Prevalence of Mental Illness and Drug Addiction and Their Effect of Developing Youth.

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Prevalence of Mental Illness and Drug Addiction and Their Effect of Developing Youth.

Drug addiction typically stems from a mental illness, and this has a long term effect on the user’s children. The children are more likely to develop drug addictions themselves, and this can be as a result of the previous exposures and experiences that leave them with no option. Most of the reasons as to why children indulge in drug and substance abuse is a result of suffering from mental illness that can be caused by issues with the brain chemistry. Parents may as well be susceptible to drug use, and this provides an easy lane for their children to be drug users just like their parents. There is a high probability that children born of parents who used drugs either during pregnancy or when bringing up the children will indulge in drug use.

According to Murray, drug addicts are most likely lured into drug and substance abuse as a result of mental illnesses. The drugs are able to alter the mindset of a person and thus result in euphoric effects. Those with mental illnesses lack serotonin in the brain, but drugs can temporarily increase the serotonin levels. From the article, mental illness is a brain disorder and thus affects the chemistry of the brain that in turn affects the thinking, sleep and moods of the users. “There’s a sense of lost childhood, grief and loss at the core of their experiences” The quote from the article exemplifies the severity of growing up with a parent who is suffering from mental illness. The child in such a family is greatly affected and feel they must raise themselves. Due to this, their childhood consists of worries and sorrow for the parent.

Despite the parent being alive, the children grieve as if they have experienced a loss in their parent and this as well affects their mood that later translates into a disruption of the brain chemistry. Children in these circumstances end up using drugs to lower their nightmares. “Mental illness drains off the energy needed for a child’s normal development. They are often forced into accepting parenting roles before they have matured up” The quote is an indication of how children of suffering parent’s copes with the illness. Mental illnesses prohibit the parents from showing their children love and affection which are most critical in a developing child. Due to this, the child is forced to adopt the parenting roles due to lack of parental attention, wearing the child’s mind over the years and this, in turn, can lead to being susceptible to mental illnesses just like their parents.

Children of addicts are more likely to develop drug addictions. According to research, some of the mental illnesses are hereditary, and this implies a mental condition can be passed from a parent to their children. The children born in these type of families have to raise themselves as well as the other siblings as their parents are already ill and therefore are unable to take care of them. With the children being left with the role of raising themselves, there is little room left for them to be happy like the normal children. The children grow up seeing their parents use drugs to reduce the effects and therefore they may get exposed to drugs at an early age and get used to them due to availability. In most occasions, parents who take drugs during pregnancy have a higher chance of giving birth to a child who suffers from mental illness due to malfunction of the brain as the child can be addicted to drugs from birth.

Scientists are doing experiments on people suffering from mental disorders and how it affects brain chemistry. Besides, they are determined to find the connection in the brains of more than one person in the same family who suffers from a mental illness. If they are able to discover a cure, they will have to identify the signs early enough, and through this, they will be able to stop the progression of the mental conditions, thus decreasing the rate of drug abuse and consequent addiction. “The researchers would also study families in South India where there is a prevalence of people marrying their relatives in order to identify the genetic loci that are responsible for causing mental illnesses”. Through these studies, the researchers will be able to identify by studying two married relatives and thus show how mental illness results. Complex disorders such as bipolar disorders and schizophrenia could probably find a cure from such studies.

According to an article by Sanghani, the onset of a mental condition and the consequent drug addiction can be as a result of the relative or other caregiver are left with the responsibility of bringing up the children. The children may develop a hatred for the guardians as they may not fully understand their parent’s illness. The children may as well refuse to acknowledge the situation, and this results in loathing the parent. The caregivers may, therefore, blame the children for their parent’s drug addiction. The article cites the example of Whitney Houston’s case where just after her death, her daughter committed suicide, and this can be attributed to the influence of the caregivers.

