...Title of assignment: Describe compare and contrast the traditional abstinence model of addiction treatment with the modern harm reduction model in the context of counselling a heroin using client who is HIV or Hep-C positive I declare that this assignment is entirely my own work and that all sources are credited. Introduction: In this essay I am going to first define abstinence, harm reduction, heroin and HIV. Then i’m going to compare and contrast the abstinence model versus the harm reduction model in relation to a person who uses heroin and has also HIV under the counselling context. Definitions: The Abstinence Model: The term 12 step applies to a number of self-help groups which have grown from the original alcoholics anonymous movement. 12-step groups are fellowships of men and women who meet regularly to support each other in their efforts to achieve and maintain abstinence. Groups are run by the members themselves who are not professional counsellors. They have a spiritual foundation are not affiliated with any organised religion. (McMurran, 1994) For the purposes of this essay groups like NA(Narcotics Anonymous) would represent a traditional abstinence group and the Minnesota Model would represent a counselling approach in relation to addiction counselling. The Harm Reduction Model: The idea of harm reduction first emerged explicitly in Dutch drug policy during the 1970s and 1980s from concern about the social integration of people who use drugs into...
Words: 2245 - Pages: 9
...Heroin Addiction Psyc 305 B-03 June 15, 2015 Abstract: This paper will serve to provide information about heroin addiction in our society. Heroin addiction is an epidemic problem in the United States and is growing every year. Factors such as genetics and environmental factors will be discussed as they relate to heroin addicts. Trends with prescription pain medication and their effects on heroin use will be discussed. This paper will also highlight the prevalence of heroin in the United States. Heroin affects different groups of people in all walks of life. Treatment for heroin will be discussed in the latter portion of this paper. This will highlight different options to fit specific needs. Addiction: a physical dependency on a substance (Doweiko, 2015), a chronic brain disease that causes compulsive substance use despite harmful consequences, (Addiction, 2015). There is no universally accepted way to define addiction. It seems that it is easier to qualify behavior as an addiction than it is to define the word itself. For the purpose of this paper we will use the four general categories of the DSM-5 to help identify and understand heroin addiction. This paper will serve to provide information about heroin addiction’s possible causes, prevalence and treatment. What causes heroin addiction? The causes of heroin addiction are not clear. As with most drugs it is thought that the user is trying to feel better or self-medicate...
Words: 1591 - Pages: 7
...Baltimore: A Community in Crisis Since the 19th century, the illicit drug, heroin, has been a part of American society. When heroin was first discovered it was thought to be a wonder drug because of the euphoric feeling a person is said to feel after using it. However, once the debilitating effects of this highly addictive drug was realized the anti-drug law, the Harrison Narcotics Act, was enacted that restricted its use to medicinal purposes only. In 1920, heroin was banned altogether through the Dangerous Drug Act (Habal, 2011). Heroin for the most part was thought to have gone underground until the Vietnam War. In 1971, two congressmen returned from visiting U. S. servicemen serving in Vietnam with an alarming revelation that “15 percent of U.S. servicemen in Vietnam… were actively addicted to heroin” (Spiegel, 2012, para. 3). The idea that American servicemen were addicted to such a horrible drug disgusted much of the American public. “It was thought to be the most addictive substance ever produced, a narcotic so powerful that once addiction claimed you, it was nearly impossible to escape” (Spiegel, 2012, para. 4). President Richard Nixon took swift action by creating, The Special Action Office of Drug Abuse Prevention which concentrated primarily on prevention and rehabilitation. In the late 70s and early 80s the use of heroin reached its peak when it seemed to take a backseat to the reappearance of cocaine and the subsequent crack epidemic that overwhelmed much...
Words: 3488 - Pages: 14
...First and foremost, it is important to define addiction. According to the Wisconsin Department of Children and Family, “addiction begins when an individual makes a conscious decision to choose to use alcohol or drugs that interfere with normal brain functioning. Continuous use has long-term effects on brain metabolism and activity, because the brain goes thru long term changes targeting specific parts of the brain like judgement and planning, making it impossible to stop using drugs. As a result of the changes in the brain, drugs then create a chronic disease, addiction, treated by medication, therapy, and preferably abstinence (WDCF, 2015).” For example, addiction to heroin in the United States has been increasing. According to Drugabuse’s...
