HN144 Unit 7 Seminar Assignment

Unit 7 Seminar Assignment

HN144

Unit 7 Seminar Assignment

What are the effects of drug and alcohol use?

The effects of drug and alcohol abuse can consist of multiple conditions. Some that are most known to me consist of high blood pressure, stroke, liver disease and heart related diseases. I say that because drugs and alcohol has always been a thing within my family. Grandmother was an alcoholic, my uncle an avid drug user and I have members of my family that have died due to a lot of these effects. Other effects include headaches, hard time breathing, distorted hearing and vision, cancer in the mouth and throat, diarrhea and upset stomach.

Based upon the prevalence of drug and alcohol abuse, why would human services professionals need to be aware of the effects of drug and alcohol abuse?

Human Services experts would need to be mindful of the impacts of medication and liquor misuse with a specific end goal to have the capacity to diagnose the likely disease, in light of what they see and what the customer reports to them, so they can appropriately and expeditiously treat the person. Keeping in mind the end goal to diagnose an issue, it first needs to be seen totally. On the off chance that human administration experts are mindful of the impacts of medication and liquor ill-use they can legitimately and all the more successfully treat people. Keep in mind that not one specific treatment will work for everybody. Human administration experts need to have a wide understanding and give treatment to the single person.

What agencies and local supports are available to address the needs of drug and alcohol abusers?

There are in-patient and out-patient facilities and rehabs, group meetings like AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) and NA (for drug users), ALANON for families/friends of addicts. Churches have resources and groups. Local community centers also have many programs. The Department of Social Service have government programs to have addicts and their families get back on their feet, along with the justice system, counselors, hospitals, and doctors are also available.

On the other hand, during the seminar Professor Beath discussed the theories of Erickson, Peck, Levinson, and Maslow. Erickson theory focused on young and middle adulthood. Young adulthood ranging from ages 18-30 was said to at that time of life go through intimacy vs isolation. Middle adulthood ranging from ages 30-65 was the stage of generativity vs stagnation. Peck focus was on the 4 theories of psychological development which was; socializing versus sexualizing in human relationships, valuing wisdom versus valuing physical powers, emotional flexibility versus emotional impoverishment, and mental flexibility versus mental rigidity. Levinson developed a theory on life structure, life eras, and transitions. Levinson studied 40 men ages 35 to 45, including business executives, academic biologists, novelists, and hourly workers in industry (Zastrow & Kirst- Ashman, 2013). The men were interviewed and given personality tests. From these data, Levinson constructed some developmental theories of life changes in adulthood (Zastrow & Kirst- Ashman, 2013). Lastly was the theory of Maslow’s Hierarchy Needs steps. He believed it was human nature for people to seek to know more about themselves and to strive to develop their capacities to the fullest (Zastrow & Kirst- Ashman, 2013).

Also discussed during seminar were the different types of families, such as traditional, single parent, blended, adoptive, multigenerational, friends as family, and couples. Next were conflict resolution strategies and afterward were the genogram, a graphic way of investigating the origins of a client’s problem by diagramming the family over at least three generations) and the ecomap, a drawing of the client/family in its social environment (Zastrow & Kirst- Ashman, 2013).

References

Zastrow, C., & Kirst-Ashman, C.H. (2013). Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment (ninth Ed.). Belmont, CA 94002-3098: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning.