3.3 Susan's Story
I actually went to social services and told them that I needed help and they took it on to themselves to take my son, instead of getting me the help I needed. So, when they finally had my son, and I was like 'Well, I still need help', and they said 'You can't get help unless you go check yourself in for addiction'. Well, my addiction only got really bad after they took my son because it was like 'I've got nothing now'. I'm still getting beaten up by this idiot, you've got my son, what do I have left? My addiction got really bad. I can't stress what a horrible feeling it is. It's just a very lonely feeling. Lonely, guilty, shameful, everything, hateful, angry, everything intertwined. Mostly alone, you feel very alone. Nobody understands.
In terms of health impact, mentally was the biggest thing, where you actually don't feel like doing anything any more, don't feel like taking care of yourself anymore. I really let myself go, every which way. I didn't care about the way I looked. Health-wise, I lost a lot of weight. I was a real nervous person all the time. Didn't even want to associate with my friends any more. Just became a real homebody, lonely. I put on this front, that everything's okay. And all the friends became his friends and you were always the bitch, until they actually got to know you, and started to see how he was treating you. I did actually have a very nasty attitude. I became a very angry person, and I guess it came across as being very bitchy. I became very negative. I used to always be the positive one, saw the brighter side, but my life became chaos and I only understood chaos. And the beatings continued. I actually had guns held to my head, and knives held to me, and choking.
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Health Impacts
In addition to the impacts of abuse/violence on women's health, there may be additional and interrelated effects of alcohol and drugs on the health of women and their kids. Information about the health impacts of different substances can be found on the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (AADAC) website. While there is a great deal of information in these links on the health impacts of substances on fetus' and children, we are focusing on women's health in this module. Think about the following questions while you visit each of the links:
- What are some of the ways that substances affect women and their health differently than men?
- Does whether a substance is legal or illegal influence our beliefs about its harmful effects?
- Does the legality of a substance correlate to its health effects for women?
Alcohol
Amphetamines
Cannabis
Cocaine
Hallucinogens
Opioids
Tobacco
Due to the health effects of both the abuse in her relationship and the substance use, Susan required health care on numerous occasions. Return to her story to hear her describe several incidents in which she accessed health services.