ON GIA MARIE CARANGI
I specifically chose the film Gia in writing this paper because I could truly say that I greatly felt for her. Gia Marie Carangi was born in Philadelphia. She went to New York in order to find a modeling job because there is a lot of money in modeling. She was a very beautiful girl with a very luscious body that is why it was no wonder that she was able to easily get herself a job under Wilhelmina Cooper. Wilhelmina liked Gia easily because of the wit, innocence and frankness of the latter. It is not really hard to like Gia for she is a very sweet and loving girl who has a very strong attachment to those people she cares about. Gia is a lesbian that is why she often acts roughly around everybody, yet one could easily see the contrast when she acts sweetly and lovingly every time she is near with those people she cares about.
At the start of the story it was shown how her mother left their family as a child after a dispute with Gia’s father. Looking outside the window, one could see the tears rolling down young Gia’s eyes. All throughout the movie Gia was portrayed as someone who is very strong willed, frank, brave, and someone who is always willing to try something new regardless of the consequences. These attributes along with his gorgeous looks were mainly responsible to her easy fame. Unafraid of posing nude under the camera she was able to easily reach the top of her career. However, behind all her brave front, Gia was really a child inside. She is very lonely, insecure, and afraid of being left alone. These particular characteristics of Gia maybe attributed to the fact that her mother left her at a very young age. Gia is a very unstable person whose only weakness is to be left alone by the people she cares about. This particular assumption could be seen all throughout the movie when she begged her guy friend, Linda (her love interest) and her mother not to leave her.
Due to this constant bout of loneliness and insecurity Gia tried using cocaine, a drug which could greatly modify one’s mood. Linda was a make-up artist to whom Gia fell in love. However, Linda is a very gentle woman and she is also a straight girl with a boyfriend of her own. After thinking about the possible consequences of her would be relationship with Gia, Linda broke up with her. Gia was unable to take it when Linda broke up with her especially since her mother also refused her when she asked her mother to stay with her. Due to this disappointment, Gia leaned on the cocaine’s ability to get her through with life. She abused cocaine to such a point that her body totally relied on it for survival. Another factor which made her use cocaine a lot was when Wilhelmina died of lung cancer. All of these events led to her total dependence on drugs to the point that even when Linda went back together with her she was still unable to choose Linda over drugs. Even her numerous attempts of going to rehabilitation center did not helped her in anyway to break away with drugs. Due to her reliance on drugs she contracted HIV from a needle lent to her by another drug user. She died at the early age of 26 due to serious impediment AIDS brought her (Cristofer, 1998).
ON COCAINE
Why is cocaine addicting? What could be the possible effects of cocaine on your body? Why did someone like Gia specifically chose cocaine over any other drugs? Cocaine came from a plant called coca. It is mostly known as a drug which excites one’s central nervous system. In a way, cocaine is also beneficial in repressing one’s appetite. Due to this, cocaine is used by some because of its ability to make a person feel unusually elated. Cocaine are also used on hospital, it is usually administered to patients who would undergo serious surgery. However, the distribution of cocaine is illegal especially if it would not be used for medicinal purposes.
There are many ways one could use cocaine. However, on this paper I would only tackle those cocaine which one takes by snorting and those taken through injection. This is because on the movie, Gia basically used cocaine by snorting it and also through injecting it through her body which is basically the reason why she contracted AIDS.
Usually those cocaine which could be bought on streets comes in the form of cocaine hydrochloride and crack. The first type of cocaine I mentioned looks crystal white. The second kind of cocaine was developed along with ammonia. Sodium bicarbonate could also be used in developing the second kind of cocaine. The second type of cocaine was mixed with water along with freebase cocaine. As I have already mentioned earlier the use of the said drug differ from one user to another. There are those who prefer snorting it, while there are those who prefer to inject the drug on their body. There are also people who uses cocaine in smoking (cracks are usually smoked). On the movie, Gia obviously preferred to snort her cocaine. However, when she was unable to find one which she could snort when she badly needed it, she resorted to the type of cocaine which is injected through her body.
EFFECTS OF COCAINE
The effects of cocaine could be characterized on two ways. Its effect could either be short-lived or long-lived. At the movie, when Gia was doing a photo shot wearing a Japanese costume one could see that the pupil of her eyes are dilating, that is one of the short-term effects of cocaine. Other negative short-term effects of cocaine are increase in blood pressure, temperature, and heart beat. Cocaine also makes one lose his/her appetite. At the same time, cocaine also causes insomnia and it makes a person easily irritated, restless, and nervous.
