Women & Drugs: Diet Pills & Dangerous Methods

Body Image: a picture of one's own physical look established by self-observation and by noting the reaction of others.


We are a society obsessed with body image.  Today the amount of exposure we have to dieting and weight image is so great that younger generations are taught by society to think that our bodies are who we are; our appearance is who we are.   Women today especially feel as though they are defined solely on their appearance.  Through the media women are constantly forced to think that if they are supernaturally skinny like super-models and fit a certain script of what society sees as beautiful then the will fit in.


One thing that seems to be a major issue within society presently is diet pills.  We see advertisements for dieting and weight loss on television commercials, billboards, in magazines, on the radio, etc. and it is only furthering this idea that "thin is in."  How this pertains to our 'Women & Drugs' class is that although we are exposed to the positive effects that these diet pills are supposed to have on our bodies, in reality these drugs can become overly addictive and not only that they have extreme side effects that can be harmful to ones health through the chemicals and mixtures of substances used within these diet pills.


Diet pills can be over the counter appetite suppressants such as phenylpropanolamine and caffeine pills or prescription like Redux or Phen.  Now while there are a wide variety of diet pills on the market available for women to buy, many of them have highly addictive qualities to them and often contain small amounts of laxatives.  Both over-the-counter and prescription pills can cause nervousness, restlessness, insomnia, high blood pressure, fatigue and hyperactivity, heart arrhythmias and palpitations, congestive heart failure or heart attack, stroke, headaches, dry mouth, vomitting and diarrhea or constipation, intestinal disturbances, tightness in chest, tingling in extremities, excessive persperation, dizziness, disruption in menstrual cycle, change in sex drive, hair loss, blurred vision, fever and urinary tract problems. 


Addiction to diet pills can be because of physical reasons and/or psychological reasons...sometimes even both.  Like with many other drug addictions, diet pills can often be the sign of deeper emotional issues or even an eating disorder among many young women.  

This is a video clip that was shown in class during one of the presentations which I thought related to the topic at hand.  It's called Teen Truth: An Inside Look at Body Image


Diet Pill Addiction

Diet Pills, Laxatives, & Dangerous Methods

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome & Characteristics of Mothers Who Have Kids With FAS

Did you know that alcohol is the leading known preventable cause of mental and physical birth defects within the United States?  For women who decide to drink alcohol during pregnancy, they take that extreme risk of giving birth to a child who will ultimately have to pay a HUGE price.  That child will have to suffer from mental and physical deficiencies for his/her entire life!

Being a child born to a mother with alcohol addiction, I find this topic regarding FAS to be of extreme importance because it is something that is so easily preventable, and yet for some women who have alcohol addiction, the urge to drink heavily during pregnancy is not so easily overcome.  This is a major issue for that of the unborn child who is going to have to live with the consequences of that alcohol addiction for the rest of their lives.  It's estimated that each year in the United States alone, that 1 in every 750 infants is born a pattern of physical, functional, and developmental problems...referred to as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), while another 40, 000 are born with Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE).

So what happens if a woman knows that drinking while pregnant is dangerous?  What are some characteristics that would still drive someone to abuse alcohol in a heavy way?  Well after reading a study of some methods by the  Aberdeen Area Indian Health Service (IHS) and the national IHS Institutional Review Boards: Maternal alcohol abuse was defined when one or more of the following patterns of drinking were recorded in the maternal medical record: (1) heavy, which included terms "heavy," "intoxicated," "alcohol abuse," "drunk," and "alcoholism;" (2) binge drinking of five or more drinks per occasion or blood alcohol levels higher than 200 mg/dL; or (3) daily alcohol use. 

Many of the mothers within this case study had been reviewed through their medical records and concluding this study showed that these women were often victims of sexual abuse, depression, suicide attempts, cirrhosis, and maternal cognitive function.  Ultimately this is defined in the study as cognitive problems that differed from those caused by adult alcohol abuse but that are typical of adults who are affected by fetal alcohol exposurethemselves (poor judgment, poor memory, slow learning, and lack of abstract thinking skills).

FAS is a serious diagnosis among babies within the United States and in order to fully understand why the most common cause of preventable mental retardation in the United States is still an ongoing issue, it is important to delve into the characteristics of those mothers of children with FAS in order to address the needs that are going to prevent future prenatal alcohol exposure.

Characteristics of Mothers Who Have Children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or Some Characteristics of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Drugs & Pregnancy

One of the reason's I was so initially interested in taking a class on Women & Drugs has to do with the fact that my birth mother was addicted to crack cocaine and also had abusive relationships with various other illicit drugs and alcohol while she was pregnant with me.  I have always wanted to learn further in the reasonings for why drugs are so harmful towards not only them but for the unborn baby seeing as how this directly affects my life on a daily basis.  For pregnant women, drug abuse is doubly harmful because not only is it dangerous for the mother, but it can harm the health of that of the unborn child.  Virtually abusing all illegal drugs, such as heroin, cocaine, opiates etc. poses dangers to pregnant women.  This doesn't demean the fact that even legal substances such as to alcohol, tobacco, and even prescription drugs can be harmful for the health of the mother and the baby-to-be.