“They have suffered bereavement, but because of the stigma attached to this kind of death, somehow the family gets tainted” The quote can be a good explanation of Houston’s case whereby losing a loved one due to drug addiction becomes unbearable, and the healing process becomes even harder. The continued unacceptance to the situation may contribute to self-denial and the consequent punishment for oneself through death like Houston’s daughter. “What’s worse is that post-bereavement, families are often so focused on the person who died that they may not give enough attention or support to the children. In that situation, the child may bottle all their feelings in or even go on to repeat their parent’s mistakes”. The quote describes how the children resolve to cope after the death of a loved one, especially on drug addiction. The child is more likely to become addicted especially if they are young adults and this may lead to suffering from mental illnesses.

Most of the drug addicts are typically poor and cannot or will not make an effort to get out of poverty. The drug addicts spend most of their money on drugs, and thus they cannot afford the necessities for their children. Drug addicts are often unreliable due to the mental effects of the drugs, and therefore they find it difficult to find a job, they, therefore, live a desperate life of poverty. The children of these drug addicts, therefore, fall into drug dealing to find their daily bread. They have no other option available as the drugs are readily available, being used by the parents and possibly sold around the family. Due to poverty, there is a high chance of adoption for the children implying someone else might assume the responsibility of bringing up children of parents suffering from drug addiction and this may result to poor bonding of the children and their parents.

According to the US Occipital, “Among the three disorders of depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, the later affected family living arrangement the most”. The quote indicates that the three disorders are severe mental illnesses, but schizophrenia is attributed to causing the greatest damage. “The most untraditional living arrangements were found for children born to parents with schizophrenia, where mothers’ illness had a somewhat higher impact than father’s” and this can have attributed as being the reason for the families living in poverty. Poor mental health denies people the opportunity of getting hired meaning that they find it difficult to survive, with the children resulting to drug abuse as a way to escape reality and for food, eventually suffering mental illnesses due to abuse.

Works Cited

Article 1: Sanghani, Radhika, “Lexis Advace®” Lexis Advance®-sign in/ LexisNexis, advance.lexis.com/document/?pdmfid=1516831&crid=0df0e775-eb32-4e64-a0bae4f4f316dda0&pddocfullpath=%Fshared%Fdocument%2Fnews%2Furn%3AcontentItem%3A5GJ8-25X1-JCJY-G17N-00000-00&pddocid=urn%3AcontentItem%3A5GJ8-25X1-JCJY-G17N-00000-00&pdcontentcomponentid=389195&pdteaserkey=srl&pditab=allpods&ecomp=1fyk&earg=srl&prid=b6926e65-4ffd-48f7-a4b3-6c2f53c6ff75.

Article 2: “Lexis Advace®” Lexis Advance®-sign in/ LexisNexis, advance.lexis.com/document/?pdmfid=1516831&crid=dbf270ea-c875-48d0-b7f1-61305038c322&pddocfullpath=&shared%Fdocument%2Fnews%2Furn%3AcontentItem%3A5SB1-DNS1-JDK-R00B-00000-00&pdcontentcomponentid=326033& pdteaserkey=srl&pditab=allpods&ecomp=1fyk&earg=srl&prid=a1ffd278=bcec-459a-9f48-0056742516b0.

Article 3: Murray Dubin, Inquirer staff writer A family affliction mental illness affects more than the individuals who suffers from it. The unspoken burden of their families in profound. The Philadelphia inquirer, May 22,1977 Thursday SF EDITION. https//:advance-lexis-com.ezproxy.uno.edu/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentItem:4719-B3R0-01K4-9399-00000-00&context=1516831. Accessed March 21, 2019.

Article 4: Few children born to parents with serious mental illness live with both parents while growing up. US Official News, October 31, 2016. https://advance-lexis-com.ezproxy.uno.edu/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentItem:5M2M-9DF1-J9XT-P4FD-00000-00&context=1516831. Accessed March 21, 2019.