By Diksha Mahajan:
“As a teen I had a hard time grasping that my own judgment was impaired. I kept making bad decisions because I desperately wanted to belong and be accepted. Why did I do this? Where was the point that it started getting out of hand?”
People experiment with drugs for many different reasons which vary from trying drugs out of curiosity, just because friends are doing it, or in an effort to improve athletic performance or to deal with stress, anxiety, or depression. And once you do that, you usually continue to use them because that substance either makes you feel good, or stops you from feeling bad. However, there is no specific level at which Drug use becomes Drug abuse. Very few addicts are able to figure out when they have crossed that line before getting trapped in its vicious cycle, from where coming back requires a lot more than just your will power. Neither is your age a determining factor. Children of age group 8 to 13 are hooked onto drugs, yes, at an age when they are supposed to be indulging in their chocolates, candies and lollipops.
Sleeping tablets, painkillers, sniffing solvents and cough syrups are replacing the hard drugs like brown sugar and cocaine from the drug market. Sniffing of solvents is probably the easiest and the cheapest way to attain ecstasy and this is the reason behind its popularity. It’s very dangerous because people tend to do this even in the presence of others. Time bound prescription for consumption of pharma drugs is probably the best solution. It’s important for the family to monitor the consumption of that particular pharma drug by that person. Substance dependence can easily change from a medical necessity to a desire to get a high. It can increase from one tablet to two, from once to twice in just no time. You would double your dose each time, to attain the same level of gratification.
Consider the account of a successful young career woman who was caught in its vice-like grip. She was prescribed sleeping tablets by her family physician when she complained of stress and sleeplessness. She soon became addicted to them. Later, she was diagnosed as suffering from depression, for which she was prescribed anti-depressants. Soon she became addicted to these too. Probably, because initially people around her tried to attack the symptom and not the cause! The signs of drug addiction vary from vehement responses to complete withdrawal. Drug addiction is not a passing phase. Specially, if you use drugs to fill a void in your life, if the drug fulfils a valuable need, if it helps you elude from everything around you. That’s where the family members and friends come in. It’s crucial for friends and family to stay connected to the person concerned in his tumultuous time. Be watchful of the person’s behaviour, activities, peer groups and places where they hang out. In US, it’s very common to come across girls aged 17 dating drug dealers to get easy access to drugs. Drugs these days are just a phone call away!
Making the person talk about the problem instead of confronting him with proof in the form of blood test wouldn’t really help. Seeking professional help, addressing the underlying psychological problems at the right time can prove to be beneficial. The addict need not hit the rock bottom before he can get better. Recovery can begin at any point.
Millions of people fall prey to Drug Addiction across the globe. The number of people affected by it is increasing; every year; everyday; every hour. Drugs don’t help you deal with the reality; they just help you lose touch with it. The question is: Do we need to live under the illusion that everything is okay? No. We need to remember that we are capable of dealing with problems and facing challenges as they come up and that we do not need to live our lives in the cloud of Ecstasy.