Gia experienced most of these short-term effects of cocaine on the movie. For one, during one of her photo shoots she was mostly irritated when she found out that her knife was missing and she actually yelled at everybody and caused a commotion at the studio until somebody returned the knife to her. Due to the fact that Gia usually experiences bouts of tantrums her career slowly began to deteriorate to the point that nobody really wanted to hire her anymore. This could be seen on the same episode wherein she caused chaos looking for her knife. There was a woman there who asked why the photographer chose Gia as their model to which the photographer replied that his reason is that he simply chose Gia. It was very evident that most of Gia’s friends tried to help her find a job in the same way that it was very evident that the gay photographer really wanted to help Gia which is the primary reason why he hired her in spite of all the negative images Gia carries with her. On that particular scenario it was also obvious that people who use cocaine could not help but become easily irritated by small things. This could be seen when after Gia finished with her tantrum she thanked the gay photographer to which the latter replied nobody is perfect so Gia should not try to be one.
One of the effects of cocaine is that it causes one to be overly anxious. I believe that this is one of the reasons why Gia was unable to stop herself from using cocaine. At the movie Gia already tried to stop doing drugs especially since Linda decided to get their relationship right again. However, when Gia called Linda’s house to which Linda’s ex-boyfriend answered the phone, Gia felt so anxious and disappointed which made her resort to drugs again. Another instance which contributed to her more reliance on drugs is when her mother rejected Gia’s request to stay with her. Even before using drug Gia was already someone who has strong attachment to those people she loves. She easily feels insecure when she is not around them and she strongly dislike to be left alone. In the movie other models also used cocaine but they can limit their self, unlike Gia. The other models which could be found at the movie may only be using cocaine to make them lose their appetite, which is important for them so that they could maintain their good figure. However, Gia was different. Gia was addicted to drugs for other reasons. She was usually lonely and insecure and that is why she relied on drugs for security. Cocaine has a way of making one feel very euphoric and that is primarily the reason why Gia became attached to the said drug.
As mentioned earlier, cocaine also has long-term effects. Cocaine could make a person feel really paranoid. Depression is also one of the long-term effects of cocaine that is why people who have become addicted on it could not seem to suppress their longing for the said drug. This particular reason could basically answer the reason why Gia was unable to stop herself from reverting back to her old habit of using drugs in spite of the fact that she had been on rehabilitation centers numerous times.
The effect of cocaine lasts depending on the manner the drug was administered. Its effect could be as short as ten minutes, but it could also last for many hours. As was mentioned earlier, cocaine produces a certain feeling of euphoria on its user. When the effect of cocaine wears off the user would immediately feel a strong sense of depression which is the primary reason why those who uses cocaine tends to look for it every little while. Convulsion or a series of jerking could also be one of the negative effects of cocaine. At the movie there was a particular part wherein Gia could not stop from trembling to the point that she used the kind of cocaine which is injected on one’s body even though she did not want to use it at first. At the movie Gia always seems top snort even though she is not using cocaine at the current time she is doing her snorting. This is one of the ugly side effects of cocaine.
TREATMENTS
Gia Marie Carangi died at the very young age of 26 in 1986. It was no wonder that Gia used cocaine over any other drugs because cocaine in a way suits her personality to the point that it could solve her insecurities and loneliness by simply using it. Another factor was the fact that cocaine was very commonly used during Gia’s prime (1980’s to 1990’s). Cocaine addiction is the most common form of addiction during those times. It is actually very hard to cure cocaine addiction because it includes biological alteration on one’s brain. Another major problem regarding the treatment of cocaine addiction is the fact that Users of cocaine usually do so because of their problems regarding their family, society, as well as other environmental issues. As mentioned earlier Gia’s is very susceptible in using cocaine because her problems are usually answered by using that particular drug. This is basically the reason why treating cocaine addiction proves very hard.
There is no guarantee that people who goes to rehabilitation centers would really be able to stop themselves from using drugs again. However, there is also a great possibility that people who tries to stop using drugs would succeed on their conquest. That is basically the reason why people working on rehabilitation centers play a major part on the conquests of these people. The manner on which they approach their patients as well as other factors plays a significant role in determining the outcome of the said treatment. The role of the family and of the environment also plays a crucial role on the success of the medication. Therefore, in treating these kinds of addiction several factors need to be considered. Such factors are psychological, and social in nature. Pharmacological part of the person’s drug abuse also plays an important role on this situation.
Up to this point in time, there is still no way of determining the concrete amount of cocaine addiction. The NIDA is currently working on a series of medication which could probably cure cocaine addiction. The medications safety and efficiency is being tested in order to better the ways of treating drug addiction. Among those drugs which showed shows potential on curing cocaine addiction are topiramate, modafanil, baclofin, and GABA-B.
