Stigma Against Methadone Essay Example for Free

Stigma Against Methadone Essay The purpose of this research is to identify a stigma against methadone users and those in the healthcare field who are trying to help them become drug free. Methadone is a synthetic drug brought to America in the 1960’s to help with opiate addiction. During the fifty years since then, it has been a very successful treatment drug, but a stigma has developed that to use this drug is to be considered a â€Å"junkie†. This is not the case; this paper will also discuss ways in which to educate about and overcome the stigma against those who work with or take methadone. What is a Stigma? According to sociologist Erving Goffman, â€Å"a stigma refers to characteristics that discredit people†¦ the stigma can become a person’s master status, defining him or her as deviant† (Henslin, 2012). Whether or not the accused person actually takes part the activities and behaviors the stigma depicts, they are still discredited, judged, and even ostracized because of others like them who do participate in the stigma’s behaviors. Anyone associated with a deviant behavior automatically gets grouped together, whether they take part in it or not, hence the stigma. What is Methadone? Methadone is a man-made drug originally synthesized in Germany in 1937. Thirty years later, in the 1960’s, it was introduced to the United States as a treatment for drug addiction. Since then, for over fifty years, methadone has been used to help drug addicts get clean of opiates and regain stability; during that time, there has been no evidence that taking methadone for long periods of time causes damage to the body (Drug Policy Alliance, 2006). The Drug Policy Alliance, an organization committed to identifying, acknowledging, and promoting health-centered alternatives to drugs (2011), supports the use of methadone to treat opiate addiction and states that when used appropriately and a proper dose is reached, opioid â€Å"cravings stop, without creating the effects of euphoria, sedation, or an analgesic effect† (2006, p. 8). In other words, the human brain has receptors that when stimulated by drugs, create a drug user’s â€Å"high†. Methadone covers those receptors so that the user does not feel the need to take drugs, yet they will not get high from the methadone either. This is called â€Å"the blockade effect† and allows for drug-dependent people the opportunity to stabilize, maintain a job, buy a car, get an apartment or housing, and keep healthy relationships, among other things. A Stigma against Methadone Methadone is used for both chronic pain and opiate addiction, yet the majority of society has the assumption that if one is to use methadone, they must be drug addicts. Yes, there are many people in society who are trying to free themselves from drug use, but there are others who take methadone simply because it helps them with their chronic pain when nothing else does. Also, when society hears the word methadone, a picture of an addict getting drugs off the street and overdosing from heroin and cocaine comes to mind immediately. However, this is not the entire picture; at a methadone clinic in Westbrook, Maine, only twenty five percent of the patients who come to get their dose are people who are detoxing from street drugs. That means that there are an additional seventy five percent dosing every day. Why are they patients at the clinic? Because they are there to clear themselves from drugs that their own physicians have prescribed to them. Even though three quarters of the population coming in every day are there because of their doctors, and not because they were addicted to street drugs, patients still have a difficult time entering methadone maintenance treatment. Walter Ginter, director of the National Alliance of Methadone Advocates (NAMA), reported the following to Alcoholism Drug Abuse Weekly: Many of the public think of methadone as just a ‘substitute’ for another addictive drug and that even methadone patients themselves sometimes doubt that they can be in recovery, as long as they are on methadone†¦ partly because they have so little support in the community. The stigma is so great that nobody wants to say they’re a methadone patient. Even people who are successful in treatment don’t want anybody to know about it. (2007, p. 1) Many patients who enter treatment start thinking of tapering off methadone almost as soon as they begin their treatment, for the desire to get off methadone and away from the stigma associated with it is so great. The fact of the matter is, however, that seventy percent of patients who taper off methadone too soon or too quickly will relapse into drug use again (Ginter, 2007). Healthcare providers who work in methadone clinics and assist addicts in their recovery are subject to judgments as much as the patients are, even among fellow healthcare providers. A lot of patients look to their clinics to help them find â€Å"methadone-friendly doctors,† so that they can share the fact that they are taking methadone without having to fear judgment and reprimand. One patient at the clinic I work at has a doctor who discovered that she was taking benzodiazepines for anxiety along with her methadone, which can be dangerous when mixed in large amounts. The patient’s dose was not high enough to be quite as dangerous, but her doctor decided to stop her prescription for benzodiazepines immediately, with no tapering down; one can only imagine what that