Words: 655 - Pages: 3
...Some Treatments You Might Receive When Seeking Help For Heroin Addiction Heroin addiction is very difficult to overcome because of the side effects of detoxification from the drug. One effect of heroin is that you need to use increasingly larger quantities to feel the same high. As the amount you use increases along with the length of time you've used the drug increases, the detox reaction becomes stronger. Heroin addiction treatment is a combination of medical detox to help you manage physical symptoms when you stop using the drug and psychological treatment to help you overcome the triggers that make you want to use heroin. Here's an overview of what you can expect when you want to overcome your heroin addiction. Inpatient Medical Detox When you begin an addiction recovery program, you'll probably need to enter a medical facility for a couple of days or longer so you can detox. When you stop using heroin, you'll have...
Words: 618 - Pages: 3
...University School of Distance Education Methadone Treatment Programs are Effective in Stopping Heroin Use A Paper Presented to Professor Loyd Uglow, Ph.D In Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Course THE 5113 Research Literature and Technology Sharon Pete November 28, 2012 THESIS STATEMENT: To investigate Methadone maintenance is found to be more effective in treating heroin addiction than 180 day detoxification. The objective is how methadone maintenance, a widely used but controversial method of weaning heroin addicts off the drug—with counseling has psychosocially enriched 180 day methadone assisted detoxification. OUTLINE I. INTRODUCTION A. History of Heroin B. History of withdrawals II. How Methadone is used to treat Heroin? III. Research Findings IV. CONCLUSION V. Work Cited Methadone Treatment Programs are Effective in Stopping Heroin Use Substitution treatment or maintenance pharmacotherapy programs using methadone are today the most sought after and effective form of treatment for opiate addiction and dependence. Because methadone is a long-acting opiate whose dosage can be stabilized, it is well suited for daily administration and has proven effective in the elimination of narcotic craving, a driving force behind continued heroin use. And, because it can be administered orally, methadone dramatically reduces heroin injecting frequency and, with it, associated risks for...
Words: 3771 - Pages: 16
...have linked the increase in heroin use to the increase in opioid pain prescriptions, along with heroin’s cheaper cost and increased availability (CDC, 2017). To prevent heroin addiction from forming, it has been instructed that health professionals revise when and how much opioid pain prescriptions are prescribed to patients (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 2016). To prevent the scope of the heroin epidemic in the Northern Shenandoah Valley there are drug collection units throughout, including in Winchester and Berryville (NSVAC, 2016). The goal is to decrease the availability of unused prescription pain medication. This may prevent opioid abuse from beginning in teenagers and young...
Words: 1201 - Pages: 5
...Heroin Samantha Garza COM/172 02/29/2012 William Pinney Heroin “She was in a coma. She suffered brain damage and was paralyzed from the neck down; her one-time heroin use left her needing around-the-clock care.” (Bubala 2011, pgs. 1-2). This is an example of what Heroin can do to a young adult who tried the drug for the first time. Although Heroin may be a satisfying new experimental drug to young adults, Heroin is an addictive drug that destroys the human body, and can kill chronic users. The topics to be discussed in this essay are: What is Heroin, the bad effects Heroin has on the body, and what Heroin can lead to. What is Heroin? According to The Partnership (2011), “Heroin is a depressant that affects the brains pleasure systems and interferes with the brains ability to perceive pain” (Pg. 1). Research has shown that Heroin is an addictive drug imitated from the drug called Morphine. The Partnership (2011) indicates that Heroin is created from the Opium Poppy plant. The way Heroin is created is by the seeds from the Opium Poppy, which are crushed until it forms the powder substance. This powder substance is known to be called Morphine. According to Stop Heroin (2008-2012) the Opium Poppy plant are grown in numerous places. Here are just a few examples of where the Opium is grown, Southern America, Afghanistan, China, and Eastern Europe. Heroin is a powdery substance that will look white, brown, or black depending on what it is mixed with...