One major problem why cocaine addicts find it hard to stop themselves from using the said drug is due to fact that mood swings are well-known symptoms when one is trying to abstain from using cocaine. Since this is a physiological change which happens especially during the first stages of refraining from using cocaine, the use of drugs which has anti-depressant effects proves to be very helpful. Treating cocaine addiction proves to be a very hard process added to the fact that lots of people dies from over dosage of cocaine. This is one of the reasons why researches on improving medical procedures to help people during times of acute emergencies due to cocaine overdose.
Among the several approach of helping cocaine addicts refrain from using the said drug again, one of the most successful are those associated with behavioral treatments. It is an accepted fact that behavioral therapies are the only kind of treatment one could actually rely on in curing drug addiction. This is primarily due to the fact that up to now there is still no proven medical treatment which could cure drug addictions. However, it was already proven that combination of behavioral therapies along with several medications could increase the probability that the patient would be able to get rid of his or her addiction.
Disulfiram is one of the medication treatments which were clinically proven to have positive effects especially when it is combined with a behavioral therapy. Disulfiram is usually used to treat alcoholism; however, it was now being used on treating cocaine addiction. It has a good effect on cocaine addicts because it is most effective in reducing the amount of cocaine a patient would usually long for. There is no universal kind of treatment which could be applied to all of your patient that is why it is important to know your patient well and to be specific on the type of treatment you would use on him or her. A good example could be use on Gia’s case. Gia is a very insecure, and lonely woman that is why one needs to find a specific kind of treatment which could suit Gia’s personality in order to ensure the likelihood that she would be able to break away from her addiction. Thus, counseling, a series of talks along with people who have similar problem with her, expert advise, good ears to listen to, these could all prove as good treatment on Gia’s case.
One may then move on to ask why Gia was unable to break away from her addiction. The answer for that was although she went through a series of rehabilitation center in order to cure her of her addiction she was still unable to do so because of her unstable personality. She was easily affected by the people around her especially those whom she cares a lot about. Every time those people did something which could hurt her feeling, even though it is unintentional she would begin to feel lonely and very depress. Knowing that cocaine could help cure her depression she would rely on it even though she knows very well that it would have bad effects or consequences on her at some point in time.
ON DRUG ADDICTION
Drug abuse is a powerful desire to use something on mounting amount in spite of knowing the bad effects it would have on your body later. In Gia’s case she started by using cocaine only once in a while. However, the amount of cocaine she takes grows over time. Drug dependence on the other hand is the intense need of one’s body to a certain substance (on Gia’s case, cocaine). Refraining from using a particular drug could cause one to suffer under withdrawal syndromes such as shaking, being intensely depressed over simple things, and the like. Cocaine causes a great deal of physical dependence on its user as compared to other kinds of drugs.
Using drugs does not necessitates that one would be totally addicted on it – it still differ from one person to another (emotional status also contributes to whether you would be addicted or not). In Gia’s case she was a person who was easily influenced or affected by her environment which resulted to her utter reliance on drugs. It is very probable that a person may be drug dependent, though it does not necessitates that he or she would be addicted to the drug. An example of this would be those people who need drugs for medication. In the movie, the other examples of those people who are drug dependent though not addicted are the other models. It was an accepted fact on the modeling industry that models usually takes drugs to calm their nerves or to help them with their diets. However, the other models did not become addicted to the drug, unlike Gia. However, people who are dependent on drugs and people who are addicted on it both cannot seem to stop from using it because they suffer withdrawal syndromes which are often the reason why people find it hard to quit the use of certain drugs.
CONCLUSION
Gia’s unstable emotions, her strong attachment to the people she loves, added to the fact that she gets easily disappointed, depressed and insecure all contributed to her complete reliance on drugs. She abused the use of cocaine to the point that she was unable to stop herself from craving it in spite of knowing the bad consequences it could have on her health and also in spite of the fact that Linda made her choose between cocaine and her. Abuses of certain substances could cause more harmful affects to the point that its good effect no longer seem to matter. However, people who have grown addicted to drugs still could not resist from using it due to the fact that they have grown dependent and addicted to the said drug over time. Drug addictions could be cured as long as one gets the proper treatment or medication as well as the necessary support from those people who are important to that person. However, Gia’s personality prevented her from curing her addiction because she acts rashly and every time she gets disappointed she would return to her drugs once more.
Reference:
Cristofer, M. (Writer) (1998). Gia. USA.
