The movie Beautiful Boy is based on a real-life story of Nic Sheff, interpreted by Timothée Chalamet, who is a teenage boy that fights against drug addiction. Throughout the movie, the story will show us the dinamic between a father, and his son. Steve Carell, who plays the dad in the movie, shows how a parent can deal with it and gets affected by this situation. The film is inspired by the book Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction, written by David Sheff, the real life father.
Through the movie, the spectators can notice that the family has a good financial condition, which contributes to the advance of the boy’s treatment. Even having conditions to budget support homes, access to information, and good doctors, Nic will only get free from the killing cycle of overdoseeight years after his first time trying to get healed.
The reality in Brazil
In reality, many families don’t have the financial, or emotional conditions to afford this essential support for the recovery of the disorder.
A study published by the World Health Organization (WHO) reveals that more than three million people die each year as a result of substance abuse, including alcohol and drugs. The findings also indicate that prevention and treatment policies worldwide remain largely ineffective, with insufficient investment and a lack of adequately trained professionals to address the issue. Only in Brazil, approximately 21.000 people died of overdose between 2000 and 2020. Also, most of the Brazilian population is concentrated in the middle class, but mostly in the low class, a factor that is straightly related to the history involving the disease
Consequently, most parts of Brazilians depend on the public system, which, although essential, is overloaded and insufficient to meet all the demand. This means long queues, irregular service, and, often, abandonment of treatment. Also, the cost of medicines is a decisive factor, since the public system doesn’t always have them available. When a person needs to buy them on their own, the price becomes an impediment, leading to the interruption of treatment, which significantly increases the risk of overdose. All these issues make it difficult to advance in treatments, resulting in higher numbers of deaths from overdose.
The importance of good professionals
In the process of addiction treatment, access to good professional experts in the subject is also essential, but, in the public system, there is a shortage of good professionals and a crowded schedule of consultations, leading to patient dropout.
While talking to Neide Zanelato, a psychologist and master’s degree holder in mental health, who works on the treatment of substance use disorders, she said that “different people require different treatments”. Neide explained that “the treatment of substance use disorder involves, first, awareness of the problem, skill training, and then a lifestyle change”. But, each patient needs to be approached in an individualized way, since each person has a different way of fighting addiction. There is no standard step-by-step process to overcome the disorder, instead, each person in recovery has different coping paths.
There is also the issue of prevention and emergency care. People in a situation of social vulnerability have less access to information, less family support, and more exposure to risky environments. In cases of overdose, it may take longer to receive medical care, either due to lack of access to health services, fear, or ignorance, which reduces the chances of survival.
Finally, the lack of public investment in prevention and treatment policies aggravates the problem. As international studies point out, there is little funding, unprepared professionals, and inefficient policies, which maintain the cycle of dependence and relapse, especially among poorer populations.
The role of family support
“When the family is treated, there is a chance of up to 75% of success in the treatment. So, it’s very understanding that the support is a crucial part during the process. No matter the amount, it makes a lot of difference”, said the psychologist.
When individuals are surrounded by understanding, empathy, and consistent support, they are more likely to remain engaged in treatment and develop a sense of stability throughout their recovery journey.
In contrast, environments marked by judgment or lack of understanding can hinder progress, increasing the chances of relapse or treatment abandonment. For many, the family becomes either a source of strength or an additional obstacle. Therefore, involving loved ones in the treatment process is not just beneficial, but often essential for long term recovery.
In summary, the financial limitation not only makes it difficult to start treatment, but also compromises its continuity, quality, and effectiveness. This turns the substance abuse disorder into an even more unequal problem, where the chances of recovery are directly linked to the economic condition, and, consequently, increase the risk of overdose and death.
Also, having loved ones makes all the difference in the process and in how comitted and motivated the patient will be, which usually is not fast. No one is permantly recovered from this deadly cycle, people in recovery will have to fight against this disorder for the rest of their lives, but with the necessary medicines, doctors, psychologists, and love, they will handle this problemmuch better and have higher chances of living a better life.
In summary, the financial limitation not only makes it difficult to start treatment, but also compromises its continuity, quality, and effectiveness. This turns the substance abuse disorder into an even more unequal problem, where the chances of recovery are directly linked to the economic condition, and, consequently, increase the risk of overdose and death.
Also, having loved ones makes all the difference in the process and in how comitted and motivated the patient will be, which usually is not fast. No one is permantly recovered from this deadly cycle, people in recovery will have to fight against this disorder for the rest of their lives, but with the necessary medicines, doctors, psychologists, and love, they will handle this problemmuch better and have higher chances of living a better life.
In summary, the financial limitation not only makes it difficult to start treatment, but also compromises its continuity, quality, and effectiveness. This turns the substance abuse disorder into an even more unequal problem, where the chances of recovery are directly linked to the economic condition, and, consequently, increase the risk of overdose and death.
Also, having loved ones makes all the difference in the process and in how comitted and motivated the patient will be, which usually is not fast. No one is permantly recovered from this deadly cycle, people in recovery will have to fight against this disorder for the rest of their lives, but with the necessary medicines, doctors, psychologists, and love, they will handle this problemmuch better and have higher chances of living a better life.
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The article above was edited by Maryanna Arison.
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