Inhalants
Inhalant abuse is more common among teenagers than adults. Inhalants, commonly found at home are toxic substances such as nail polish removers, hair sprays, adhesives, glues, dry cleaning agents, ink whiteners, fevibond and varnis. These are abused by inhaling or breathing in to get “high”, through sniffing, snorting and huffing that depresses CNS. The street names of inhalants are many such as poopers, poor man’s pot, snapper, pearl, and medusa.
The warning signs are evidenced when the victim keeps its stock, has stain of paint on clothes or hands, and smells bleach all the time in the bedroom of the person. The physical signs can be blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, headaches, muscle weakness, disorientation, and slurred speech, loss of appetite, convulsions, insomnia and suffocation. Long term abuse of inhalants can have serious and life threatening issues.
It is hard to quit the abuse of inhalants. It is always better to take treatment as in-patient under professional care in our Centre at the earliest.
Alcohol liver disease
Alcohol liver disease is caused by chronic intake of alcohol which causes damage to the liver. Its main symptoms are inflammation of liver (hepatitis) and scarring of liver. This condition is known as cirrhosis of liver which is the last stage of liver disease. Alcohol liver disease has three stages the symptoms of varies according to the stage of the disease:
- Alcoholic fatty liver disease: this is the first stage of liver disease in which fat starts to accumulate around the liver. It can be cured by the abstinence from alcohol.
- Acute alcoholic hepatitis: in this stage the liver gets inflamed that causes the swelling of the liver. If the inflammation has not caused severe damage to the liver with proper treatment, the damage can be reversed. But if the damage is severe, it can lead to liver failure.
- Alcoholic cirrhosis: this is the last stage of liver disease and in this stage the liver gets scarring due to chronic alcohol consumption. The damage caused and cannot be reversed by treatment. The alcohol liver disease has life threatening complications which are internal bleeding, encephalopathy, ascites, decreased immunity, liver cancer and death. The main prevention from alcohol liver disease is complete abstinence from alcohol and adapting a healthy life style as taking balanced diet, regular exercise having faith and positive approach in life.
Nicotine and Male Infertility
Nicotine is a chemical compound found in tobacco which is highly addictive and very difficult to give up. When nicotine is taken it causes the release of adrenaline in the body and the individual experiences a pleasurable sensation called as “high” or “kick.” It also releases dopamine in body which leads to a pleasurable effect. Nicotine is very harmful for the body, it can increase blood pressure and heart rate, decrease appetite, cause nausea and sweating. Its grave dangers are lung cancer, stroke, peptic ulcer, osteoporosis, dental issues, heart disease, weak immune system, impotence and infertility. Nicotine adversely affects respiratory system as well as reproductive system. Smoking tobacco causes decreased sperm count, sperm motility and poor sperm morphology. Decrease in infertility is linked to the presence of metals, like lead, zinc and cadmium in cigarettes. In a nut shell, smoking causes changes in function of sperms that leads to reduced fertility in males.
Psychotherapy/Counselling in Drug Recovery
Addiction is caused by development of tolerance to the abuse of drugs. The management of drug addiction consists in treating the withdrawal features by medication, individual and group counselling, integration with family, and rehabilitation. In the process of drug recovery usually the management consists of combination of treatments e.g. medications, counseling and improving behavior of the individual. In counselling the individual is motivated to take up the desirable behaviour, and change their maladaptive behaviour, improve their habits and to have more positive and rationale thinking. The result of many studies have shown that the individuals who take counselling with medical treatment have less relapse than the individuals who have not taken counselling. Managing the physical problems with medications and ignoring the psychological problems do not lead to a complete recovery of the individual. As such, both the components in the management of drug addicts are necessary. The most essential component during the recovery from addiction is to learn to control the cravings, triggers and stress of daily life. Thus, counseling is essential part of management of the drug addict to enable him to deal with problem of life and pave a way for living a drug free life.