The reason it is so vital for a pregnant woman to steer clear of drugs has to do with the development and stages of prenatal organ growth.  Most of the bodily organs and systems of the unborn baby are formed within the first ten weeks of the pregnancy, and during this stage drugs and alcohol use can cause malformations in parts of the fetus such as the heart, brain, limbs, and facial features.  After the tenth week the fetus starts to grow more rapidly in size and weight and drugs may damage organs that are still developing.  The greatest danger drugs pose within this stage of prenatal growth is that of the unborn baby having a normal growth.  

For myself personally I was born with some minor birth defects due to my mother's drug and alcohol use and even at twenty one and as a junior in college I still am affected by her drug use everyday.  My struggles while growing up and developing as a child were great and I constantly had to have testing done to see where my learning ability was.  When I was born had an extremely low birthweight, was premature, and had heart problems that nearly led to me dying.  Seeing as alcohol is one of the most dangerous drugs pregnant women can abuse I was very sick and was monitored for serious birth defects such as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and actually have some minor characteristics of FAS.  Heavy drinking during early pregnancy increases the risk of a cluster of birth defects such as FAS, this cluster includes: abnormal facial features, heart defects, small skull, and can accompany mental retardation.

Drugs & Pregnancy

Glamorization of Drugs In Rap Music

After reading a very interesting article entitled, "Glamorization of Drugs in Rap Music: Linked to Greater Risk of Alcohol and Drug Use Among Adolescents," I find it very intriguing that while years ago, drugs might have depicted the dangers and negative consequences regarding drug use, now it isn't rare that you find many of today's popular rap songs celebrating drug use and actually having such songs referring or referencing drugs going platinum on the charts.  Drug references in early rap songs such "White Lines" by Grandmaster Flash exposed the destructiveness of cocaine, but nowadays there is this link of drug use and the growing of the commercial success it has within the music industry.  Particularly what I found the most concerning within the article is the idea that the image rap artists today are portraying of drug use in the Black community and towards adolescents of color distorts their reality.  Young black people actually have lower rates of drug and alcohol abuse compared to their white peers, however, one wouldn't think that by the ways in which drug use is based within the lyrics of rap music.


"...The trajectory in rap music raises a number of red flags.  Rap music is especially appealing to young people, many of whom look up to rappers as role models. As a public health researcher, and as a parent of a 7-year-old, I'm concerned about the impact that long-term exposure to this music has on its listeners." According to Denise Herd, the associate professor in the division of Community Health and Human Development at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Public Health, drug illegal drug use has and is becoming increasingly linked to wealth, glamour, social standing, etc.  A study shows that this might have very well started nearly two decades ago, since about 1979, when Sugar Hill Gang's "Rappers Delight" hit charts and introduced to a mainstream inner-city youth.  Ra artists have become trendsetters and key role models especially for youth of color, and their music serves as a huge outlet for the nations youth.  However, one must ponder as to whether or not the messages within rap music deliver positive messages, because in today's society the negative influences young people are exposed to through the media in regards to films, video games, music, television shows etc. only further depict drug and alcohol use in a positive light.


Glamorization Of Drugs In Rap Music Linked To Greater Risk Of Alcohol And Drug Use Among Adolescents

Women, Drugs, & Sex: A Connection In Society?

After reading about the "Classic Era" in Substance & Shadow: Women & Addiction in the United States by Stephen Kandall, I was more interested in talking about  drug use within Hollywood, amongst celebrities, and in general how women are often portrayed.  I feel that this an important topic of discussion because in today's society we are exposed to many images, articles, advertisements, etc. within the media of female celebrities being glamorized for their drug use.  As a culture obsessed and totally engulfed in the media world, it is undoubtedly noticeable that when we see women connected with drug use, we often times see it as this glamorized and over-sexualized image.  Why is it that many of these female celebrities are idolized for their drug use?  I feel as thought that the messages sent to young adolescent females who are exposed to this sort of thing only get the idea that it is cool and acceptable to do drugs, whether good or bad simply because they hear or see celebrities connected to drug use.  

Furthermore,  after writing a response to a fellow classmates blog regarding this topic, I found it interesting the correlation of inferiority connected to women and drugs through sexuality.  Although many view that drug use is significantly different between women and men; which is true, why is it that women have to be associated with sex when thinking about women and drugs?  Kandall mentions within the chapter that men were characterized as compulsive and dangerous criminals that were addicts but women’s drug use was associated with sexuality.  I find that particularly interesting seeing as women have always had this inferior role in regards to men in society, and the connection with drug use and sexuality only further shows this inferiority by sort of implying that not only drugs, but that women are objects. If women and drugs are constantly glamorized through society then that is only supporting this idea that women are objectified and that their use of drugs is only susceptible if its in a sexualized way. This is why we see so many female celebrities juggling these drug habits because it has been portrayed to society that these women are sex symbols and if drugs are being glamorized as sexy too then these images were exposed to only further support this idea.