Words: 1733 - Pages: 7
...Alcohol and Drug Addiction Liberty University Abstract This paper is a reflection of addiction in the United States and the statistics that prove addiction is a major issue within the country. Discussed in the paper will be first the primary causes of addiction and risk factors that may lead to an addiction in an individual. Going further into the problem, the cycle of addiction and how to break free of the cycle and an individual’s addiction is talked about. Since there are different drugs that can cause addiction, a breakdown of certain drugs is given. These drugs include alcohol, prescription drugs, heroin, and marijuana. Next, the side effects of drug addiction to the drugs chosen are described in depth as well as the signs that can be viewed in screening for drug addiction. Resources available to drug addiction are touched on and treatment options to explore what can be done if an individual does suffer from drug addiction. Finally, what human service professionals are doing to assist individuals who are addicted and how they can improve on training to ensure that addiction can be caught early enough to make a difference? Introduction to Drug Addiction Addiction is a chronic disease of brain reward, motivation and memory in individuals who submit to any number of different drugs available to them. Such chronic need for the drugs leads to manifestations biologically, psychologically, spiritually and even socially in any given individual (ASAM, 2014). These, however...
Words: 3725 - Pages: 15
...The Drug Heroin and its Effect on Families Ramona C. Malone COM/172-Elements of University Composition and Communication II University of Phoenix September 15, 2014 The Drug Heroin and its Effect on Families As a very common known street drug, heroin has become the drug that destroys many families in the United States. Due to the fact that Heroin has become the more accessible drug, it is causing more and more people addicted? Heroin addiction has become extremely dangerous in today’s society to both young and old. Americans need to get a handle on this and develop sometime of intervention to help family members who have become addicted to Heroin. Without help to become free of Heroin the outcome could be a very sad on for all involved. Heroin and its impact has affected all parts of the United States and not just selecting today’s wealthy Society, but as well as so many of our urban areas (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2012). Heroin has been identified as one of the most used and sought after drug by any addict of recent years (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2012). Heroin is one of the fastest acting drugs which will give its users an immediate rush, making the body relaxed and with the sense of less pain. Whether it be emotional or physical pain a user is trying to decrease, they enjoy the fast acting rush. (Christensen, CNN, 2014). Once a person is starting to obtain the help to no longer take Heroin they can and will experience...
Words: 1672 - Pages: 7
...Addiction Movie Analysis: Rush (1991) Maryalice Anderson Sci/163 October 19, 2015 Addiction Movie Analysis: Rush (1991) Rush shows the hard side of being an undercover detective. This movie is based loosely on actual events that took place in 1977. The small town of Tyler in Texas is the real life setting. Heroin was a problem in this town for years. Jim Raynor is a police detective. His boss wants answers. Raynor has been working undercover for two years with no evidence to put away the man he suspects is the crime boss. The Captain insists his detective must go deeper undercover and this time a female rookie detective, Kristen Cates, will join him. They will both (unknown by their boss) become addicts to heroin for the job. The two detectives will put their lives on the line along with their sanity. They will also become lovers and one will eventually die for the job. One will be left to lie for the job. Type of Addiction Heroin is the drug of choice in this movie. The crime boss is being investigated for supply and distribution of the drug into Tyler, Texas. Jim Raynor and Kristen Cates go deep undercover to convince the drug dealer that they are not cops. This is how they become serious addicts to the drug heroin. Of course, their boss Captain Dodd has no clue. He is only interested in a conviction for the drug dealer. Physical Effects of Heroin Being highly addictive, heroin is the face of going big time with a drug. The physical issues associated...
