Paige Solomon

Professor Batty

English 101

10 May 2018

The Spiral

Drug addiction in the United States is at an all-time high. Every day people’s lives are

ruined due to substance abuse disorder. The use of any illicit substance by 10th graders has

increased from 30.6% in 1991 to 33.7% in 2016. For 12th graders illicit substance use has gone

up from 44.1% in 1991 to 48.2% in 2016 (Schulenberg et al.). For many people, addiction can

start in these important developmental ages. In the novel “Still Water Saints” by Alex Espinosa,

Shawn’s story of addiction displays the consequences and effects of severe substance abuse.

Although many people can overcome addiction and turn their lives around, I believe that’s

Shawn’s journey illuminates the severity of the consequences that drug addiction can have on

people’s lives, in turn causing them to lose their sense of self through poor judgment and lose

their means of survival which can all begin with adolescent peer pressure.

In the novel, Shawn’s addiction to amphetamines is discussed in great detail. When

describing his first time using what he calls “speed” he says, “Here’s what it felt like and why

I’m still doing it. It felt electric. Like volts of energy making my blood boil, turning everything

inside me on all at once…. I felt invincible…I know I’m not doing it no justice…. I came to life

that night, and I didn’t wanna die no time soon.” (Espinoza 142). Shawn’s journey with his speed

addiction unfolds as he loses control of his using and eventually, loses his sense of self. The

DSM, “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders”, discusses every diagnosable

mental illness and describes its symptoms and classifications. The DSM-V states, “The essential
feature of a substance use disorder is a cluster of cognitive, behavioral, and physiological

symptoms indicating that the individual continues using the substance despite significant

substance-related problems,” (DSM-V). The substances it goes into great detail are psychedelics,

inhalants, opioids, stimulants, tobacco, as well as other unknown substances. Within the section

discussing stimulants it focusses on cocaine, amphetamines, such as methamphetamine, and

other types of stimulants. Shawn’s description of speed would put it in the category of an

amphetamine. Despite this being a fictional novel, Shawn’s purpose is to illuminate the real-

world issue of drug addiction that is currently plaguing the nation.

In Shawn’s chapter of the book titled Taking Stock we are introduced to his roommate

Beady. Beady and Shawn are incredibly close, sharing not only the run-down apartment in which

they call home, but a very intimate drug habit. One day Beady invites over another drug addict

named Daisy. She as a two-year-old son named Xavier who she neglects for her drug addiction.

Shawn’s aversion for Daisy begins the moment he meets her. Although he dislikes her, he allows

her to come over because she has connections for more drugs. At one-point Shawn and Beady go

to Daisy’s house to do speed and he meets her child. He describes Xavier saying “His hair’s a

mess. Looks like it hasn’t been combed in weeks… The diaper’s so loose and sagging that when

he starts pissing, it runs straight down the sides of his leg and onto the carpet… What a sorry-ass

situation, I think. All-around sorry.” (Espinoza 147). Daisy’s addiction not only affects her, but

her child as well. In the journal “Child Neglect and the Development of Externalizing Behavior

Problems”, the authors describe in detail the negative effects of children being neglected due to

maternal drug abuse. The older the child becomes during this neglect the higher the possibility of

them “externalizing psychopathy” later on in life (Manly). Many children being neglected at

such a young age also suffer from developmental issues such as delayed speech. Shawn sees this
situation first hand and although he hates daisy he compromises his integrity in the hope of not

only obtaining but consuming more drugs. Both Daisy’s neglectful acts as a mother and Shawn’s

neglect to the situation in its entirety serve as examples of the instability of one’s judgment due

to the severity of the disease of drug addiction.

Although Shawn’s life is run by his speed addiction, he still managed to keep a job for

some period of time. While working at an electronics store to make his primary income, he and

Beady also scam the shop in order to earn enough money to fund their speed habits. Beady

would come in and purchase small ticket items while the manager was in his office, and Shawn

would add more expensive items to his bag. Days later Beady would come back to “return” the

higher priced items and get money back. This scam worked for a long time until Daisy got

involved. She pressures Shawn into letting her take a very expensive printer. Although he does

not want to do this because the shop has a very limited stock, he allows her to take it anyway.

After getting fired he thinks back on the situation and says, “I think I’m fucking pissed at myself

for letting it on without doing anything to stop or change it,” (Espinoza 157). Although he thinks

he’s furious with Daisy, he is actually angry with himself for allowing this to happen. Shawn’s

lack of ability to control his life some would call “moderate to severe substance abuse disorder”.

