Alcohol and Other Drug Video Resources
on Reserve in the HWS library

(Note: Superscripts are used to refer to supplementary resources for topics on the BD295 course syllabus schedule.)

AIDS, Alcohol and Sex¹
(Real World Productions) - Students from diverse backgrounds discuss alcohol and sex, making mistakes, safe sex, and the risk of HIV. This video presents real student interviews "on the street" and captures their candid opinions. (10 min)

THE ADDICTED BRAIN¹⁸
(Films for the Humanities & Sciences) - This documentary takes viewers on a tour of the world's most prolific manufacturer and biggest user of drugs -- the human brain. The biochemistry of the brain is responsible for joggers' highs, for the compulsion of some people to seek thrills, for certain kinds of obsessive-compulsive behavior, even for the drive to achieve power and dominance. This program explores the cutting edge of developments in the biochemistry of addiction and addictive behavior. (26 minutes).

ADDICTION: The Family in Crisis³
(Films for the Humanities & Sciences) - This program tells the poignant story of one man's addiction to alcohol and explains the process of addiction in the brain. It shows how a person starts abusing a drug to alter a mood or avoid a thought or situation. With continued drug use, the brain's pleasure circuit is activated and behaves as if the drug is important for survival. The program explores how the family of the alcoholic is devastated by his behavior and the typical role of "enabler" which family members too often play. The program follows the alcoholic through a treatment program as he learns the causes of his addiction and how to keep his alcoholism under control through abstention. (28 minutes)

ADDICTION: WHY CAN'T THEY JUST STOP?
HBO home video, 2007 (90 minutes)

ADOLESCENT TREATMENT APPROACHES
(National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1992 (25 minutes)

ALCOHOL: A WOMEN'S HEALTH ISSUE
(National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2002 (12.25 minutes)

ALTERED STATES: A History of Drug Use in America⁴
Whether it's caffeine, nicotine, or morphine, drugs of choice have defined our lives and history, with sometimes benevolent, sometimes tragic results. This program focuses on the history of America's drug use and abuse, from the days when the early European settlers became enamored with tobacco, through Prohibition, and up today. Substance abuse is not exclusive to the 20th century. The problems we see today existed in other forms and with other drugs throughout our history. The reasons for using drugs have also remained constant: to ease pain, alleviate boredom, or to expand our consciousness. This program traces the patterns of American drug use and abuse and documents the cultural, social, and political movements that impacted, or were impacted by, the use of drugs (57 min).

BE VOCAL, BE VISIBLE, BE VISIONARY: A Report from the Field by the Presidents Leadership Group²⁶
(The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention - 21 minutes)

BRANDON TELLS HIS STORY
(The Century Council) - This is a tragic story about Brandon Silveria. When he was seventeen, Brandon had a few drinks at a party, managed to drive his friends home, then wrapped his car around a tree. He spent the next two and a half months in a coma, the next two years in rehab. His speech is slurred, his walk is unsteady, his memory is permanently impaired. You'll hear first hand from Brandon what it's like to try to get his life back. You'll hear from high school friends who have moved on through college. Most of all, you'll see how one irresponsible decision can change so many lives forever (28 minutes).

THE BROKEN CORD: Louise Erdrich and Michael Dorris¹⁹
(Films for the Humanities & Sciences) - In this program with Bill Moyers, authors Louise Erdrich and Michael Dorris explain how traditions of spirit and memory weave through the lives of many native Americans and how alcoholism and despair have shattered so many other lives. The devastating effect of the fetal alcohol syndrome on their adopted son and on the Native American community as a whole - is also discussed. (28 minutes)

CAN YOU STOP PEOPLE FROM DRINKING?⁵
(Films for the Humanities & Sciences) - This program looks at how Russia and the United States are attacking the seemingly intractable problem of alcohol abuse by means of both old and new weapons -- prohibition, hypnotism, imprisonment, surveillance, deception, aversion therapy, and such group therapy as Alcoholics Anonymous. (60 minutes)

CIRCLE OF RECOVERY: Healing the Wounds of Drugs and Alcohol⁶
(Films for the Humanities & Sciences) - This program is a candid portrait of seven African-American men -- all recovering from drug and alcohol addiction -- and their efforts to heal through a voluntary recovery group they formed. Each week, members of the group meet and openly discuss issues involving family, love, sex, racism, and work, which are interwoven with their struggles and achievements as they strive to rebuild their broken lives. We see how the support each man draws from the other group members contributes to his recovery in the healing circle. "Recovery doesn't happen in isolation," Kenny says. "No one does it alone." It is an inspiring story of shattered lives healed by courage, resolve, and friendship. (57 minutes)

