case study Essay

Submitted By romonat
Words: 1911
Pages: 8

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SUBSTANCE ABUSE: UNDERSTANDING THE ADDICTION
NATALY ROMERO
ABS 200
INSTRUCTOR: SOPHIA JAMES
OCT 20, 2013

2 This is a case study on a young man named Tyler. In this paper I will be examining all the aspects of his life, from the micro, mezzo and macro perspective. I will also review what I think may have led to his substance abuse. Lastly I will be discussing techniques or things he can do I that I feel will benefit him in addressing his problems, to work his way towards recovery. Tyler is a single, 25 year old Caucasian male, who is suffering from substance and alcohol abuse. He has been dealing with these issues for several years now. His health is in overall okay condition. Tyler suffers from anxiety and currently lives back at home with his parents, prior to returning home he was living in a small apartment with a roommate. He is unemployed at the moment due to his substance abuse. There is no family history of mental illness. He was first introduced to alcohol and marijuana at the age of 16 and at 19 started using cocaine. Tyler appears to be shy and depressed. He would like to get his life back on track and is reaching out for help. His main goal is to go back to school (he attended college, but dropped out). He is unsure of what degree he would like to pursue, but we will help him in regards to that later on. Our main goal at the moment is to help him recover and transition his way into a healthy, drug and
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alcohol free lifestyle. Working on short term goals and eventually long-term goals. The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, and he wants the help. He no longer associates with the people with whom he used drugs with (which included his roommate) that is a definite step in the right direction. He appears to be eager to turn his life around and is willing to cooperate with any treatment suggested for him. The obvious downside here, is his addiction. He experiences lack of sleep and energy and has episodes of confusion. His anxiety kicks in frequently, and as he sits in front of me, I can clearly see how anxious he is. He is shaking his legs and keeps moving around in his seat, looking very uncomfortable. I asked him if there was anything I could do to make him feel comfortable and that I am here to help. He calmed down after a couple of minutes, but I could see that this is someone who really wanted help. He uses just about every day, so it will be difficult for him physically, mentally and emotionally. Tyler has gone to rehab twice before and checked himself out. We will try a different approach so that the pattern does not follow. Meeting with him I took a look at the mezzo perspective after the micro. I tried to identify the possible reasons that have led to his substance abuse. As stated before he lives with both parents and no siblings. He said although his parents are together, there was always fighting in the home and his father was never there for
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him. His mother is a teacher and father a construction worker. His father was an alcoholic up until Tyler was around 18 years old, which was when he decided to try Alcoholics Anonymous and has been sober ever since. Tyler admitted that not having his father around as often when he was a child and teen made him feel unloved and unwanted by his father. He said his relationship with his mother was always good but that he felt as though she wasn’t supportive enough. In “Familial Risk Factors Favoring Drug Addiction Onset” (Zimic & Jukic, 2012) the study shows that the father of the male addict, is pictures as separated, uninvolved, weak or distant, or aggressive and brutal, many among them being alcoholics as well (Zimic &Jukic, p.174). I believe he falls under that category, he stated his father was not physically abusive towards him, but he was towards his mother and that he was verbally abusive and always putting him down. Not