Now that we have discussed Substance Use Disorders and pregnancy, let’s take a look at the stories of two different women to get an idea about how substance use impacts people in their lives.  We will follow the stories of these two women throughout this course as a way to help service providers understand what might lead someone to substance use, how substance use can impact families, and how these individuals make their journey through recovery.

Angela is a 23 year-old young woman who left home at the age of 17.  She was no longer able to cope with the sexual abuse of her mother’s boyfriend and told her mother.  Angela’s mother did not believe Angela and did not take the situation seriously.  Angela lived with friends at first and then on the streets for several years trying various drugs to help her cope with her feelings of failure, betrayal and severe anxiety.  While high, she was gang raped.  She first tried snorting heroin at age 19 and found that her bad feelings about herself and many fears “floated out of her” when she was high.  This was the first time she felt any relief in her life, but soon discovered she needed more and more to get the feeling of peace.  At age 19 Angela started using intravenous heroin on a daily basis.