¶ … Cake by Cupcake Brown A Note on 'A Piece of Cake'

A Piece of Cake is memoir by an author of colour, a Mrs. Cupcake Brown. It is one of the best drug memoirs ever written, particularly about the struggles faced by substance abusers of colour. Mrs. Brown was forced into foster care after the death of her mother. After going through drug addiction, joining gangs and experiencing abuse, Mrs. Brown managed to turn her life around and becomes a successful lawyer and bestselling writer (Cheney, 2013). Even though one may not have been sexually abused, been a gang member or a drug abuser, after reading the memoir, he or she will have the feeling that they ought to be grateful. A Piece of Cake teaches readers to be grateful about their relationships, their marriages, their trails and blessings and everything else. Though the message is a bit cliche, it is the basis of the work and it is a good enough message for those who are going through any kind of struggle (Tolani, 2014).

The Life-long Recovery Process

i. Self-Conviction to Recover (Laudet, Savage, & Mahmood, 2002)

Laudet, A., Savage, R., & Mahmood, D. (2002). Pathways to Long-Term Recovery: A Preliminary Investigation. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 305-311.

According to researchers Laudet, Savage and Mahmoud, recovery from drug abuse is a lifelong process. While several studies have revealed that short-term treatment (one to two years) is possible through various modalities, not much is known about the processes of these treatment modalities. This is especially unfortunate considering the fact that treatment gains are usually short lived and that even multiple treatment sessions may not always succeed in breaking one's cycle of addiction. Furthermore, the authors in this work contend that...

They argue that while much is known about addiction, little is known about recovery. Most studies on substance abuse have follow up times of between one month and two years -- a period which many commentators would argue is not enough to document the lengthy process of recovery. The researchers argue that one factor that should receive more attention in substance abuse studies is whether the influences identified as indicators of short-term abstinence are the same ones required for permanent recovery.
Their study investigated this question and they found that several predictors of short-term abstinence seemed to be useful for long-term recovery. The results of their study reveal the usefulness of motivational factors (especially the negative effects of substance abuse) and the use of community and social resources to maintain recovery. During the first few months, quite a number of drug abusers are often at best ambivalent about their decision to stop using drugs. Making these clients understand the negative effects of drug abuse may make them more committed to stopping their addiction. Later on, during the recovery process, it is also likely that a client could assume he or she is recovered and would like to test their recovery by having just one and the results are more often than not negative. Such a risk should be looked out for.

ii. Role of Therapeutic Communities (Vanderplasschen, et al., 2013)

Vanderplasschen, W., Colpaert, K., Autrique, M., Charles, R., Pearce, S., Brokaert, E., & Vandvelde, S. (2013). Therapeutic Communities for Addictions: A Review of Their Effectiveness from a Recovery-Oriented Perspective. The Scientific World Journal.

The authors of this study start by noting that drug addiction is a complex health problem that is compounded by issues such as psychiatric comorbidity, criminality, relational conflicts, homelessness, and unemployment. While a number of these issues or problems might be as a result of substance abuse, most of them usually come before the abuse. The authors of this work also note that drug abuse has been generally regarded as an acute condition that requires treatment during a few months of…