Beautiful Boy Summary Sparknotes

n the essay “Embraced by the needle” by Gabor Mate, he highlights how an individualès childhood experiences would make them more susceptible to addiction in their future. He highlights if an individual experienced a traumatic, neglectful, or stressful environment in their childhood they are more vulnerable to addiction as adults. If children grew up in relatively stable and loving homes, but still grow up to become addicts, then there are other underlying factors, like stressed parents, that cause them to turn to vices like drugs or alcohol that lead them to addiction. Maté focuses on events that happened in an individual’s childhood and how they developed from it, and discusses the biology of addiction and how without some key experiences in an individual’s childhood it will lead to addiction because “the fewer endorphin exchanging experiences in infancy and early childhood, the greater the need for external sources” (289). Drugs like cocaine or benzodiazepine imitate or inhibit the reabsorption of endorphins, reaffirming that in Maté’s perspective addictions are caused by pain and unhappiness. Bruce K Alexander’s perspective on addiction and drug abuse in Reframing Canada’s “Drug Problem” is that of dislocation. He describes dislocation as being “the absence of that essential integration and identification with family, community, society and spiritual values that makes a “straight” life bearable most of them time and joyful at its peaks.” (226). When individuals are

In his essay “Embraced by the Needle”, Gabor Maté argues that addiction is the consequence of lack of care of parents on their children at an early age, where those children were deprived of ‘soft warm hug’. Maté reinforces his argument by providing some of his own experiences with his patients, while working as a physician in Downtown Eastside, Vancouver, who helps mental people and addicts. Generally, this place is the “drug capital” as Maté writes in his essay.

Beautiful Boy was a powerful story that used different aspects of rhetoric to help establish connections with the audience. Sheff used pathos effectively to the point that his audience cannot help, but constantly relate to his situation. Like many parents, Sheff blamed himself for Nic’s mistakes. He cannot help but question his upbringing and decisions. He says, “Did I spoil me? Was I too lenient? If only his mother and I stayed together” (145). He also says, “If only I had never used drugs” (145). Not only does Sheff battle against his son, he also fought against remorse. It is in parenthood where he sees repercussions for his previous actions. If he had not experimented with drugs, he could at least be a decent example for Nic.

Nic Sheff was 18 and collage bound when he discovered crystal meth. At first his father had no idea. Then came a call from his school, the late nights, the lying, the ghoulish pallor and the wasting away. David’s life became an eternity of waiting, for the phone to ring, the door to open, or

Life is not what everybody expects as days pass life changes and gets harder every day. In Hope’s boy, Andrew Bridge was a 5 year old boy who had the love from her mother and share a deep connection with, who thought that nothing else mattered. However, ended up getting separated from her mother at only 7 years of age because of her mother’s mental illness. Nevertheless, Andrew suffered from her mother’s separation having to be placed in a foster care and deal with loveless foster parents. Andrew was placed with the family Leonard’s who refuse to identify him as one of their children. Andrew experience emotional and physical abuse in the Leonard’s household. Mrs. Leonard was such a heartless person to Andrew. There was a time when little things will make Mrs. Leonard mad such as maybe Andrew leaving socks in the floor, not picking up after himself or maybe nothing at all and take it out on him. Andrew Bridge stated “Digging into my arms or grabbing at my face, she screamed that the foster child in front of her was ungrateful, lazy, obnoxious, confrontational, stupid, and undeserving. With her hand at my ear or at the base of my neck, she pulled me to the floor and through rooms” (181-182). This shows how the Leonard’s treated Andrew using physical abuse. Mrs. Leonard wanted to make Andrew feel what she felt when she was a young girl. As if Andrew didn’t had enough with Mrs. Leonard’s rejection he had to suffer being emotional abuse, bulled by Christopher Mrs. Leonard’s son.

Their relationship was strained, and oftentimes nonexistent, up until the point where Nic hit “rock bottom”, when he would call his parents and beg for help. While Nic was out alone struggling to rid himself of his inner demons, David and the rest of his family dealt with the realities of Nic’s drug and alcohol addiction directly. At first came the denial. The denial that there was even the remote possibility that their sweet, innocent Nic would become dependent on substance to keep him remotely functional. Rather than let his son waste away, David utilized his journalistic abilities and set off to research as much as he could about addiction. He set out to contact ULCA’s top methamphetamine researcher, Dr. Richard Rawson. As a researcher, Dr. Rawson has no agenda other than fact and truth. He is completely dedicated to the work he does for one sole reason, to help addicts (Sheff, 2008, p.277). Alongside research, Sheff also attends Alcoholics Anonymous and therapy sessions to better grasp what is going on with his son. In these sessions, he is continuously drilled of the three Cs, “you did not cause it, you cannot control it, and you cannot cure it”. Sheff has difficulties accepting all but one of the three Cs at the end of his memoir. He comes to realize that he cannot control, nor can he cure Nic’s addiction. After years of panic and worry over Nic’s wellbeing, numerous rehab treatments and therapy