COCAINE IN THE 90'S
(FMS Productions - 31 minutes)

THE CORE INSTRUMENT: An Introduction to the Use of the CORE Instrument
(CORE Institute) - This video is an introduction to the use of the CORE Instrument. It provides information on determining the sample and method of survey administration, purchasing the survey, obtaining survey data from students, optically reading the survey instruments, and writing a report of survey findings. It answers frequently asked questions about the survey, and helps the viewer obtain reliable data from the survey.

DAVID WITH FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME⁷
David Vanderbrink seems like a normal, bright, articulate 21-year-old man. There is little to suggest, on the surface, that while in his mother's womb he suffered permanent brain damage. David suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome, or FAS, a condition that went undiagnosed for the first eighteen years of his life, causing confusion, anger, and pain for him and his adoptive family. The damage from FAS can be subtle or severe, resulting in a wide range of symptoms from slowed growth or disfigurement to behavioral problems including impulsiveness and aggression, and the inability to grasp the consequences of one's actions. This program provides a unique personal look at what it's like to grow up and live with the effects of FAS, through the words and experiences of a victim and his family. (45 minutes).

DRINKING APART: Families under the Influence³⁰
(Films for the Humanities & Sciences) - Millions of Americans wrestle with a drug or alcohol problem during their lives, usually without the aid of counseling. But at Ackerman Institute for the Family, teams of counselors help many to regain their freedom. THis program tracks the progress of a husband and wife, a mother and teenage daughter, and a young couple over a three year period as they fight their way to recovery. Candidly filmed Ackerman, at Addicts Rehabilitation Center in New York City, at Cassadaga Job Corps Center in upstate New York, and even in the subjects' homes, the documentary provides valuable insights into both the devastating effects of drug and alcohol dependence on different types of relationships and the methods being used to assist in breaking addictions. An HBO production. (71 minutes, color)

DRINKING: Are You in Control?³¹
(Films for the Humanities & Sciences) - Most Americans readily accept that alcoholism is a disease and that the only treatment is abstinence. But in an eye-opening report, ABC News medical correspondent Nancy Snyderman questions the established beliefs and conventional theories about drinking, opening the door to a heated and even hostile debate within the medical ands treatment communities. Metabolic, genetic, and neurochemical models of alcoholism are challenged, and alternatives to twelve-step programs are considered - although helpful to many, Alcoholics Anonymous and similar organizations suffer a drop out rate of 90 percent. (44 minutes, color)

DRIVING DRUNK: License to Kill?⁸
(Films for the Humanities & Sciences) - Barbara Walters anchors and reports this ABC News Turning point investigation of how drunk drivers beat the system and keep driving, sometimes with deadly results. The program looks at the laws that are supported to keep drunk drivers off the road and how easy it is for some repeat offenders to get a license in one state after having been convicted in another. It also looks at the efforts of some states to make it harder for drunk drivers to become repeat offenders -- Ohio's "Swift and Sure" program, which immobilizes or destroys cars of second and third time offenders, is credited with helping the state have one of the lowest rates of alcohol-related traffic accidents in the U.S. The need for stringent action is made clear as Ms.Walters talks to families whose lives have been irrevocably altered by the death of a loved one in a drunk driving accident. (44 minutes)

EDUCATE: Creating Inhalant Abuse Awareness Together
(National Inhalant Prevention Coalition) - All over the country, kids of all ages are abusing everyday household products. This program is a vehicle to educate parents and their children about inhalant abuse and its effects.

FACES OF ADDICTION
(Excerpts from 3 part HBO series aired in September, 1997 sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation - 35 minutes)

FEMALE ALCOHOLISM⁹
(Health Sciences Series) - Alcoholism among women is a growing problem. This program examines the changing stereotype if the female alcoholic, as well as analyzes some case histories of recovered alcoholic women. It explains the dangers of drinking during pregnancy, the effect of the fetal alcoholic syndrome on newborns, and the emotional impact on children of being raised by an alcoholic mother. The program also explains why women are so reluctant to seek help -- and suggests ways to overcome this reluctance. (19 minutes).

FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME AND OTHER DRUG USE DURING PREGNANCY¹⁰
(Films for the Humanities & Sciences) - This program profiles an eight-year-old Apace Indian boy born with FAS showing how alcohol ingested by the mother crosses the placenta and enters the bloodstream of the fetus, remaining long after it has left the mother's bloodstream; it describes the common characteristics of children with FAS -- small eyes, flattered face, short nose, long, smooth upper lip, small head circumference -- and the learning disabilities, mental handicaps, and behavioral problems that are common. The program also explores babies born to cocaine-addicted mothers, illustrating how cocaine affects the fetus, and explaining that crack babies are at risk for low birth weight, impaired brain growth, and malformed kidneys and genitals (19 minutes)

IN AND OUT OF CONTROL: Emotional, Physical, and Sexual Violence²
(CNS Productions - 38 min)

KIDS UNDER THE INFLUENCE¹¹
(Films for the Humanities & Sciences) - This For Kids' Sake documentary looks at our number one drug problem among kids -- not crack cocaine, but alcohol. It examines school problems and run-ins with the law as well as the long-term physical and psychological disorders caused by alcohol consumption and demonstrates the enormous influence of peer pressure and the seductive advertisements in the mass media. Visiting alcoholism treatment centers, it shows the devastating damage done by alcohol and the wrenching process of rehabilitation; explains why alcohol presents increased health and safety risks for children and adolescent; and clarifies why alcohol is so easy abused by youngsters, and what can be done about it. (58 minutes)

LAST CALL: Alcoholism and Co-dependency¹²
(Films for the Humanities & Sciences) - Alcoholism affects not only the person suffering from the disease but the alcoholic's family as well. This program takes an in-depth look at the effects of alcoholism on both the individual and the family, contrasting an urban and a rural home linked by the common problem of alcoholism. From the alcoholic to his or her spouse and their children, everyone is affected. As other family members seek to cope and prevent the destruction of the family, unhealthy behavioral patterns emerge: spouses face frustration, shame, and a feeling of helplessness, and children try to hide the problem, creating stresses they can carry with them for the rest of their lives. The program provides a broad insight into alcoholism and how it affects those on its periphery. (24 minutes)

MARIJUANA IN THE 90'S
(FMS Productions - 36 minutes)

NINE TO FIVE HIGH: Substance Abuse in the Workplace¹³
(Films for the Humanities & Sciences) - The majority of drug abusers in America have full-time jobs. Drug and alcohol abuse in the workplace often leads to serious accidents, property loss, decreased productivity, and otherwise negatively impacts the employer; of course the substance abuser also loses -- his or her health, job, and often spouse and children as well. Yet most companies and workers have yet to accept the dangers posed by their failure to deal with substance abuse problems among workers and managers. This program details the problem and outlines the legal, financial, and psychological costs of failing to do something about a growing problem (28 minutes)

PORTRAIT OF ADDICTION: Moyers on Addiction - Close to Home²⁹
(Films for the Humanities and Scineces) - In this program nine men and women--all recovering from drug and/or alcohol addiction--tell their stories. The recovering addicts run the gamut: a former narcotics agent, now recovering from a cocaine habit; a mother of three who is a marketing specialist; a former addict and founder of Stand Up Harlem, a community of HIV-positive addicts and recovering addicts; a journalist and former addict who actually served as the researcher for Moyers on the series. This candid testimony from people who have been there leaves little doubt that addiction can happen to anyone and so can recovery. (57 minutes)

THE POWER OF ADDICTION²⁰
(Films for the Humanities & Sciences) - What's addiction? Who is prone to addiction? How can addictions be overcome? The psychological mechanisms of behavioral addictions, such as compulsive gambling and compulsive shopping , and chemical addictions, specifically cocaine, are explored in this program. Biochemical, genetic, and environmental factors are suggested as possible causes for addictive behavior; drug therapies and support groups are discussed as valuable aids to recovery. (19 minutes)

SELLING ADDICTION: Rethinking America's War on Drugs¹⁴
To win the war against drug abuse, you have to know the enemy. Hundreds of times a day the addiction merchants bombard us with their products -- on TV, radio, billboards, in print and even on T-shirts! What they're selling is not just a consumer product, but an addictive lifestyle. How do we break the media/addiction link? How do we deconstruct the powerful messages and images to created by tobacco and alcohol advertisers? This three-part, 19-minute discussion starter provides valuable information to help to facilitate the Selling Addiction Workshop. Hosted by actress Michael Learned, the video utilizes an in-depth group process to help you get a better handle on the addiction problem. You'll analyze typical commercials and advertising techniques, learn about target marketing and discover the myths of advertising. Most important, you'll learn how cigarette and alcohol advertisers manipulate people -- to get them hooked -- and keep them hooked!