act did to the patient, both physically and emotionally; the patient presented at the clinic extremely anxious and shared the following with the dosing nurses when they asked if she wanted to talk about her situation with them: They (the doctors) just don’t understand. They don’t know that they can’t just take you off one drug cold turkey (the benzodiazepines) while leaving you on another (the methadone); it just doesn’t work like that. They just don’t care about people like me (anonymous patient #1, 2012). I have also been subject to the stigma and prejudice against methadone, just because I work with the addict population; when I first obtained the job, friends, family, and strangers alike would ask where I worked, and then promptly changed their expressions from interest to shock, horror, and even revulsion. It would have been quite amusing to me if it weren’t for the fact that their reactions were towards my patients. I once even had a friend’s mother say to me, â€Å"you be careful – don’t trust them for a second. They are dangerous people. † I would immediately start educating them about what these patient were really like and how I believed that it was a privilege to be helping them with their addiction treatment. In addition, I would throw out the statistics of how many people were coming in to get clean from doctors’ prescriptions, to show that not all of the patients were â€Å"junkies† and that they all chose to be in treatment to take control of their lives again. This helped to ease fears against my working there, and since then everyone asks how work has been going, with sincere interest, rather than with suspicion or doubt that I could actually enjoy working there. Though many healthcare providers who work with the addict population speak out against the stigma and the judgments against them, to defend both themselves and their patients against unjust prejudice, there are some who say nothing about where they work or what they do for work so as to avoid the negative attitudes directed at them from that moment on. Though it is understandable to say nothing about working in methadone treatment or defend the patients working hard to get clean, it does nothing but add to the stigma, and will make it that much harder to overcome in the future. Methadone Helps despite the Stigma I have worked in a methadone clinic for the past six months, and just in that short time, I have already witnessed extraordinary transformations. The nurses and I don’t just dose the patients and have them leave; when the patients come in and we give them a quick once-over assessment to make sure they can dose, we also talk to them. We are sincerely interested in how their life is doing, and though every person has ups and downs (even those who do not have an addiction), so much of the time I will hear of how someone’s life has changed so much for the better, and that they are so appreciative of this one thing that has helped them to live their lives again. One patient stated the following to me just a couple of weeks ago: I’ve got my life back again – I’ve got my family back, I’ve got an apartment, I’ve got a new car. I’d probably be dead right now if it wasn’t for this clinic. Methadone is the reason that I’ve been clean for seven years and will continue to be in the future (anonymous patient #2, 2012). Another patient who was coming in for her last dose at the clinic before tapering out for good, shared what she was feeling on her last day: â€Å"I finally have my life together again. It’s been eighteen years of being miserable and now I’m finally ready. For the first time in so long I can be happy, and I’m ready for that† (anonymous patient #2, 2012). She was a little nervous about what was to come, but the determination to stay on track was easily visible on her face, and so far, she has been out of the clinic for almost three months without any problems or relapse. How to Help To help fight against the stigma of methadone users and the healthcare providers who serve to help them, education is the only option. By providing science- based education and materials from peers, patients, educators, and healthcare professionals, people can learn that methadone is simply the medication part of opiate recovery. Patients must have emphasis on the fact that they are not â€Å"junkies† just because they take part in methadone maintenance. This stigma creates problems when trying to advocate for methadone maintenance and its patients. The best way to advocate for methadone treatment is to have patients appear publicly to provide testimony that methadone is not just a drug to replace another drug, and that long term maintenance provides stability and opportunity for those who use it. The problem is, â€Å"it can be difficult for everyone to be outspoken about being a methadone patient as people in recovery are afraid for their own recovery, due to stigma† (Ginter, 2007, p. 2). Conclusion  By educating society of the benefits of methadone and dispelling the myths and stigmas about it, recovering addicts can be less afraid for their physical and emotional well-being, healthcare providers don’t need to feel the need to hide what field they work in from others, and society can see what methadone maintenance really is. With education, understanding, and eventual acceptance, society will see that there are significant changes taking place in the recovery field at this very moment and there will continue to be changes as time moves forward.