Words: 749 - Pages: 3
...Running head: METHADONE AND DEPENDENCY The Effects of Methadone Treatment on Opiate and Heroin Dependency Since the early times, opiates, heroin, and other drugs have been used in providing analgesia as well as substitutes to reach a place of euphoria. Originally, as Yurgelum-Todd et al (2009) has noted, derived from the opium poppy, heroin has been used as an alternative to morphine in dealing with addiction (Yurgelum-Todd, p. 175, 2009). Unfortunately, over the years it has consistently become prevalent that heroin has more negative aspects than anything; heroin is highly addictive, resulting in consequences such as overdoses, infections, violence and crime, deficits in memory, learning, and attention. The need to relieve pain by use of heroin and other drugs, though, results in opioid dependence, estimated to affect more than one million persons in North America alone (Oviedo-Joekes, p. 778, 2009). To relieve opiate dependence, researchers experimented with an opiate-agonist called methadone; the standard opioid-susbstitution treatment, to help reduce withdrawals and other negative consequences surrounding the use of drugs like heroin by producing a phenomenon called the “blocking-dose”, which blocks opiate receptors (Oviedo-Joekes, p. 778, 2009). Methadone was, in fact, the “first opiate agonist used in the pharmacotherapy of heroin addiction. Methadone is the best studied drug, but also the most controversial”(Maremmani, p. 7, 2008)....
Words: 2764 - Pages: 12
... Eventually, addiction causes the lives of individuals to spiral downward in a desperate search to regain the sense of balance and pleasure that their addiction initially gave them. This downward spiral either leads to recovery or continued hopelessness and eventual death. Director Darren Aronofsky's 2000 film "Requiem for a Dream" illustrates this idea perfectly as this work chronicles this descending spiral experienced by its characters. For example, as the movie opens, a housewife is in the process of chaining her television to a radiator. This is because she is trying to prevent her son from using it to get the money he needs to support his drug habit. The housewife's efforts fail, as her son frees it and then wheels it down the street to a pawnshop (Ebert, 2000). All of the characters engage in desperate acts to support their addiction. Harry and his best friend Tyrone obtain a large amount of heroin, believing that the profit from selling it will make them rich. However, their behavior is disinhibited because they use so much of it themselves that they wind up using more of it than they sell (Bowers, 2010). Marion, Harry's girlfriend, prostitutes herself to support her heroin addiction and winds up not only losing Harry, but also her sense of self (Bowers, 2010). Marion plays a key role in enabling heroin addiction, not only for her, but also for Tyrone and Harry, as it is her prostitution that supplies the money needed to obtain the pound of heroin on which their...
Words: 1015 - Pages: 5
...If you are struggling with a heroin addiction while living in Newark, New Jersey, it is understandable why you might not know what to do or where to turn should you want to stop your cycle of addiction. All anyone has to do is read local news report after news report about the prevalence gang activity and drugs on Newark's streets to know that temptation within the city's limits is hard to avoid. With that said, there will still come a time when you need to think about getting help or risk losing your life. Is a Newark NJ Heroin Rehab Center a Viable Solution? While your fist instinct might be to contact a local NJ heroin rehab center, you might encounter certain obstacles that make going out-of-state a better alternative. Putting aside the dangers of trying to get help in a familiar environment where your dealers and enablers are living and prompting you...
Words: 628 - Pages: 3
...As you prepare yourself for rehab for your heroin addiction, you must first be congratulated for taking one of the most important steps in your life. It takes a great deal of courage to admit you have an illness and finally be willing to seek help in order to regain a normal way of living. As you begin this next phase of your life, you could probably use a little information to set you on the right path. The Process First and foremost, it's important for you to take the time necessary to find the right rehab environment. By doing so, you will be able to secure a treatment that gives you the best opportunity for a lasting recovery. Prior to setting off for rehab, you will most definitely need to spend the requisite time needed in a heroin detox center. Heroin, as are all opiate based drugs, is an insidious monster that pleases your nerve centers and befriends you into believing you can't live without it. The only way your rehab stint is going to bring the desired results is if you can eliminate the residual chemicals from your body and minimize the physical and psychological cravings for the drug. A stint in a heroin detox center in best and safest way to accomplish this. Where Can You Find a Reputable...
Words: 439 - Pages: 2