One of the main themes of the book shows how co-dependents suffer from the obsession of the mind, guilt, and hopelessness over their addict. I thought this was a wonderful book that showed the ugly truth of addicts and co-dependents. David discussed how hard it was for him to let go of his child and fight off the instinct to protect him. This book could definitely be used in a therapy setting for a co-dependent especially any parents struggling with their children’s addiction. It can teach co-dependents to recognize symptoms and realize how hard the journey of co-dependency is. Yet, it is possible for them to let go of their child’s addiction and start taking care of themselves. Despite feeling empathetic towards David and his family, I found it difficult to relate to the passion David felt about feeling responsible and guilty for his son’s addiction. However, David did a great job of discussing how difficult it is for parents to not blame themselves for how they raised their child. The book also showed the struggle of losing hope when your addict relapses over and over again. I found myself feeling the sadness the Sheff family did when Nic would recover and then relapse yet again. David illustrated the pain of losing hope very well, as well as the anxious and fear they felt when Nic was missing or living at home. Another major part that the book talked about was how addiction

Gabor Maté’s essay, “Embraced by the Needle” uses client experiences and research to make a valid argument about how drug addictions are not the results of the drug alone, but from suppressed feelings of unhappiness and a lack of nurturing during childhood. Based out of Vancouver, Maté, a physician at a non-profit harm reduction facility, works with individuals who suffer from drug addiction and mental illness. He explores the underlying reasons behind addiction. Maté supports his argument with various patient stories and direct quotations from addicts to give a real life perspective on their inner feelings. Maté also uses statistics and scientific research to describe early brain development in humans and animals. He explains how neglect can cause vulnerability. He also supports his argument with insight behind addicts that come from loving families. These scientific and personal reflections support Matés argument and encourage the reader to agree with his essay.

Although all sorts of families can be devastated by addiction, but single parent units (the most common lower class structure) are the most obscured. Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches supports, “In every family unit, each person plays a role (or multiple roles) to help the family function better and to maintain a level of homeostasis, stability and balance. When substance abuse is added to this dynamic, the family roles naturally shift to adjust to the new behaviors associated with drug or alcohol use, and to continue maintaining order and balance.”4 In single parent units there is an inability of a second parent to fill the void role of the addicted parent. The National Center for Biotechnology Information states, “Frequently, children may act as surrogate spouses for the parent who abuses substances. For example, [young] children may develop elaborate systems of denial to protect themselves against that reality of the parent’s addiction. Because that option does not exist in a single‐parent household with a parent who abuses substances, children are likely to behave in a manner that is not age‐appropriate to compensate for the parental deficiency.”2 So a child growing up in a compromised family unit where addiction is present may develop altered norms and mature into an addict themselves.4

Along with illegal behavior often a substance abuser will find themselves as homeless, spending their paychecks on their habits of using substances (Tracy, 2005). Children of abusers are affected by both possessing negative role models that set the example that drug use is not wrong and sometimes the children are placed into the care of the community because of neglect and abuse by the substance user (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Adolescent and School Health [CDC], 2009). Other medical, social, and economic issues also are being experienced from substance abuse and use.

The Joey Song: A Mother’s Journey of Her Son’s Addiction, Sandra A. Swenson, 2014, Central Recovery Press

The cost of alcohol and substance abuse in the United States reaches heights of four hundred eighty four billion dollars per year (“Magnitude”). That’s about seven hundred eighty times the amount it cost to diagnose and treat sexually transmitted diseases in the year 2000 (Chesson). The sole purpose of this is not to persuade you one way or the other on this topic. Nor is the purpose to apologize for this social issue. The purpose of this writing is to employ data showing the societal effects parental addictions have on children, to show how this data has remained relevant in society, and to show how it is affecting our future members of society.

Drug addiction is a serious issue in not only America today, but globally. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, substance addiction is a “chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite the harmful consequences” (“What is drug addiction?”). Drug abuse affects not only the user, but those around the user as well. The actions of a drug user place a significant amount of worry on the people that are closest to them such as friends and family. Children with parents who are addicted to drugs or alcohol can be severely affected by the actions of their parents which can cause them much harm in terms of biological and

In the book Beautiful Boy David Sheff the father describes his and his family’s experience dealing with his son Nic who is addicted to the drug crystal meth. In telling his story David takes us down memory lane to the beginning of his life with his first wife who gives birth to his son Nic.

Many people all around the world face challenges and obstacles every day in their daily lives. One man in particular is Nic Sheff; a man who was a drug addict and wrote an autobiography called