The criteria for diagnosing substance abuse disorder would be relating to two or more of the 11

given criteria. Some of these criteria includes giving up important social or occupational

activities due to substance use, spending an excessive amount of time obtaining and using the

substance, and not managing responsibilities with family, friends, or work due to substance use

(DSM-V). By getting fired he is clearly displaying the lack of life management regarding his job

to scam them in order to fund his speed addiction. Shawn is one of millions of people to lose

their jobs due to drug addiction. Since Shawn lost his job, the next step in his journey would
most likely be homelessness due to the lack of resources he had to fund not only his drug

addiction, but lifestyle as a whole. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services

Administration stated that in the 2016 report of national homelessness by The U.S. Department

of Housing and Urban Development, about 1 in 5 of those living on the street suffered a

substance abuse issue (SAMHSA). Many people believe that those who suffer from

homelessness due to substance abuse are simply living the consequence of their own individual

mistakes, what many people fail to understand is that drug addiction can also be brought on by

adolescent peer pressure.

Many people believe that peer pressure can cause addiction in teenagers. Although I

don’t believe it can cause it, I do believe it can trigger addiction in many adolescents. Shawn’s

experience with peer pressure would definitely correlate with triggering drug addiction. The first

time he tried speed was at a party in high school. He describes the situation saying “The speed

was cooked good and strong, he told us. Made fun of me and Beady when we said we’d never

done none,” (Espinoza 142). The pressure of impressing peers and feeling included can be a

stimulus of peer pressure. A few years after the incident described Shawn is not only continuing

to use speed but allowing it to rule every aspect of his life. In a study funded by the National

Institute of Drug Addiction, teenagers are more likely to drive recklessly if 2 or more of their

friends were in the car. This was caused by “…heightened activity in the teens’ ventral striatum

and orbitofrontal cortex—brain regions that predict and assess the value of reward,” (NIDA).

Essentially, when a teenager feels that their risk will be rewarded by peers, the risk is outweighed

by the reward. The frontal lobe of the brain, the part that makes decisions and controls judgment,

is not fully developed yet causing adolescents to not think through situations the way a fully

developed adult would. Not only does Shawn experience peer pressure as a teenager he also
experiences it from Daisy. When he and Beady go to Daisy’s house to get high, Beady and Daisy

decide to shoot up rather than snort, the way Shawn usually gets high. After Shawn goes back

and forth with Daisy about not wanting to shoot up she says to him “” Aw …You afraid,

güero?” (Espinoza 146). He decides not to shoot up which is most likely due to his dislike of

Daisy. He sees no reward for impressing someone he dislikes; therefore, it would not give him

any satisfaction to go along with her pressuring him.

Shawn’s struggle with addiction mirrors the experience of millions of people suffering

from substance abuse disorder. At the beginning of his story he is a somewhat functioning addict

with a job and his best friend. By the end, he has lost his job, his integrity by spending time with

someone he dislikes, and his total loss of self. Shawn’s severe addiction paired with

unemployment can only lead to one thing: homelessness. His story embodies the damage

substance abuse can have on someone’s life, how easily it can begin, and the consequences of

having a substance control one’s life.

 Works Cited

Diagnostic And Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders : DSM-5. Arlington, VA :American

Psychiatric Publishing, 2013. Print.

Espinoza, Alex. Still Water Saints: a Novel. Picador, 2013.

“Homelessness and Housing.” SAMHSA - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services

Administration, 15 Sept. 2017, www.samhsa.gov/homelessness-housing.

Manly, Jody Todd, et al. “Child Neglect and the Development of Externalizing Behavior

Problems.” Child Maltreatment, vol. 18, no. 1, 2012, pp. 17–29.,

doi:10.1177/1077559512464119.

National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Peers Increase Teen Driving Risk via Heightened Reward

Activity.” NIDA, 2 Mar. 2012, www.drugabuse.gov/news-events/nida-notes/2012/03/peers-

increase-teen-driving-risk-heightened-reward-activity.

Schulenberg, J. E., Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., Miech, R. A. & Patrick,

M. E. (2017). Monitoring the Future national survey results on drug use, 1975–2016: Volume II,

College students and adults ages 19–55. Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research, The

University of Michigan.