OUTLINE FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE PAPER

OUTLINE FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE PAPER

Childhood (5-12 yrs.)

It all began when David attended AA meetings with his father at a very young age. He recalls his father being an alcoholic and also had a diagnosis of schizophrenia and was very abusive, both verbally and physical. David remembers his father being in recovery most of his childhood.  David does have a younger brother who is six years younger, but was only a baby when all this turmoil in his life began. David also recalls his mother being addicted to diet pills and gambling. David was exhibiting behavioral issues in school. He was brought to his family physician and that is where the doctors suggested he be put on medication for ADHD, however his mother refused. From that point on, David continued to behave erratically without any form of behavior modification or treatment. According to David, he had no control over his external environment so he wanted to ensure he controlled his inner circle, in which included his toys and immediate surroundings. He would strategically place his G.I. Joes perfectly and would not allow any of his friends to touch them. He stated that he preferred to be alone as a child as he did not know how tom interact with others. David indicated that the lack of emotions derived from witnessing a poor relationship between his parents, seeing his mother being traumatically beaten by his father. David stated there was no affection or love in his household, only abuse. By following a regimen, he had a place to go to share and discuss his feelings. He felt he had no one else to talk to, other than those individuals in rehab. During the ninety/ninety David found a sponsor who was also a teacher. He indicated that his job is a huge part of his life and his sponsor had qualities he inspires to have.

Adolescent (13-17 yrs.)

During David’s adolescent years, he indicated that he wanted friends, he needed to be liked and needed constant reinforcement. David stated he did not want to be fat so he constantly worked out and started to hook up with girls. He soon became addicted to sex and needed validation from every girl. He needed to feel wanted. David started to drink alcohol with friends and liked the feeling of being comfortably numb. This made him unafraid of what others thought of him and it was also an escape from his home environment. During these years, David remembered being evicted from his childhood home due to his mother not paying rent. David recalls moving to his grandfather’s apartment, in Kew Gardens where he, his brother and mother lived in a studio apartment for eight months. His father moved to his parents’ home in Whitestone. Later on, David stated that his grandfather bought a co-op in Bayside for his family to live, where he remains there today. During this chaos, David would skip school and have “hooky jams” and drink, party and have sex with girls. David drank his first forty ounce of alcohol and got drunk. He also started smoking weed. He stated he wanted that good feeling all the time. He had his first job at Sizzler and a card store as well. He said he wanted to do something better with his life and be different than his family. At 16, David had his first real relationship. At the early stages of this relationship, David was still addicted to sex, drinking and hanging out. He became very depressed when he found out his girlfriend was pregnant. He isolated himself until his son was born. He had not spent any time with his son until he was a year and a half old. At that time, he visited his son once a week.

Adulthood (18-39 yrs.)

