June 1, 2016 could have been the last day of my 22-year-old son’s life. It was on that night that heroin almost had her way with him. If it hadn’t been for his younger brother finding him on the bathroom floor, blue and unresponsive with a syringe by his side, acting quickly to administer CPR; he’d be dead. That night, the Sheriff’s Deputy arrived quickly. He pulled in the driveway, put his car in park (not even turning it off) and sprinted across the yard of my Father’s house with Narcan in his hand. Luckily by the time he arrived my son was responsive and didn’t need Narcan. My son is one of the lucky ones. He was given another chance at life, that’s something so many living with Heroin Use Disorder don’t get. Currently, the United States is seeing the worst drug crisis in American History. But, we must ask the question why? I watched him go downhill for years. After his grandmother passed away, he changed. He was never the same again and suffered with severe anxiety and depression. We dealt with ADHD, acting out in school, suspensions for numerous reasons and eventually he dropped out at the age of 16 and earned his GED. We tried counselors and psychiatrists but he wasn’t a willing participant. I knew he had some mental issues, but there’s not much you can do without cooperation. He started experimenting with marijuana and alcohol, he moved to Xanax, eventually pain pills and that’s how he ended up snorting and then finally injecting heroin. In between
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
This video was extremely riveting and eye-opening. I learned the about the dire straits our country is saddled with concerning the heroin epidemic. I was surprised to know that overdoses from heroin saw a 164% increase in West Virginia. The death toll doubled from 2011 through 2013. There was 94% spike in Hampton Roads and 50% increase in Richmond. The familiar culprit in the vast majority of these cases is the gateway provided by prescription opiates. With current national and state laws becoming more stringent, opiate users that have become addicted most often turn to heroin. The video chronicled various horror stories of young promising lives wrecked, derailed, and destroyed by heroin addiction spiraled out of control.
Over the past couple of decades there has been a huge increase in the diagnosis and prescriptions given out for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. According to a news report done by USA Today over the past five years use of ADHD medications have risen 40% totaling 39.5 million individual prescriptions ("New findings," 2009). When statistics like this are seen it is only normal for someone to ask questions. People are becoming curious about the legitimacy of the disorder, and whether or not the treatments being given to individuals are appropriate. The argument seems to be strong on both sides of the fence, but the extensive research done on ADHD leaves it hard for one to believe that it is a made up disorder.
Children are among the most vulnerable segment of the health care population. They rely on the good judgment and the care of adults to guide them to the best and safest possible treatments. Part of our responsibility, as adults, is to inform ourselves so that we can participate in a constructive way in that equation.
Can you please just stop calling out it is disruptive to the students around you! As an ADD student and now teacher I’ve been on both the giving and receiving end of that parent phone call where both often feel lost and hopeless. You can be the best of parents with access and behavior therapy or struggling to even supply your child with their daily meds, the results are the same. Your child struggles at home, at school, with friends, when will it end? We as a society must begin to approach ADD/ADHD as a skill set deficit to be learned instead of a self-control issue to be punished for; a punishment that has had long lasting affects on many of my friends and family members. Ridiculed and ostracized for disruptive behavior, inability to complete work and “defiance” many of my ADD/ADHD male students have been isolated and alienated from their peers. Creating learning and home environments where Anonymous just requires too much energy. My
(transition into body of speech) Now I suppose the question you are asking now is what is ADHD?
The population of people with ADHD has increased by a significant amount.ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.An ongoing question about ADHD is how do you manage it and can it ever be outgrown.Adhd can’t be outgrown but if it’s treated the right way then kids grow to go on and live well constructive lives .ADHD is hard to control and manage for some kids ,ADHD is a chronic disorder that tough on a lot of people.
It has become socially acceptable for parents to treat hyperactive children with medication due to behavioral problems. However, they need to know medications are doing more harm than good in helping their children. Hyperactive children should rely on treatments other than medication. Parents of hyperactive children should try other treatments as having well balanced meals, processes of biofeedback, or evaluating the life style.
Autism. To some people it can be just a word, or a disorder. What Autism means to me, is being able to be closer to my little brother. My 7 year old brother has Autism and that doesn’t define him as a human being, his capabilities defines who he is. He is the reason why I am where I am today, a paraeducator that thrives to help kids in need. Being a paraeducator, our job is to help our students become more independent to prepare them for the real world after school. In order to get a student to be an independent person, is to use strategies. A few strategies I would use is how to properly use fidgets, what the social norm is and ways to improve, and the four questions for a structured task.
My husband and I just found that that our eight-year-old child was diagnosed with ADHD. He was always a difficult child growing up, but lately he has become worse. We are guilty to admit that we have been spectators about ADHD, and don’t know how to rightly act in this situation. Should we allow our doctor to prescribe the medication to treat my son’s condition or should we just wait until he grows out of this stage? We are scared however, that if we don’t treat his disorder right now, it will get worse when he gets older. Please explain what is medically right to do for our child.
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder also most commonly known as ADHD is one of the most common disorders among children and young adults. It is not only the most common but is on the rise in the United States over the past decade. Many people turn to the internet to find answers on such a disorder as ADHD. However, one has to be careful in what they read, because some websites are not accurate and have lots of bias towards one thing or another dealing with the subject of ADHD. Everyday Health’s webpage on ADHD is a very informative source and well put together by using authority, coverage and objectivity.
Children who are diagnosed with ADHD struggle with managing behavior in school environments. As research has shown, students have difficulty paying attention and can be disruptive in class. This often leads to a decline in their academics and can hurt future academic achievements. There are a number of tools, programs, contracts, and classes that are available to students with ADHD. Along with a lack of attention and an abundance of hyperactivity, “twenty to thirty percent of ADHD children have an associated learning disorder of reading, spelling, writing, and arithmetic” (Daley & Birchwood, 2010). It can be difficult, as a teacher, to manage a classroom with children with ADHD. It is important that teachers, parents, and students, understand the opportunities available to them to help the child succeed.
“Nearly 5 million children in the U.S. have some type of mental illness” (Goldberg). It is agreeable that there are many young children that deal with mental illness every day. Schools should be concerned for every student’s well being. Moreover, mental health is a part of a person’s overall “well being.” Therefore, schools need to make the mental health of students a stronger focus and implement plans to keep students mentally well and educated. To help create a positive, mental health aware environment where students feel open to seek help, high school students should be educated on how to be mentally healthy, be given a safe place to seek help, and be encouraged to monitor and maintain their mental health. Mental illness and mental health care need to be a more eminent priority in our society, starting with high schools.
We may see a decrease in drug overdose more specifically in heroin and meth users if they had affordable access and more support than they do now. Most teens and young adults do not think they can talk to their families or can get to treatment facilities because of either insurance not covering the full 28 days or parents unwilling to understand nor help unless they see their son or daughter has hit the rock bottom point. Seeing the young fifteen-year-old boy named Dylan battling a drug problem, who had emotional issues. He experimented with practically everything meth, ecstasy, shrooms, and marijuana. I just thought to myself when he gets older his motor skills are going to decrease from all the
About 1 in 5 youth aged 13–18 experiences a severe mental disorder at least once in their lifetime. Over one-third of students with a mental health condition, age 14–21 drops out—the highest dropout rate of any disability group. With these statistics, it shows how many people are not gaining support and are just giving up because they cannot find convenient help. If this issue is shown in the classroom, then the awareness rates will rise, making more establishments for support and treatment.