Work Cited
Addicts face many problems once they are “clean." One issue is sometimes an addict feels like using, and is ashamed to call someone he or she knows—even a sponsor. This app is free and will link an addict to others facing similar issues. It is the basis of “AA”—being a part of a community of sober people. Although some would argue the app can be used as a “hook up,” AA suggests any social media can do that for an addict. This one is specifically a click away to someone else that can support. The most important feature about this app is that it offers instant help in addition to a certain amount of anonymity. It is not to replace AA or NA. Also it is rated 17+ because of “infrequent use of…inappropriate language or behavior.”
Anonymous. Go Ask Alice. New York, NY: Simon Pulse. 2006. Reprint.
Iconic in addiction literature, Go Ask Alice is a memoir that covers the timeless problem of teen self-loathing and drug addiction. It is a paradox. The drugs momentarily relieve the emotional issues, but then create new pain. The reader is privy to all of Alice’s thoughts as she goes down the rabbit hole and into the world of addiction. For ages twelve and up, Go Ask Alice is a “go to” for understanding the mind of an addict.
“BasicGrey Altered: Valentine’s Paper Bag Mini Album.” Basic Grey. http://blog.basicgrey.com/?p=5782. 20 November 2016.
What a fantastic way to hold memories and reminders! For smaller children, it can be their own thoughts, places they go, and things given to them. For teens, it can be used as a diary to keep their thoughts, keep handouts, and notes. This is a great all ages activity.
Curcio, Anthony. Critters Cry, Too: A Story of Addiction. Woodville, WA: ICG Children’s. 2016.
How does one explain addiction to a small child? How can this small child understand what is happening to someone he or she loves? This children’s picture book tells a story that can help. Calvin is a Critter from Zapatos. Critters do not do much, so often there is boredom. One day, something new comes: a “Whateveritwas. (a cookie). It changes everything for the Critters. All they want is the cookie! Some Critters get sick while others just continue in Zapatos when Calvin decides to try and find a solution for the sick Critters. Will he succeed? The story is narrated by a roach, Dr. Rhymer, who explains the Critters’s behavior in easy-to-understand language using dogs, cookies, and chocolate as vehicles for comprehension. Critters Cry Too allows for open discussion as well as classroom or library program activities.
Drew. “When It Comes to Drugs…” https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/f4/8b/e0/f48be05629b585c8394e09d7450e190f.jpg 20 November 2016. Web.
Activity to use with The Addiction Monster and the Square Cat. Children can express themselves and then have their creations displayed in the Library or classroom.
Emerlye, Cynthia. “Art Therapy Group: My Past and Future.” http://emerlyearts.blogspot.com/2014/05/art-therapy-group-my-past-future.html. 21 November 2016. Web.
This is a great activity for teens to self reflect. It can be used with most ages in programming efforts.
“Five Ways to Well Being.” Healthy Walsall. http://healthywalsall.co.uk/5-ways-to-wellbeing/. 20 November 2016. Web.
This is a great handout to give to a teen reading group involved in an addiction program. It can be used with any of the teen resources on this site.
Hari, Johann. “Everything You Think You Know About Addiction is Wrong.” TED. TED June 2015. Web. 24 Nov. 2016.
With astounding research, Johann Hari describes experiments with rats (caged rats with heroin vs. “the rat park”) and compares it to a program in Portugal that decriminalized drugs. The talk, which is easily understood by ages ten and up, is inspirational and informative. Hari inspires the viewer to become an advocate in his or her community to help those facing addiction, and perhaps take the chance to fix a broken system. Anyone who has already become familiar with “THE SYSTEM” in the United States is aware of “the broken system.” This talk gives undeniable evidence that there is a way to fix it. If surroundings are changed, addiction wanes. Currently, addicts are, in many cases, jailed for their addiction. However, we know this approach does not work. In Portugal, drugs were legalized, and the money used for incarceration was used for rehabilitation and job placement. Almost immediately, drug abuse went down forty percent. Hari gives a message of hope reminiscent of FDR’s “Give a man a job…” speech. The heart of the problem is this: Give an addict hope.