SUBSTANCE ABUSE AMONG LATINOS¹⁵
(Films for the Humanities & Sciences) - In the face of high unemployment and underemployment, lack of adequate housing, a failing public school system, and a shift to non-traditional families, "just saying no" is not enough. This program looks at culturally-specific approaches being generated within the Latino community to combat drug and alcohol abuse, and examines such factors as language, religion, and family ties in reaching and teaching Latino population at risk for AIDS and/or substance abuse. (28 minutes)

THE SUBSTANCE IN QUESTION²¹
(Films for the Humanities & Sciences) - This program explains the major illegal drugs of misuse, explaining the following four groups: stimulants (amphetamines, cocaine, and crack), hallucinogenics (LSD and Ecstasy), hypnosedatives (barbiturates and tranquilizers) and opiates (heroin). The program also examines cannabis. In the case of each drug, the program provides a factual introduction and a guide to short and long-term effects. Drug users offer their candid insights into their attractions to specific substances and a medical professional and substance abuse expert provides an explanation of the relative dangers of each drug. (36 minutes, color)

SUBSTANCE MISUSE¹⁶
(Films for the Humanities & Sciences) - There is a range of substances which, when used in intended and in the appropriate quantity, are beneficial; when misused, they are often deleterious to health and may be fatal. This program examines the most commonly misused substances, explaining the effects of each and the problems it can cause. The substances covered include: stimulants (amphetamines, caffeine, cocaine, nicotine, MDMA); depressants (alcohol, barbiturates, solvents, benzodiazepines); hallucinogens (cannabis, LSD, "magic" mushrooms); opiates (morphine, heroine). (30 minutes)

TEENS AND ALCOHOLISM¹⁷
(Films for the Humanities & Sciences) - In this timely program, teenagers from varying economic backgrounds -- all recovering alcoholics -- discuss their drinking histories, tell why and how they began drinking, how the drinking led to eventual alcoholism, and the steps taken to address the problem. Alcohol recovery therapist David Moore discusses the short- and long-term psychological effects of alcohol on younger people, and the overall psychology behind today's teenage drinking epidemic (18 minutes)

THE TRUTH ABOUT TEEN ALCOHOL USE 101: A Social Norms Approach³²
(Discover Films, Inc.) - The Truth About Alcohol Use is a groundbreaking video that uses a social norms approach to show high schools students that most of their peers DO NOT DRINK. In it Dr. David Craig investigates the difference between what Riverfront High School students perceive and what is really true at their school. An anonymous survey gives typical results: While Riverfront teens assume others drink, actually most do not. Through interviews and group discussions we learn how surprised and relieved students are to discover that their own attitudes align with those of a majority of their peers. This gives them confidence to be themselves by dispelling the myth that "Everybody is doing it." The video reinforces the fact that the opposite is true-very few are involved in unhealthy behavior. "Knowledge is power," Dr. Craig tells them, because it leads to making informed choices. In this case, the choice not to drink is the choice of the healthy majority.

UNDER THE INFLUENCE²²
(CBS 48 hours)

WALKING THROUGH THE FEAR: Women and Substance Abuse²³
(Films for Humanities & Sciences) - Increasing numbers of women are addicted to alcohol and drugs, yet only one in five patients in treatment centers is a woman. Why aren't women seeking or getting the help they need to overcome their addiction? This program investigates the problems women face when they seek such help, and four women tell what it was like before they sought help and how their lives changed after recovery. (25 minutes)

WOMEN AND ALCOHOL
(17 minutes)
Binge drinking is traditionally a man's sport, but now many college-age women are joining in. This program explores the issue, documenting one young woman's quest to systematically determine the physiological impact of regular, heavy drinking.

WOMEN, WINE & WELLNESS (PART I)²⁴
(10 minutes)

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page last modified: 08/24/07