Personal Narrative: Drug Adoption

Many people believe in the principle that regardless of what a family member does, family should still always be there for them. However, when does a family decide that enough is enough? Better yet, what does a family do when a member of that family is addicted to drugs and is also selling them? Ideally, many families would try to get help for that member of their family, but what if this member’s addiction was so bad that they were arrested and thrown in prison? A good example of this scenario is illustrated in James Baldwin’s short story, “Sonny’s Blues” which tells the story of a man whose life experiences take him through an inner transformation and spiritual growth while trying to understand the person that his brother was and has become.

Nobody is perfect. There are many addictions and phases I have had over the years. I have relapsed severally, and have had failed attempts. But the reassurance is, I have overcome all my addictions successfully and I’m now recovering from all of them day by day. It is not an easy journey, but it is a worthy one to undertake upon. I rather be where I am now than where I used to be

I talked to the man, who asked to go by “Richard”, after the meeting concluded. We sat outside the conference room and drank coffee while he told me about his lifelong battle with alcohol and drugs. I think what struck out the most to me was just how sad and regretful his tone of voice was as he told his story to me. He recalled how he first shot up with heroin at the age of fourteen, and how his life was a vicious cycle of drugs and depression afterwards. “Richard” told me that he was in and out of juvenile halls throughout his teenage years and how, when he was supposed to be in school, would skip classes to drink on the curb or inject himself with heroin in some dirty gas station bathroom. “I was in and out of prisons too, once I got old enough.” I remember him telling me. After two three year stints in prison on drug and alcohol related charges, the correctional

Mr. L described his father as an addict and career criminal whose drug of choice was cocaine. Subsequently he reports not having a relationship with his father because he was consistently in prison or too worried about perusing the next high to be involved with

My older brother and I were summoned from 5000 miles away, a small town in Scotland to California. A few days prior we had received an email from Tara, my father’s ex-wife, to tell us he’d had a three day binge that resulted in an extended period in intensive care. Another attempt to check him into rehab, failed. She was exasperated, pleading for us to get more involved.

When I was six months old, I was adopted from Vladikavkaz, Russia. At the time of my birth, Vladikavkaz was war torn, and Russia had just recently become involved in the Second Chechen War. Due to the dangerous conditions of Vladikavkaz, my parents could not come directly to my orphanage to meet me. They made the long trip to St. Petersburg where they met me, and at that moment at just six months old, they became the only “real” parents I have ever known. For as long as I can remember, I have known that I was adopted. It wasn’t some big reveal that I can recall, it was just always something that had been a part of me. It wasn’t until I was a teenager, that I realized the significance of my childhood and my adoption. I began to realize, that

It’s been a few weeks and it’s finally that day, it’s adoption day. We arrive at court all cheered up for this to finally be official. Before we walk into the room the judge says something to the foster parents and when they told me and my brother, I ran out of court and cried. They had said that on my birth certificate there was a different name for father, meaning I couldn’t get adopted. I told my brother to get adopted anyways I just wanted to know he was safe. I walked back in the courtroom with a smile on my face but i was dying on the inside.

Adoption is a process that can last a lifetime. Traveling through emotions of insecurity, feeling pressured to be a “perfect child” for a new family, and not knowing if you’ll be able to stay with the limited family you do have: siblings. Growing up trying to follow the path of what Americans call an “American dream” was ruined from age one. Since then, I have been in many different homes. At age two, I was finally adopted by the people I now get to call my mom and dad. My life has been a roller coaster that I was hopeful would soon one day come to a stop. I always predicted that I would once find out who my real parents are. Being adopted is like having white clouds in the sky as it pours down rain. It is like a train that is unstoppable.

This was something that I have been struggling with since I was little. Self care is not just a physical thing but a emotional and mental thing as well. Physically I have had problems remembering to eat and drink. I get too caught up in stress and stuff from school and family that I completely forget to eat. Emotionally and mentally I worked on trying to not overwhelm myself with things that I could not control in my life. So for the first week I tried to make sure that I had all 3 meals and not to over stress myself. It was hard to start changing. I have to say the first couple of days I totally forgot about my goals. After that I had to constantly remind myself of my goal. it was very beneficial and nice to have retreat over my first week. The talks that were given and the activities we did were very beneficial and informative. Some of the talks actually showed me that I was not alone in my actions and that their were ways to fix it. I didn’t realize until that weekend that my original thought of self care being physical, mental and emotional was not totally true. There was a part that I didn't realize was missing: my spiritual self care. I was so over stressed and neglecting myself that I was neglecting my faith and God himself. I learned through retreat that a way to improve myself care was to give up my stress and worries to Jesus on the cross. Though the first week and characteristics went sort of

Nurses are in the profession of caring for others. Nursing is an intense profession that can lead to burnout without the proper guidance to self-care. Blum (2014) stated, “Self-care is imperative to personal health, sustenance to continue to care for others, and professional growth” (para. 1). The purpose of this assignment is to discuss the importance of nurses practicing holistic self-care and to provide an example of the differences in a healing versus cure.

I astonished that I had received the answers that I had been looking for as I processed my that “your father is an addict”. I can vividly remember my mom and step dad telling me, the reason that I was taken away from him was because he was a drug addict. At first I was taken aback and didn’t know how to respond. I could feel the the tears in my eyes coming out like floodgates, and my stomach was in my throat. The concoction of emotions was so overwhelming I didn't know how to feel. In that concoction I felt angry, confused, abandoned, but most of all relieved.

Before initially watching the Ted talk show during class, to me, “self-care” made me think of taking care of one’s health and wellbeing the best one possibly can. It never crossed my mind that “self-care” could possibly or even in a fraction, be related to one’s psychological health rather just physical health. It astonishes me how little attention one pays to one’s psychological health. After completing my Emergency Self-Care Worksheet and my card, I just realized how easily it is to get off track from practicing good self- care in order to maintain a balanced life and overall health on a daily basis. This activity worked as more of an enlightenment to a concept of self-care that I was familiar with and knew was keen on improving ones health,

Some see me as a weirdo, wimp, druggie, dumb person and even cool. No one thinks the same

One article defined self-care as “the care of oneself without medical, professional or other assisntance or oversight.” (Godfey, CM et al, 2011). While reviewing different articles the conclusion was that the definition of self-care could

Self-care isn 't just about activities, it can include any thoughts or behaviors. For instance, it includes stopping yourself from using negative self-talk. It also includes setting and enforcing boundaries in your relationships (with parents, friends, romantic partners, colleagues) that