The Ruin :: Free Essay Writer

The Ruin "Skipping, yelling the sun poured through the trees onto their small happy faces. Eyes twinkling, gleaming with joy. Long brunette shimmery hair bouncing with each step. I remember..." Each hot summer day seemed endless; picnics, playing house, dolls, applying make-up. Alyssa and Ashley were sisters more than that, they were best friends. They each had a spray of freckles across cute little turnip noses, grins that would light up a room. Everyday they would grab snacks putting them into their favorite blankets, small enough that their little hands could hold. After stuffing their favorite foods into their blankets they journeyed to a beautiful pond about a mile away from the house. There they played and swam for hours on end. Every direction the girls looked flowers of all colors bloomed; mostly black-eyed susans. When the wind blew blew just right, the trees would sway over the pond creating ripples in the water. The beach was covered with pebbles. The sound of laughter was everywhere. One of the neighbors had given the girls a row boat to play with in the water. The girls would jump from side to side rocking the boat until it almost tipped, it was a sight. One hot afternoon, Ashley felt sick. Her mother made her stay in bed, while Alyssa was to go outside so she wouldn't become sick too. Not quite sure what to do she ventured down the road. As she walked, she collected an assortment of wild flowers; sprays of yellows, pinks and whites. She ended up at the pond where her sister and she had played so many times before. Noticing the green wooden boat floating in the center she saw her sisters favorite doll. She knew that Ashley would feel better if she held her doll in her own small hands. So Alyssa began to wade out into the pond. The water just barely reaching her cute turnip nose. She reached up to pull the boat down close to her face, but the boat hit her head and knocked her unconcious. Alyssa didn't come home that night. When they found her she was afloat ontop the water. Her brunette curls had become stringy black. In the hands of this angelic little girl was her sisters doll. Never will I forget her, she was the only sister I ever had. The Ruin :: Free Essay Writer The Ruin "Skipping, yelling the sun poured through the trees onto their small happy faces. Eyes twinkling, gleaming with joy. Long brunette shimmery hair bouncing with each step. I remember..." Each hot summer day seemed endless; picnics, playing house, dolls, applying make-up. Alyssa and Ashley were sisters more than that, they were best friends. They each had a spray of freckles across cute little turnip noses, grins that would light up a room. Everyday they would grab snacks putting them into their favorite blankets, small enough that their little hands could hold. After stuffing their favorite foods into their blankets they journeyed to a beautiful pond about a mile away from the house. There they played and swam for hours on end. Every direction the girls looked flowers of all colors bloomed; mostly black-eyed susans. When the wind blew blew just right, the trees would sway over the pond creating ripples in the water. The beach was covered with pebbles. The sound of laughter was everywhere. One of the neighbors had given the girls a row boat to play with in the water. The girls would jump from side to side rocking the boat until it almost tipped, it was a sight. One hot afternoon, Ashley felt sick. Her mother made her stay in bed, while Alyssa was to go outside so she wouldn't become sick too. Not quite sure what to do she ventured down the road. As she walked, she collected an assortment of wild flowers; sprays of yellows, pinks and whites. She ended up at the pond where her sister and she had played so many times before. Noticing the green wooden boat floating in the center she saw her sisters favorite doll. She knew that Ashley would feel better if she held her doll in her own small hands. So Alyssa began to wade out into the pond. The water just barely reaching her cute turnip nose. She reached up to pull the boat down close to her face, but the boat hit her head and knocked her unconcious. Alyssa didn't come home that night. When they found her she was afloat ontop the water. Her brunette curls had become stringy black. In the hands of this angelic little girl was her sisters doll. Never will I forget her, she was the only sister I ever had.