Hassan, Jude. Suburban Junky: From Honor Roll, to Heroin Addict. Minneapolis, MN: Mill City, 2012. Kindle Edition.
Of all the heroin memoirs, this one by far is the most relatable to the average youth in middle class America. Instead of the writer/main character being ultra rich, privileged, and white; he is just privileged and white. Hassan is the son of a drug counselor in an affluent part of St. Louis. He firmly acknowledges that his background is one of significant familial support. His fall into addiction is one that every addict reveals: he did not feel “good enough” and like he “didn’t belong.” Addiction is a disease of the soul. Suburban Junky tells the story so familiar: Hassan began “smoking weed with friends” but soon he began to sell it, too, to feed his need. This led him to meeting other users who used harder drugs. He began to use heroin, sell heroin, and waste away. Watching his own friends and girlfriend become zombies and die was not enough to make him stop. Only the support of his family did.
Read Suburban Junky to get inside the mind of an addict and see how a person can turn from “a normal kid,” to a shell of self. Written as a journal while in “rehab,” the content was published many years later after Hassan became a healthy adult. Although the book is more 17+ in maturity, it can and should be read by younger teens that are facing addiction. It is gritty, raw, and scary.
Hastings, Jill. An Elephant in the Living Room: A Children’s Book. Hazelden: Center City: MN. 1994. Print.
Hazelden is a publishing group that works specifically with publishing materials relating to societal ills and issues. An Elephant in the Living Room: A Children’s Book provides information to parents and to children about addiction, feelings it causes to the addict and the family, and gives resources to the readers. The book helps make sense of the seeming insanity of the addict and the whirlwind caused in a household by addiction. It also offers coping tools.
“I Am.” http://www.eclecticmomma.com/. 20 November 2016. Web.
This is also a good art therapy lesson for addicts, friends of addicts, or family members. It is inexpensive, it can be framed, and it is
personally meaningful.
Jones, Stephanie. “Handmade Emoji Card / You Make Me Smile / Just Because / Hello / Cute / Snail Mail / Happy / Friend / Trendy / For Boyfriend / Girlfriend.” Etsy. https://www.etsy.com/listing/452033260/handmade-emoji-card-you-make-me-smile. 20 November 2016. Web.
This card can be reproduced in an inexpensive but meaningful way for teens to give to others. Giving and gratitude is one of the most important features in addiction recovery—for the addict and those involved with the addict.
“Lil Love Monsters.” Eighteen 25: Create a Life You Love. http://eighteen25.com/2013/01/lil-love-monsters/. Visited 20 Nov. 2016. Web.
This photo was used as an example of the Critter programming idea to accompany Critters Cry Too.
McGinnis, Sheryl. The Addiction Monster and the Square Cat. Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Independent Platform, 2009. Print.
The story is told by Pumpkin, the “sassy” cat who is sometimes funny, but also sad. Pumpkin saw Scotty Boy grow from a fun-loving boy to a human shell in the world of drugs. Pumpkin explains how it is not just “bad” kids who do drugs—good kids do drugs, too. So, we all need to be careful and mindful of the monster, Addiction. This book is aimed and fourth grade readers and up. It can also be read to younger children, if the opportunity presents itself. It is a one-of-a-kind written specifically for younger children while so many others are targeted at Young Adult. Unfortunately, the heroin epidemic is hitting younger children now. Parents and professionals need to make children aware and also empathetic. Fortunately, The Addiction Monster and the Square Cat is written so we can speak WITH our children and not at them.
O’Connor, Kevin. “What’s in Your Heart?” Art and Creative Social Worker. http://creativesocialworker.tumblr.com/post/73898243068/color-your-feelings-intervention-by-kevin. Visited 18 November 2016. Web.
Art Therapy is an excellent means to express one’s ideas about self. This activity can accompany any one of the books in this resource.
Palmore, Elaine, The Dragon Who Lives at Our House: A Story About Substance Abuse. Minneapolis, MN: Rising Star Studios, LLC. 2011. Print.
