A case study report- POLYSUBSTANCE ABUSE Term Paper

A case study report- POLYSUBSTANCE ABUSE - Term Paper Example Furthermore, although it is not known which factors actually contribute to the polysubstance abuse, perhaps, a mix of many factors actually precipitates it. Chaotic home environment, parental substance abuse, parental mental illness, ineffective parenting, and lack of parental involvement, all of which seem to arise from a family environment are factors that need to be considered in this case. It is considered that family factors are most crucial in promoting drug abuse by the youth. Even the mentally healthy youth demonstrates high risk of abusing when the parents abuse. Poor parental attachment, nurturing, and monitoring, increase the risks of developing substance abuse. It is evident from Antonios case that he was in the middle of a dysfunctional family life. His fathers alcohol abuse and constant domestic fight between his parents leading to marital disruption can be functionally responsible for Antonios abuse behaviors. These led to substantial amount of stress at home and is definitely causative of little or no cohesion, organization, expressiveness, consistency, all leading to absence of communication between family members. More over, in Antonios case, there had been marital disruption between his parents over alcohol abuse, and this could have led to the belief that substance abuse is a normal part of the life. Cohesion among family members prevents delinquency, depression and low self-esteem and fosters self-control and absence of all of these increases the level of social estrangement that strongly predisposes to substance abuse (Dinges & Oetting, 1993). Sudden change in environment occurred in Antonios life due to their relocation from Huntington Beach to Redlands. It created pressure on him, and the factor of ineffective coping came into play. This led to his association with conduct-disordered peers, which was another precipitating factor. Lack of