Chaucer’s Humor

Chaucer has been acclaimed as the first realist, the first humorist, the first narrative artist, the first great character-painter, and the first great metrical artist in English literature. But it is powerful and ubiquitous presence of Chaucer’s humour that makes him distinct among others writers and poets of English Literature hitherto. Chaucer perpetually observes or perceives the humorous side of any facade of human life. His humor is not constrained to his emotions but it encircles all of his interests, his beliefs, his whole being and his everything.If he manifests his knowledge and information about a wide variety of things, he also mocks, creates caricatures, parodies with the help of same knowledge. It seems that manifestation of knowledge in this way, he tries to relieve himself. For example, he shows his interest in astronomy and manifests its knowledge here and there in Canterbury Tales; he also utilizes his extensive and intensive knowledge of astrology as satiric al and mocking frequently. He has an unparalleled sense of humor.The main reason for this outstanding achievement is that his use of humor has an outstanding multiplicity and variety. Unlike most humorists, he does employ the tone of hyperbole and fantasy. He concentrates on the traits and aims at providing the real mirror images. Additionally, his least-cynical observation of realities of life and traits of human beings enables him to produced unparalleled humor. When this effort mingles with his in-depth knowledge of things and his witticism, humorist effect is created.He achieves humor through a variety of elements including plot, characterization, language, pace, and timing,. Fir example in ‘The Merchants Tale’, he does juxtaposes genre of courtly love and religion against each other and mocks them. Different precepts of courtly love are satirized by characterization and are undermined to an extent by effective utilization of images, descriptions and tone that it se ems comical and illogical.So there is no reason to deny the fact that a great deal of liveliness and reality in Chaucer’s poetry is due to his all-pervasive humor and he is unsurpassable in this art of creating humorous sketches and verbal renderings that represent a probably every facet of the contemporary life. Kemp Malone and Albert Croll Baugh observation that ‘Chaucer is sometimes denied the rank of a great poet, on the ground that he lacked higher seriousness, that his poetry is without great themes nobly conceived’ is true to some extent but not utterly.The assumption that his poetry is devoid of great themes is based on misconception. His major contribution towards the content of poetry is in his advocacy of and strict adherence to realism. His Canterbury Tales embodies a new effort in the history of literature, as it strictly deals with real men, manners, and life. He realized, to adopt Pope’s famous couplet (with a little change): Know then thyse lf: presume not dreams to scan, The proper study of mankind is man. And the product of this realization was The Canterbury Tales.This poem, as it were, holds a mirror to the life of Chaucer’s age and shows it manners and morals completely, â€Å"not in fragments†. Chaucer replaces effectively the shadowy delineations of the old romantic and allegorical school with the vivid and pulsating pictures of contemporary life. ( Brewer, 1978) Chaucer’s tone as a poet is wonderfully instinct with geniality, tolerance, humor, and freshness which are absent from that of his contemporaries and predecessors who are too dreamy or too serious to be interesting. References Brewer, Derek. Chaucer and his world. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1978.

Volkswagen Case Study Analysis - 1351 Words

James Liang was a former engineer at the â€Å"German auto behemoth† known as Volkswagen, when he was faced with a problem (Mazumdaru). Liang and his team were assigned the task to create a â€Å"clean diesel† car that would give Volkswagen the opportunity â€Å"to expand its sales in the world s second-biggest vehicle market with the help of a new generation of diesel cars† (Mazumdaru). However, Liang and colleagues soon learned that creating a diesel engine that followed the Unites States â€Å"strict air pollution limits and tough mileage regulations† was much harder than anticipated (Mazumdaru). The engineers were ultimately not capable of creating a diesel engine in the time allotted but with the â€Å"immense pressure the senior’s management† put on the†¦show more content†¦He thought that as long as there was a good will behind the action, the outcome was irrelevant because the person might not have achieved success but the go odness of their will remains. Kant also spoke of duty in his moral theory and the impact it had when coming to a decision. His understanding of duty is that human beings are obligated to perform an action out of respect to the moral law. Meaning if they believed what they were doing was immoral then they should not complete this action, it is the human being’s duty to not break the moral law under any circumstances. Kant also discusses the ideology behind a maxim, which he described as a rule used to guide a person through a certain situation. Kant states that it is a connection between inner thoughts and outer actions, similar to one’s intentions. However, the only way to test one’s intentions or maxim is through categorical imperative. The categorical imperative in an unavoidable universal law that is expressed through three forms: Universalizability, Respect and Autonomy. Essentially these three rules can be defined as: do not act a certain way unless that ac t can become a universal law, do no use someone as merely a mean to your selfish ends, and lastly see everyone as legitimate universal law makers or equals to oneself. Through these requirements one can judge whether or not their maxim is legitimate or unjustifiable. Now we can compareShow MoreRelatedVolkswagen Suzuki Alliance Case Study Analysis1562 Words   |  7 PagesRunning head: VOLKSWAGEN SUZUKI ALLIANCE CASE STUDY ANALYSIS Volkswagen Suzuki Alliance Case Study Analysis MKT 523- Marketing Management Due Date: 12/11/2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Abstract†¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..3 II. Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..4 III. General Analysis i. Volkswagen current marketing management trends†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦5 ii. Key information delivered in the article†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..5 IV. Critical/Comparative analysis i. ArticleRead MoreVolkswagen Strategic Shift Analysis: Mini-Case Study935 Words   |  4 PagesVolkswagen Strategic Shift Analysis: Mini-Case Study Volkswagen has set a bold goal of dethroning Toyota as the world’s largest auto maker. This goal includes significantly increasing the North American market share, as Volkswagen currently holds only 2.2 percent of the United States market. Volkswagen’s strategy includes cutting prices and tailoring its cars to better fit the American lifestyle and tastes. 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