The Affects of Substance Abuse on Family Essay

Words: 940
Pages: 4
Open Document
The effects of drug abuse on a person’s family.
Nancy Kiger
SPC1010 - Presentation Skills - OL08
Theresa White
2/18/2011

The effects of drug abuse on a person’s family.
As a recovering addict I know firsthand how my addiction affected my family. Addiction to alcohol or drugs is a disease; it affects everyone in the family, not just the substance abuser. Effects may vary depending on family structure, manifesting differently in individual family members; According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse both alcohol and drugs can have dramatic negative effects on a developing fetus. They have been linked with premature birth, decreased head circumference, brain functioning difficulties and low …show more content…
My parents adopted them to keep them from being separated in the foster care system. After raising 15 children of their own they should have been retiring and instead they were raising my children and coping with all of the problems that arose with them because of my addiction. Children aren’t the only ones that suffer from depression and other psychiatric disorders due to substance abuse. Many addictions stem from the person being depressed.
Other medical issues can arise from substance abuse; I contracted HIV as well as Hepatitis B while in my addiction. Studies show that HIV was typically connected with injection drug use and needle sharing. However, this view underestimates the impact that drug abuse can have on spreading HIV and AIDS through the dangerous risk behaviors it engenders. Drug and alcohol intoxication affect judgment and can lead to risky sexual behaviors that put people in danger of contracting or transmitting HIV. In addition, substance abuse may facilitate the progression of HIV infections by further compromising the immune system. While in my addiction my immune system was compromised for the simple fact that I neglected to take my antiviral drugs and came really close to having full blown aids. I now take my medications regularly and am almost to the point that I am undetectable. I am unsure if I contracted these diseases through sharing needles or unprotected sex, what I am sure of is that I wouldn’t be dealing with it
Show More

Related Documents: The Affects of Substance Abuse on Family Essay

Facts About Substance Abuse

The Facts About Substance Abuse According to dictionary.com, substance abuse is defined as: long-term, pathological use of alcohol or drugs, characterized by daily intoxication, inability to reduce consumption, and impairment in social or occupational functioning; broadly, alcohol or drug addiction. Substance abuse strikes an angry nerve in my body because people will go to extremes to cure the craving for their particular substance. When I was younger, my family and I found ourselves in a particularly…

Words 1558 - Pages 7

High Risk Family Assessment Edited Essay

. High-Risk Family Assessment and Health Promotion Nursing 542 Anitra Wilson Professor Brown June 4, 2015 Introduction In the nursing practice, the family assessment provides an important element to the health care team with an overview of the patient and the family's health. This assessment is a very critical part of the nursing process, due to the fact that diseases and certain conditions can impact the family as a solid unit, it is imperative that the nurse be able to identify the effects…

Words 1648 - Pages 7

Effects of Parental Drug Abuse on Children Essay

Heather Swenson Mandy Jesser English Composition I 1 May 2013 Effects of Parental Drug Abuse on Their Children As soon as birth, children are exposed to new things; new life experiences that will develop the path of which direction their life will take. Adolescence is the most important time in a child’s life because it is where they learn appropriate behavior from their family and the outside world. Some children are able to use these experiences to differentiate at an early age what is…

Words 1732 - Pages 7

Adolescence Health Promotion

Promotion and Prevention of Substance Abuse Among Adolescence Substance abuse has always been an incontrovertible part of life. People, especially the adolescent youth abuse several legal and prohibited substances for different reasons: to escape reality, self-medicative purposes, to intensify excitement, to achieve deeper consciousness, to escape reality, or to gain entry within a social group. This phenomenon is a very risky proposition; even small traces of substance abuse such as marijuana, over…

Words 1112 - Pages 5

Substance Abuse Essay

Substance Abuse Many people that drink alcohol or use drugs constantly don’t realize that they are a substance abuser. They don’t know what the effects the drugs and alcohol do to them. Some people do know but don’t seem to care. Substance abusers can cause a lot of danger in certain situations. Should people know if they are a substance abuser and the effects they get from using it? Yes, they need to understand that they are a substance abuser and what is at risk if they keep abusing a substance…

Words 946 - Pages 4

Week 2 Assignment Essay

agencies of Human Services I found Family Maintenance and Food Stamps. Between the two agencies I feel that people who have substance abuse issues are a target for these programs. We as people have struggled to control drug abuse as history has shown and have had little success with this. People who have struggled with this not only affect themselves but they affect people around them and affect the youth in our communities. People who have substance abuse issues many times have had babies…

Words 830 - Pages 4

Substance Abuse In The Elderly

generations, and it has become more acceptable among us to use substances to cure things (www.parenting.com/elder-care/substance-abuse-in-the-elderly-a-growing-problem/). It scares me to know that I can be-come a statistic of being one of the 17 percent of the senior population who will be a substance abuser. In this paper I will discuss my research and give my reflection on substance abuse of the elderly and explain what and how it affects our adult population, the elderly. One can now get a medical…

Words 1320 - Pages 6

Essay on bipolar within family life

Bipolar Within Family Life 11/12/13 Isabella Smith “bipolar affects family life in many ways when mixed with drug and alcohol abuse”. Table of contents Title page 1 Table of contents 2 Abstract 3 Introduction…

Words 3297 - Pages 14

Substance Abuse In Canada

ecstasy” (Hammond et al., 2011, p. 7). The reason as to why I chose the topic of Substance Abuse Prevention for my site is because this is something that has affected many of my own family members and friends. I truly believe that almost everyone deals with excruciating circumstances while growing up, and these circumstances might heavily influence someone’s life who might be vulnerable to their experiences. Substance abuse is…

Words 536 - Pages 3

Substance Abuse Essay

Substance abuse is a growing problem that not only affects the person who is abusing alcohol or drugs but affects the lives of those who are close to the abuser. Substance abuse is the abuse of any substance. A drug is a substance that modifies one or more of the body’s functions when it is consumed. Everything from over-the-counter pain medication, to opiates, prescription drugs such as Oxycontin, alcohol, cocaine, heroin and even coffee can be abused in one way or another. The two main substances…

Words 1869 - Pages 8