The menace of drugs is a problem that is not specific to just Punjab, but, according to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, it is estimated that 7.32 crore people in India are affected by drugs and alcohol, though this is not the latest data.The Ministry had last conducted a survey on the use of drugs and alcohol in 2000-2001 in which the Ministry had found that 87 lakh people used cannabis, 20 lakh used opiates, while 625 people were alcohol users. However, the Ministry has not conducted any such survey since then.
Surprisingly, youths are among the most affected ones in the country. Many have already lost their adolescence to addiction, while many are still being lured to addiction, while some are grappling to come out of it.
Gagan (name changed), now in his mid-thirties, was a heroin addict for the past 12 years, but after recovery, he has not touched it for the past 10 years. According to him, he started with alcohol and then slowly moved to heroin.
“It was during my days in Bombay, where I went to try my luck in modeling, that I was introduced to heroin by some of my friends. Young and under peer pressure, I took to heroin out of curiosity, thinking it was the fashionable thing to do,” Gagan said. However, Gagan soon became an addict. “For an addict who is into such substances, life becomes dependent on them. I lost my sleeping pattern, had no discipline in life, no relations, and lost everything good in my life,” he said.
“It was then that my parents decided to put me into a rehab,” Gagan said, but the process of de-addiction was even more painful. “Withdrawal symptoms during de-addiction are very painful. During the process, I did not sleep for 16 days. I was suffering from acute pain in my muscles, used to get stomach cramps and at times, during the early days of withdrawal, one tends to become very violent. But thanks to my mentors who helped me get a new life, I am sober for the past 10 years. I do not even drink alcohol now,” Gagan said.
Sanjay Mathur, founder and director of Roar Wellness, a well-known drug rehabilitation centre in the national capital, was himself an addict to both alcohol and heroin since he was 14 years old. However, he had been cured in 1996, and ever since then, he had been running two drug-rehabilitation centres in Delhi, with the help of several other staff and counsellors who were once addicts themselves.
“Withdrawal symptoms during de-addiction are very painful. During the process, I did not sleep for 16 days. I was suffering from acute pain in my muscles, and at times, one tends to become very violent too.”
Mathur said that he was lured into alcoholism at the age of 14 after an emotional setback when he lost his brother. “At the age of 20, I slowly became a heroin addict. My father worked abroad, and my mother was busy raising her kids who were younger to me and, in between, I was lost to drugs and alcohol,” Mathur said.
“I started living in my own world with my own whims and fancies. I had no discipline in my life, and lost my health, career, education, family, and relationships. My family tried to put me to several rehabs, but I used to run away from them. However, at the age of 29, my father put me in a rehab called Kripa Foundation in Delhi. That changed my life and I got back everything that I had lost,” Mathur added. In keeping with the dreams of his mother, Mathur started two drug rehabilitation centres in Delhi after his recovery, the Rama Drug de-addiction and Rehabilitation Centre and the Roar Wellness centre in Delhi.
Mathur said that the process of de-addiction is difficult and takes months. During the four-month course, the addict is put through a strict routine to infuse discipline is his/her life. Once admitted, the addict undergoes a comprehensive blood investigation to assess the types of substances he was addicted to and the nature of damage they have done to his body.
The addict is then subjected to physical exercises and yoga on a regular basis for mental and physical well-being, after which, in the initial days, psychological sessions are conducted and counselors narrate such stories from books that connect to their way of life.
The addicts are also asked to write fond memories of their loved ones and stories of their life, including memories from their childhood, parents, siblings, etc. Psychologists call this the “detox” method to bring out emotions, nature and habits of patients.
Activities like peer bonding, creative arts, lessons on de-addiction, ego and anger management are assigned to patients daily to help them slowly recover.
Not only drugs, alcohol addiction is also a major problem that many young people in the country have to grapple with. Shruti (name changed) was a heavy alcohol addict for the past seven years and said that she could not sleep without drinking. This had ruined her personal life and she neglected her children and family. However, she became sober after she stopped drinking for two years.
Dr Priyanka, a clinical sychologist working with addicts, said, “An addict’s psyche is very self-centered and his coping skills are very weak. Addicts usually do not accept the fact that they are addicts and breaking the denial mode is half the job done as they are in constant denial. Relapses occur because parents neglect and feel that they are cured.”