Poster presentation for my Sociology 202 class Introduction to Method of Social Research

1. What are societies effect on mental health and
substance abuse?
Introduction
The issues of mental health and substance abuse
have been present across time and cultures.
Throughout this paper, it will be discussed how
society impacts mental health and substance abuse.
Social stigmas are still attached to both of these
serious health concerns and often play a role in how
someone will react to their changing reality and
condition. How society perceives these health
concerns has a great deal with how they are handled,
treated, and even on policies that are written to help
those who suffer from it. Society’s effect on mental
health and substance abuse can be impacted by
family life, gender, age, social class, the evolution of
drugs, and rare or specific drug use.
RESULTS
CONCLUSIONS
From our research and findings, we can conclude that society
does play a vital role on those affected from substance abuse
and mental health. In our individual research we have found
that different groups of people have different factors that
make life difficult for them. For example, children who are
raised by parents who abuse drugs and alcohol are more
likely to struggle in school and have behavioral problems.
While men on the other hand suffer far more from
alcoholism, and substance abuse problems. Also men tend to
suffer more from mental health problems like schizophrenia.
Those who suffer from dual diagnosis have had many factors
contribute to their situation and most self-medicate to help
them during the time of onset of mental illness. The effects of
illicit drugs used by individuals that suffers from a mental
illness can exacerbate the symptoms of their medical
condition. In addition, illicit drug use can mimic symptoms of
a mental illness in a healthy individual.
By:
Theresa Ross, Jacklynn Schaeffer, Megan Pieczynski, Francis O’Brien, and Katrina Woodruff
Research Question:
What are societies effects on mental health and
substance abuse? We were interested in finding out how
women and families, men, addicts, and people dealing
with dual diagnosis are struggling to live with mental
illness and substance abuse problems.
References:
http://www.corrections.com/system/article/image/30549/MentalHealth-
s.jpg?1344250653
http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=
&ved=0CAQQjBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fprn.fm%2Fwp-
content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F07%2Fman-vs-
society.jpg&ei=ZmhuVKv2LsLSoASNtoDQAQ&psig=AFQjCNFgg_KOq
h2i18udDX6MADjNJpQqNg&ust=1416608215042605
http://www.uncfsu.edu/Images/sw/substance-abuse-social-work.jpg
Children Living with Substance-Dependent or Substance-Abusing Parents: 2002 to
2007. (2009, April 16). Retrieved October 14,2014.
http://ok.gov/odmhsas/documents/Children%20Living%20with%20Substance%20Dep
endent%20or%20Abusing%20Parents%202002-2007.pdf
http://mental.healthguru.com/video/does-drug-abuse-
lead-to-mental-illness
Method of Data Collection:
Research Participants:
We used participants from various locations and from participants who complete the online
survey.
How data was collected:
Interviews, Online Surveys and Secondary Research.
Data Analysis:
Megan:
A table was made to compare/contrast answers from the interviews. Questions in one column and
the answers in another.
Francis:
An online survey was created to find the information 22 people knew about substance abuse and
mental health, and information specially on men.
Katrina, and Jackie:
Used Secondary research to find data.
Theresa:
Conducted interviews to collect her data.
Dicussion:
From our findings, we have found out that different people
in society suffer from drug abuse. Addiction and mental
illness affects people in various social classes, age, and
gender.
Literature Review:
This article goes into great detail on how children of alcoholics may
have behavioral issues. It talks about how there are not many studies
done on children’s attitudes and behavioral problems towards their
alcoholic parents. These children are usually more involved in bad
behavior with the law, skipping school, outbursts in school, passive
aggressiveness, and are more likely to cause fights while in school.
A study was conducted in Philadelphia and involved 78 children of
alcoholics ages 8 to 18. They examined the socioeconomic status of
the family, race, and family size. The researchers also looked at which
parent was an alcoholic, the results for a mother being an alcoholic
were different from the results of a father being an alcoholic. This
study examined the behavioral and emotional traits that a child with an
alcoholic parent exhibited. The study found that many behavioral
factors of a child of an addict were different from a child with a non-
addicted parent. These factors included distractibility, emotional
detachment, social isolation, social aggression, and unethical
behavior. A control group of children raised by non-alcoholic parents
were also examined, and the results are very different from the results
of children raised by alcoholics. Children of non-alcoholics were more
likely to not have the behavioral issues that children of alcoholics have.
The benefits of methadone maintenance has significantly reduced
intravenous injection infections, lowered the risk of overdose, reduce
the transmission of HIV, hepatitis B/C, thrombophlebitis, and
tuberculosis (SAMSHA, 2014). Methadone maintenance has reduced
theft, reduced the infant mortality rate, reduced the rate of addicted
born newborns, although methadone will not prevent heroin addiction,
however, evidence shows it can manage cravings and aid in successful
recovery (SAMSHA, 2014). CC by 4.0