Overcoming Addiction In Sonny's Blues

Imprisonment was a very repetitive and perpetual theme in "Sonny's Blues." Sonny was physically imprisoned when he was incarcerated for distribution of heroin. Being incarcerated was extremely detrimental to Sonny because his desire for freedom. Although a great amount of the imprisonment in the story is abstract. Harlem is referred to as a trap several times, insinuating that those of lower class must struggle to escape. The narrator explains that even those who successfully withdraw themselves from said neighborhood they always leave a piece o themselves behind "always left something of themselves behind, as some animals amputate a leg and leave it in the trap" (112).

Losing a battle to illness is devastating and utterly heartbreaking. With addiction, it is quite often that people fail and fall into their old habits. Others simply don’t want to be sober. In How to Help Someone with an Opioid Addiction, published by the Chicago Sun Times, the author lists ways for friends and family members to assist in the process of sobriety. But, what if it doesn’t work? This question is addressed in the third section of the article. For that reason, the author writes with a rhetoric of pathos to encourage the reader to persevere and also purchase Naloxone, a drug which can alter the effects of opioids in case of emergency.

The notoriety of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has made the narrative about the duality of man humanity known even to those who have never open the book nor seen the famous film adaptation. However, though it may not be immediately apparent, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is, at its core, a story of addiction. Britain’s Pharmacy Act of 1868 had sought to identify and eliminate the use of narcotics, and though the effects were largely beneficial at first, by the 1880’s, when Stevenson’s novella was first published, deaths related to opium were on the rise. It is no coincidence that the title character is a chemist, like those affected by the Pharmacy Act, nor is it a coincidence that he is the victim of an addiction. Stevenson employs the narrative to explore the physical, psychological, and social effects of addiction, as well as the social response. The story, then, serves as an attempt to humanize and understand addiction.

Sonny’s blues uses light and darkness symbolism to elucidate on the painfulness of reality and the vigor gotten through it. Darkness is the fact that life in Harlem is dreadful, clouded with drugs, crime and societal discrimination. The tenacious society coaxes youth towards a life of murkiness. Sonny gets addicted to heroin while trying to unchain his musical innovativeness. He used music as his edifice, in this book he tries to escape towards the light and a life with thought drugs. Light and darkness are juxtaposed with truth and reality, which makes up a symbol to delineate sonny and his brother’s struggles.

The American politician, diplomat, and activist Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built”. In the Biography Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand, the main character, Louis Zamperini, sets a great example to represent this quote. Louis shows his confidence by once the “bad kid”, soon Louie realizes he needs to change his ways with the help of his brother, Pete. As a soldier in World War II, he faced many challenges with his crew and within himself. Over time Louis learned a lot and when he returned from war, his character changed dramatically.

This book was an amazing book and educational read. It takes you through the ins and outs of drug abuse here in America. It makes you look at the world from a different view, a more sympathetic view, a caring view, a down right straight forward type view. It has twisted and vicious first-hand account about a life of addiction. As David Rothenburg stated “People tend to accept survival of the fittest simplification of evolution and leave it at that. It makes most of us proud and uncomfortable at the same time. (302) Survival of the fittest is a big part of what drug addicts go through on a day to day basis just to survive or get the next fix which leaves them vulnerable and in a dangerous position. This book is not for those with a weak stomach because it is not just a glimpse into an addict's life, it is an addict's life coming to light on every page.

Throughout my whole life, my father has been an alcoholic. There have been times when he has tried to quit, but it never lasted for more than a few months. His addiction has brought on stressful times for my family. Some days we did not know where he was or if he was coming home. Although my father’s addiction might not have made the best childhood, he did show me the kind of person I did not want to be.

Have you ever felt trapped unable to escape a certain situation, as if stuck in a room with no doors? It is easy to get lost in this feeling living in this type of world. Living in a world full of endless possibilities people tend to get trapped in their own vice. A professor of psychology by the name of Dr. Stone once said “We are not trapped by our thoughts. What we generally do, however, is create thoughts that trap us” (Stone 162). This correlates directly to the character in the novel by William Gibson called Neuromancer. The novel depicts a hacker, by the name of Case, who steals from his employers. When caught his employers poison him with a Russian mycotoxin, from there he constantly abuses his body with drugs and dangerous activities.

Sonny 's Blues is about the ongoing pain of brotherhood and how an addiction can quickly transform into wanting to reconcile and reconnect. It 's so easy for individuals to judge others on various decisions that are made throughout their life but why do male get the heavier load. Individuals quickly become judgmental towards others suffering and forget that their journeys are different than there 's. Sonny 's drug addiction just like any addiction come from a place of pain. The representation of Sonny 's addiction in the story is his relationship with the narrator. He indulges in heroin to the point where he cannot stand just like his relationship with the narrator. It has no standing ground and no balance which eats him up inside. The more

Facing sobriety and returning back to normal life is difficult. This is where the person hit rock bottom because of the addiction. The person may be facing problems such as getting fired from work, heavy debts that lead to legal issues, family or relationship breakdown, contracting sexually transmitted disease and shame due to addiction public exposure. The only option is for the person to seek treatment for their addiction. If left untreated, the person may seek the fast way out by commit suicide to run away from the shame and

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.

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,

"Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin is a harrowing tale about a boy's struggle to overcome his drug addiction. The central plot isn't the most relatable topic but Baldwin expands the plot by touching up on different themes that further explicates the story to the point where any reader can find a way to relate to the characters. The story is told from the first point of view of the brother of Sonny. The narrator states his account from the commencement of Sonny's drug use to his fall out. James Baldwin does not focus only on the central theme of drug abuse. The author made the story more engaging to different readers by using different themes such as sibling relationships, effects of racism and power of music.

Paul Pearshall once said “Our most basic instinct is not for survival but for family. Most of us would give our own life for the survival of a family member, yet we lead our daily life too often as if we take our family for granted”. In this story the conflict of responsibility takes place. A brother, who happens to be the narrator, blames his self for the events that takes place in his life, such as his brother sonny’s crack addiction. The Narrator feels responsible for his brother’s heroin addiction because he believed he shut his brother’s career goals down, felt as though he went against what his mother asked him to do, and because he chose not to believe that the way he treated his brother affected his brother life.

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.