Electronic Cigarettes
In today’s world the traditional smoking method has been replaced by a new method which is known as electronic cigarette or e-cigarette. The e-cigarettes are electronic devices which are powered by battery. These devices heat a liquid on puffing, converting it into an aerosol and person using e-cigarette inhales and exhales the aerosol. The e-cigarettes usually contain nicotine, glycerin, heavy metals such as nickel, lead and tin, other chemicals and flavoring agents e.g. diacetyl (that causes lung disease). The e -cigarettes, operated with rechargeable battery, are also called by different names such as e-cigs, e-hookahs, mods, vape pens, tank and electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS). The e-cigarettes look like the cigars/pipes, pens and pen drives. The method by which the cigarettes are inhaled is called “vaping.”
The e-cigarettes are harmful for every age group because these contain nicotine which is a highly addictive substance. If taken in early adulthood the e- cigarettes can cause addiction and halt the brain development. These can also cause lung disease and lung cancer because the substances present in e- cigarettes (as methods above) are in the form of small particles and are inhaled deep into the lungs. These e- cigarettes cause to its smoker as well as the persons standing nearby as they both are exposed to the chemicals produced from the e- cigarettes.
Research shows that e-cigarette is does not help to quit smoking rather it leads to more addiction of nicotine. Some people who do not quit smoking after taking e-cigarettes indulge in smoking both the products, which is called as “dual use.” As such, instead of solving the problem it can further increase the problem for the person who is taking it as an alternative to quit regular cigarette smoking.
Drug Abuse and Addiction in India
Drug abuse is the excessive use of drugs for nonmedical purposes despite social, psychological, and physical problems that may arise from such use. For example when a drug like alcohol or nicotine or cocaine are taken in excess for getting HIGH, causing harmful effects to an individual, then it is called as drug abuse. Whereas, drug addiction is repeated abuse of the drugs leading to physiological and psychological dependence on the substance and if the substance is not taken the body starts to show withdrawal symptoms and your brain is always pre occupied with the thoughts of taking substance. The long term abuse of drugs can lead to addiction and can cause socio-occupational dysfunction.
The problem of drug abuse and addiction is increasing in India day by day as more people are getting indulged in the malevolent cycle of drugs. The age group which is more affected by this evil is young children and teens. According to the report “Magnitude of substance Use in India” which is submitted by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC, 2019), following are the major findings in India related to substance use:
- There are approximately 2.6 crore people in India who are using opioids and 60 lakh suffer from opioid use disorder.
- 18 crore use sedatives and inhalants, out of which 4.6 lakh are children and 18 lakh adults. They need medical help for the treatment of inhalant use disorder. The prevalence of inhalant use is higher in children and adolescents as compared to the adults.
- More than 8.5 lakh people use drugs and are addicted to them in injectable form. Out of the 8.5 lakh, 27% share needles and are at a high risk of HIV. The common drugs used intravenously are heroin and buprenorphine.
- Out of India’s total population, 14.6% people are taking alcohol (i.e. approximately 16 crore people) and 6 crore people are in need of medical help because of addiction and dependence on alcohol.
The drug abuse and addiction problem is alarming and it should be dealt with great enthusiasm. The ADDAC is a world known centre to treat drug abuse/ addiction in a healthy environment with quality treatment and assured recovery.
Drug Rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is one of the components of treatment for drug abuse or drug addiction. It is used to help recover from addiction, injuries and mental illness to improve the mental health of the individual. In simple words, drug rehabilitation is the process of treating the drug abusers by combining the medical /traditional method of medication and other methods like counselling or psychotherapies. Drug rehabilitation is provided to the addictive individual because they need additional assistance to revive their impaired skills due to drug abuse, engage meaningfully and live a drug free life to pave a way for taking responsibility and adjustment at home and job. The drug rehabilitation can only work in a better way or can be effective if the individual has enthusiasm and determination to stop the drug abuse. The drug rehabilitation can be provided in various types which are in-patient (residential) program, out-patient programs, support groups, care centers etc. Drug rehabilitation helps the individual to make their lives drug free by adapting positive changes and quit the maladaptive behavior; the patient can learn the healthy coping skills, emotion regulation, impulse control and strategies to refuse the drug intake. The time of stay for drug rehabilitation depends upon the addiction and duration of substance abused. It can vary from days to months. After the stay in drug rehabilitation centre, follow up is also necessary and important aspect of the complete treatment. The ADDAC, Baru Sahib is fully equipped to render quality service in this regard in the journey to full recovery.