He could not cope with being a father at such a young age so he decided to engage in food behaviors, gorging himself as a way of comforting his pain. He started to act out and realized he needed therapy. He began talk therapy for two years. David soon attended college and he started drinking and smoking weed socially. Soon after he quit weed while attending college.  He ended his relationship with his girlfriend and mother of his son. After graduating college he started a full time job at a restaurant and began self-medicating with food. He reflected on his life during this time and the pressures of being a dad, working full time and not socializing at all got to him. He indicated he was so tired and didn’t like his life. David started to smoke weed again and felt good, numb from his responsibilities. He started to smoke alone and no longer needed or wanted friends. He got high every day. His son was 10 years old at this point and living with David. David’s grandfather and mother died a few months apart and he soon became a full time caretaker for his father. All these pressures, along with being a full time parent himself made him become a full time pot smoker. He always maintained a high before work, during work and didn’t realize how to be happy. From 2007-2011 David started a teaching job in a Drama Program 3 times a week, while working at a restaurant after school. In 2008 David returned to school in pursuant of a Master’s Degree. In 2010, David started taking Percocet pills due to an infection he contracted from the school kids he was teaching. David stated the pain medication made him feel mellow, like a warm blanket. At the age of 34 years old, David was now teaching an English class that consisted of honor students only. According to David, the position was stressful and the students made him feel inadequate. David did not feel he was smart enough to teach that class as the kids criticized his lesson plans. David set his expectations too high for himself and he felt like he was failing. He started to smoke pot on the weekends and take pain killers on occasion. In addition to that, he started to get high every day before work. This was his coping method in order to be able to teach his class. This continued for another year and David now began taking a slow release OxyContin tablet almost every day, especially if he was stressed. The following year, David stated he was now ingesting 30 mg. of OxyContin pills every day, half a pill in the morning before class and the other half in the evening. In addition to this he smoked pot upon arriving home.  David informed me that he kept his pills in his desk at work. David vividly remembered chaperoning a class trip to Washington D.C. while high. The kids liked David and that made him feel like a rock star, he added. Due to that feeling he continued taking pills to maintain a constant high, numb to his reality and fears. At the age of 37 years old, David informed me he was hired as a Film teacher, something he had always dreamed of doing. Because this was his passion, he didn’t anticipate his job being stressful and had no fear of teaching, therefore he no longer needed pills to cope. One morning soon after, David awoke and was blind in one eye. He went to the ER and remained there a few hours. He was then discharged, went home and took 30 mg of oxycodone. From that day on, David informed me he ingested eight to ten pills every single day to feel normal. At this point in David’s life, it is the end of the first year of teaching film. He is now 37 years old. He thought that by teaching his passion his addiction would go away, however it got worse due to him setting his expectations too high. It was at this time he went to see a therapist and it was recommended he seek outpatient treatment.  David didn’t want to risk losing his job and possible teaching career so he decided to seek treatment. He attended Zucker Hill Hospital once a week for counseling sessions and attended group sessions twice weekly. This occurrence was a period of five months total. While in treatment for opioid addiction, David remained smoking weed at that time. His counselor was aware of this due to his positive urine tests. After five months going to the outpatient facility, David stated he wasn’t ready to quit opioids so a few weeks later he admitted himself to Long Island Center for Recovery, a twenty eight day inpatient facility. David informed the school principal he was going out on leave to have surgery, however, the principal knew he had an addiction based on his behaviors he exhibited. David informed me that the day prior to going to inpatient, which was also his last day of work, he got high on OxyContin and took 120 mgs. He vomited while teaching and his behavior was beyond erratic. He remembered being extremely embarrassed as all his students observed such “crazy shit”. He had to leave his car at work due to his impairment and his son drove him home. David indicated he was so sleep deprived at that time, decided to get high again and smoked pot. He stated he wanted a “last hoorah” before going to inpatient facility. He informed me that he had a psychotic episode that night and was running around in his apartment without clothes while screaming and crying. His friend came over to try and calm him and made sure he slept. The next day he woke up at 6pm and got ready to leave. His son, brother and friend all drove him to the Hamptons. He remembered waking up in rehab being exhausted and famished. During his first week of treatment David stated he felt more focused and alert. He said it was a slow gradual process. He said he felt supported, got involved and participated in yoga and meditation. He was in the process of completing his Master’s degree prior to inpatient. He spoke with his academic advisor at City College to discuss the idea of putting on a play at rehab and receiving school credits for it. David said he directed a play with all the participants and wrote a reflection paper about it. He named his play “Play on Addiction”. He said he turned his addiction into a positive experience and it was very therapeutic and transformative. At the end of his inpatient stay, David had a family session and that is where he expressed a verbal contract on how different he would behave upon going home and why he was a drug addict. His son was 20 years old at the time and told him that he did drugs to deal with all the stressors in life. He made sure to reassure his son it had nothing to do with him. Every night while at rehab, there were meetings on AA/NA. It was there that David was introduced to the Twelve Step Program. He contacted a meeting facility in Flushing prior to his discharge, where he would be attending ninety meetings in ninety days. David began his Twelve Step journey and said that ninety minute meetings were difficult at first but he stayed focus. All the meetings were conducted in different formats to keep them interesting. David stated, “It’s about attraction not promotion”. He said that he couldn’t promote recovery and telling people what to do because addicts are rebellious by nature; it’s all about making suggestions. He was taught in rehab that “meeting makers make it”.

Present Day (40 yrs.)

Reflection of Jason’s life (looking back on what he told you and how far he has come)

David remains sober and attends NA meetings 2-3 times weekly for 90 minutes. He has a sponsor and a sponsee for two months. David stated that in the NA Basic text it states the therapeutic value of one addict helping another. The new comers is the most important person in the meetings because you cant keep what you have unless you give it away. (experience, strength and hope).David has a prayer book titled Just for Today and refers to it daily. He meditates daily for ten minutes followed by a prayer, with the acronym armed. A-action, R-reaction, M- motivates, E- evaluate and D- daily. David continues to take a daily inventory to help him find a solution to what is causing any problems. David takes Lexipro for his anxiety and Strattera for ADHD. He remains abstinent of all substances to this present day.