Sarah is a mother who had struggled with substance abuse in the early years of her daughter's life.
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Description
Hypothetical
case
Sarah is a mother who had struggled with substance abuse in the early
years of her daughter's life. She was experiencing postpartum depression and
has a history of depression in her family. Sarah's escape was to use drugs and
alcohol. Substances were one of the things that did not disappoint Sarah, which
is why she repeatedly kept using them. However, because she is a new mother,
she wanted to get clean so that she can be an appropriate role model for her
daughter Luna. She went through this process with the help of her friends and
family. As she is in the process of eliminating drugs and alcohol from her life
and overall treating her depression, she can now focus her attention on Luna.
Luna is now 4 years old and is starting school, Sarah is quick to notice that
Luna is having withdrawal symptoms because she has experienced those symptoms
in the past herself, she also sees that Luna does not have much of an appetite
and does not like to play with her friends anymore like she use to. She brushes
it off thinking it is a phase and something every child goes through in the
transition of starting school. Luna's teacher later informs her mother that she
is seeing depression symptoms. Her teacher describes that Luna often has low
energy when attempting to interact with other children, and her emotions often
do not match with the setting. She further describes that she gets irritated
when communicating with other children in the class and overall is not doing
very well in school. Her mother is very concerned after hearing this and thinks
of ways to help Luna. Sarah schedules play dates with her friend's children who
are the same age as Luna, she observes that Luna is not interested in playing
with the other children or interacting with them in any sense, and she would
rather sit and watch tv by herself. Sarah is afraid that if her daughter does
not get the appropriate help then she would end up down the same road as her,
by turning to substances.