One of very few books in the 7-10 year-old reading range, this book focuses on a father who suffers from alcoholism. Al, the dragon, represents the disease. Sometimes Al is welcome. He comes to parties and barbeques and is welcome along with the family. Other times, he gets big and mean. This book can be a bit confusing. Al is cute. It does not make sense at times. As a tool for explanation, it can be used in conjunction with other books or resources for children facing substance abuse.
Reed, Amy Lynn. Clean. New York, NY. Simon Pulse, 2011. Print.
Clean is a more sanitized young adult book, but does not hold back on emotional impact or tragedy. We follow a group of teenagers through their rehab experience in first person accounts as well as their written essays. The reader becomes a fly on the wall to group therapy, which is a very personal experience and enlightening for those who have never been through the process. Clean addresses all kinds of societal ills that can lead to addiction—parental abuse, neglect, the inability to accept oneself, too much money, not enough—the list goes on for these teenagers as they struggle through their sobriety and support one another. This book is a good read for younger teenagers to help them try to understand themselves or an addict in their lives (or both). It is also a good read for parents to identify issues to watch for or, perhaps, that they are contributing to without realizing the effect. Although the book seemingly blames parents for a lot of teenage pain, it also brings to light insensitivity and willful ignorance of another’s pain. This book is important because it reaches a population (middle class) that may otherwise be ignorant to the epidemic at hand.
Sheff, Nic. Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamine. New York, NY. Atheneum for Young Readers, 2007. Kindle Edition.
More than any other heroin memoir, Tweak hits the reader with the grotesque life of an addict. Nic Sheff is a privileged child in California. He comes from a divorced family, but has everything he needs—except “normal” parents. Nic meets users, becomes a user himself, and then begins stealing and selling to feed his addiction. Nic discovers that drugs are not his only addiction, he learns to let go of a codependent relationship, and discovers true friendship and love as he begins sobriety. Tweak gives a birds-eye view into the illness of addiction; he or she will recognize the painful process of losing oneself to the disease.
Although this is a YA memoir, it can be read by more mature young teenagers or teenagers who have been through the disease. The sex and violence will come as no surprise to that audience. It is also valuable tool for parents of addicts. It gives raw insight into the disease.
Smith, Robert Holbrook, and Bill W. The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism. United States: Lark, 2013. Kindle Edition.
More than any other book, this one has helped millions to cope with the disease of addiction. Even though it is focused on (and titled for) alcoholics, the Twelve Step Program has created a space, place, and community for addicts in which they can safely read about others' addictive behavior and reflect on their own journey to sobriety. In addition to the stories, there is a chapter that is devoted to agnostics to explain that “God” is our “own conception of God.” This is important because many believe the Program is based in Christianity and turn their back on it. However, it is based on believing in a “Power greater than oneself.” Therefore, it is universal in its outreach. First published in 1939, the information in this book has rarely failed an addict if he or she truly follows the steps. Readable by ages twelve and up.
Stults, Amy. “Inside My Head.” http://milkandcookiesblog.com/inside-my-head/. 20 November 2016. Web.
This is another art therapy activity good for all ages. It can be used as a tool for self-reflection or for understanding another.
“William.” “When You Meet a Clean Drug Addict, You Meet a Hero…” Kill the Heroin Epidemic Nationwide. Modern Image, LLC. 2016. Web. 24 Nov. 2016.
This website (and Facebook page) reaches both the addict and those interested in finding solutions for addiction. Every day there are new stories and posts on both the website and on Facebook—medical “breakthroughs,” political activism, and stories from and about addicts. A really good feature is that the website displays daily success stories. Success is measured by being clean whether it is ten minutes clean or ten years. It is the best form of encouragement when thousands of strangers “like” a story and send messages of hope. The site also consistently updates information on rehabs, new groups, and different schools of thought. For example, on post read, “How is the legalization of marijuana going to effect addiction?” The agenda of this website and these posts is to promote discourse and discussion. The Web can be a deadly tool to addicts. It can also be the best tool available to seek help and support for addicts and their loved ones.