Prevention & management of addiction to Drugs & Alcohol
Drugs, Alcohol or any other kind of addictive substance form a vicious circle of addiction and economic problems which is very hard to break free and get out of. Consider this example,
Due to some reason (Peer pressure, social norms, and effect of advertisements) you start smoking and you smoke on continues basis and, get addicted to it. Now you have been smoking for some time before anybody around you start noticing or maybe they do, warn you but don't pay any attention to it. You continue thinking you are in control and can stop smoking it any time you want, you just don't want to stop now as it feels good, relieves pressure or anything else. Now some time passes and your family and social life, your job is getting affected because of it. People avoid talking to you as you smell or more social life, your job is getting affected because of it. People avoid talking to you as you smell or more (the appropriate word is stink), you now need constant smoking breaks and your bosses are unhappy, your work quality is dwindling, your family is even more unhappy because of increased expenses. Now you need better job to meet the increased expenses but because of your constant breaks and job quality reduces and the existing job is also in danger. Your frustration increases with increasing tension in family and the number of cigarettes per day go still higher resulting in increased expenses. Now it's a vicious loop, hard to get out of. More expense, more pressure, decreased quality of work and dwindling quality of social life. And this all to say nothing about the ill effects it have on your health, leading to medical complications, bigger health bills and still more work and money issues. This is the snapshot of addiction for you.
Alcohol addiction is also becoming very common. What begins with a social gesture in young age moves to addiction mainly if the quality and quantity of alcohol intake is not controlled. Alcohol addiction brings warning signals but due to lack of awareness this is not understood well. Signals include behaviours like drinking for the purpose of getting drunk; drinking alone or keeping drinking a secret. Problems do not vanish by drinking but it is a common behaviour to drink with an aim to escape problems. This is a problem and warning signal. Another behaviour which is common and indicates tilt towards addiction is hiding alcohol in odd places; another one is getting irritated when you are unable to obtain alcohol to drink. All this is sensed by the society at times and one starts having problems at work, school, home, or in family life as a result .As explained above this is another vicious cycle.
India's social life in general and Bihar in particular has witnessed major issues related to addiction of various kinds. And addiction of any kind ruins the life of person and family. Addiction also gives rise to many other social problems such as domestic violence and child abuse, HIV and AIDS, poverty etc. to name a few.
UMMEED EK ASHA works towards DE addiction from drugs, alcohol and other types of substance abuse. We enlighten people about the ill effect of such substances on a person's health and social life.
UMMEED EK ASHA works on grass root level, working towards eradication of this gigantic nuisance in society instead of getting any quick fixes. We work with families, trying to make them understand that the problem is manageable and help the affected get back on track.
Health Education too plays a part. It is a big task and we have made our beginning. We need you to strengthen us and support us to continue our fight against this menace addiction and substance abuse. We welcome volunteers and donations. Please check out our contact and details page to know more.
