Some important key issues regarding family development in the opioid epidemic mentioned in this article are: Due to parents misusing drugs, one-third of children have been put into foster care (Williams & Devooght, 2017). In the years of 1999-2015, 2.5 million people relied on the use opioids (Williams & Devooght, 2017). More statistics show that there was over a 300 percent increase of NAS in 1999-2013 ( Williams & Devooght, 2017). If a parent uses drugs during the pregnancy it can be harmful to the baby and cause side effects. When a parent neglects their child it can be correlated with the fact that the parent is on some type of drug leading to the child not receiving proper care and being put into foster care ( Williams & Devooght, 2017).
In section 3.2 of Berk (2018) it states that teratogens such as opioids have effects on prenatal babies. Typically when a mother misuses opioids while pregnancy it can lead to the baby being born addicted to drugs. Two drugs that were used to help mothers during pregnancy were thalidomide and diethylstilbestrol (Berk, 2018) but doctors later discovered that there were birth defects to using the medicines, such as abnormalities and birth defects, deformities, etc.. The most sensitive period for a baby’s growth is during the embryonic period. If opioids were used during the germinal period it most likely didn’t the harm the fetus and if it did it normally terminated the fetus ( Berk, 2018).
In section 13.3 it is more narrowed down to the health of adults such as exercise and nutrition, their socioeconomic status, and the abuse of drugs, tobacco, and alcohol in older kids/young adults. If someone has had health issues as a kid it was more likely to carry over into their adult years. To try to make a different outcome, the individual would have to change their habits in early adulthood, before their later adulthood arrived (Berk, 2018). When an adult becomes overweight and lacks proper health care it can lead to the decrease of the socioeconomic status.
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Alcohol consumption increases around late teen years, to early twenties and decreases with age (Berk, 2018). Cigarettes are known to be harmful to users, which has decreased the usage from young adults, but has lead to the increase of e-cigarettes which is just as bad for you. Because college students smoke less tobacco they have gotten more quaint with the use of marijuana. Some U.S. states have legalized marijuana for recreational purposes which relays the message so some that it is “ok” for you to use (Berk, 2018).
A connection from the article and the book Berk (2018) was that prenatal health care and young children are affected by the use of opioids. In the article it states how mothers that use drugs during pregnancy is very harmful to the child and can have permanent effects on the baby after birth. If the parent uses drugs after the baby is born and effects the mother and how they treat their kid, which can lead to neglect and improper care making the parent(s) unfit to take care of their child. In section 13.3 Berk (2018) talks about substance abuse and how it negatively harms the body with risks like problems with the brain functioning properly, organ failure, and even death.
Another connection mentioned in Williams & Devooght (2017) article and Berk (2018) was the opioid epidemic. Opioids come in many forms, prescribed from the doctor and sold on the streets and they are addictive (Williams & Devooght, 2017). There has been a spike in the use of opioids in the last twenty years (Williams & Devooght, 2017). West Virginia is one of the states with high use of opioids (Williams & Devooght, 2017) and there is initiative being taken to digress the issue all over the U.S. There are family health centers solely focused on helping a rebuild families that were broken because of drugs, along with doctors shortening the amount they give to first time opioid users (Williams & Devooght, 2017).
