

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.

Liz Murray’s mother and father were drug addicts living in the Bronx. She was born in 1980 with drugs in her blood because her parents religiously uses cocaine and heroin. (Murray 11). A vicious cycle of her parent’s use of drugs and mental illness seem to carry throughout several chapters. Murray and her sister survives on egg and mayonnaise sandwiches, toothpaste, and even cherry-flavored chapstick. They reside in a freezing cold and filthy apartment. Her parents just focus on how to maintain their high. From the time she was five, Murray recalls, we were a “functional government-dependent family of four” (Murray14). Her mother was legally blind and a schizophrenic, which qualifies their family for welfare to only pay for her parents’ drug ritual. Throughout, the years of drugs the girls are brought around other users and Liz receives abuse from Ron while her mother is gone to the liquor store one night. Her mother also eventually breaks the news to Liz that she has HIV. The drugs drive a wedge in between her parents which leads them to separation. This seems to really affect Liz along with the new diagnosis of her mom.

About 64% of high school students have stated that they have come into contact with drugs. An drug addiction can take over your life the minute you do it. A lot of people do not have self control,which then Leads them to their addiction. Drug addictions maybe be easy to start, but not finish. Once people stop and try to get better, they soon break and a certain point. Relapsing is the hardest part, the drug is out of your system and many just want to have a little bit more and so, the cycle starts back up. Drugs are not something to be taking

After reading the novel, Righteous Dopefiend, I have a different lens in which I can view substance abuse and individuals who suffer from substance abuse disorders. All of the characters in the novel offered a unique perspective to different aspects of substance abuse disorders and the challenges associated with substance abuse and homelessness. However, despite all of the interesting aspects of each individual in the novel, the character Tina stuck out most to me and had the greatest impact on how I will view and engage with individuals who may suffer from substance abuse disorders.

According to a study done at the University of Washington, “ For the developing young adult, drug and alcohol abuse undermines motivation, interferes with cognitive processes, contributes to debilitating mood disorders, and increases risk of accidental injury or death” (Hawkins). When teens abuse drugs, they can damage their brains. This can affect everything from emotions, to memory. The abuse of drugs as a teen can also lead to accidental death, particularly involving overdoses and car accidents. Also, according to Addiction Center, an information center about drug use, abuse, and addiction, “Substance abuse affects teen brain development by: interfering with neurotransmitters and damaging connections within the brain, reducing the ability to experience pleasure, creating problems with memory, causing missed opportunities during a period of heightened learning potential, ingraining expectations of unhealthy habits into brain circuitry, [and] inhibiting development of perceptual abilities” (Health). When teens abuse drugs, they are increasing their chances of becoming addicts as adults due to their changed ability to feel pleasure and to feel good without drugs. They are also damaging their brains, which can lead to memory problems. These are all things that negatively impact the lives of teens and are some of the very negative effects of teens drug abuse on the brain and body. However, drug abuse

A few sorts of drugs are helpless to mishandle by youth. These medications range from most regular and less costly, for example, cigarettes and liquor to extravagant and all the more fatal, for example, cocaine and heroin. Teenagers are curious to try out those drugs and with the poor parent-child relationship it is easy for teenagers to access those drugs. Parents are no more in the firm position to direct and aide their youngsters. A portion of the young live far from their parents,