Children’s Day Special

Children’s Day celebrations are on with full fervour and passion with distribution of cards, gifts, sweets, chocolates and much more, either as a small token from teachers, from parents or exchange of gifts among kids. The day is purely dedicated to children and the fact that our beloved Chacha Nehru was born on this day and is remembered for his love and dedication towards children’s issues. Today we dedicate our special story to children and touch a dreadful issue affecting our kids. Keekli Reporter, Ashima Sharma, interviewed Dr Ramesh Kumar, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, on use and abuse of drugs and how children and teenagers are affected in today’s world and the necessary steps to be taken to totally eradicate drugs use. 

Keekli: In simple terms what is DRUG ABUSE or who are DRUG ADDICTS?

Dr Ramesh Kumar: Dependency on drugs is a condition when a child prioritises drugs over any other activity in life. His/her life entirely revolves around drugs and becomes a habit.  It is characterized by an overwhelming desire to continue taking a drug to which one has become habituated through repeated consumption because it produces a particular effect, usually an alteration of mental status. Dependency is usually accompanied by a compulsion to obtain the drug, a tendency to increase the dose, a psychological or physical dependence, and detrimental consequences for the individual and society.

Keekli: What factors affect a person who is likely to engage in drug use or become an addict?
Dr Ramesh: Curiosity and “because others are doing it”. In this respect, adolescents are particularly vulnerable because of the strong influence of peer pressure. Teens are more likely to engage in risky or daring behaviours to impress their friends and express their independence from parental and social rules.

Keekli: Can one become addicted to a drug if just taken once?
Dr Ramesh: No single factor can predict whether or not a person will become addicted to drugs. Risk for addiction is influenced by a person’s biology, social environment, and age or stage of development. The more risk factors an individual has, the greater the chance that taking drugs can lead to addiction. Some high end drugs like heroine and brown sugar have more abuse potential. But to conclude I would like to say yes there are very high chances of a child getting dependent on drugs as this path is like a slippery road, there is surely no way back.

Keekli: You must have come across many cases of drug abuse. What are the major reasons for school students to get involved with drugs?
Dr Ramesh: Most of the cases I have come across, it is due to the same reason as I have mentioned above: Curiosity and an urge to get accepted in a group of friends who are into drugs.

Keekli: What kind of councelling should school or parents adopt to alleviate this problem?
Dr Ramesh: Parents and schools should learn to accept the problem first. It is a very important factor when it comes to treating a drug dependent child. He/she should not be treated like an untouchable as there is a possibility of treatment. Understanding is a very important part of the treatment and helps in a big way to cure an addict.

Keekli: What are the signs of addiction?
Dr Ramesh: Problems at school like frequently missing school, a sudden disinterest in school activities or a drop in grades or work performance. Physical health issues like lack of energy and motivation. Neglected appearance like lack of interest in clothing, grooming or looks, changes in behaviour, being secretive about where he or she goes with friends or drastic changes in behaviour and in relationships with family and friends. Sudden requests for money without any reasonable explanation. Physical changes like sudden change in body language, being lazy, sedated red eyes, falling ill time and again without any particular reason are a few very vital signs. Parents should take immediate action by consulting a counsellor, if they witness these signs in their children.

Keekli:  Students who have already turned into addicts, how do they deal with the temptation to use drugs?
Dr Ramesh: It is very difficult for the students who have already become dependent on drugs to overcome it solely on their own. They need support of their parents to overcome this problem. By keeping regular checks and visiting a counsellor after regular intervals can help a child overcome the problem.

Keekli: Rising stress is also seen as a major cause for drug use. What are your views on this and how should it be dealt with? 
Dr Ramesh: In my experience, by studying different cases that I have come across in Shimla, there are very few who have got used to drugs because of stress, it is usually due to easy availability of drugs everywhere and curiosity to experiment by looking at others.

Keekli: What problems can overdosing of drugs lead to, which the youth are unaware of?
Dr Ramesh: Overdosing of drug can lead to sudden death and especially in case of inhaling chemicals like thinner and fevibonds as the person inhaling does not really know when to stop. We have seen many emergency cases of teenagers who were brought in dreadful condition due to overdosing of such inhalants.

Keekli: What are the simple ways through which parents can find out if their son/ daughter has a drug problem?
Dr Ramesh: Like I said before some simple ways to find out are sudden change in the behaviour of the child and puffiness and redness in eyes. There are even blood and urine tests available as an option to detect drugs in a child’s body.

Keekli:  How can parents help their child if he or she is addicted to drugs? What measures have you adopted to educate the parents about drug abuse and especially how to take care of their kids?
Dr Ramesh: You can start by bringing your child to a counsellor who can screen for signs of drug use and other related health conditions. We usually tell the parents to keep a check on their children’s day to day activities but without being too strict. It is the duty of the parents to take some time out for their children and talk to them, this makes it easier for a child to share his problems with them.

Keekli: How many parents voluntarily help in treating their wards? Do they understand what all methods are to be adopted and how are they supposed to be implemented? Can you quote few examples?
Dr Ramesh:  There are many parents who come here with their wards. Each drug user has to be treated differently, a universal treatment cannot be given to all the drug users. For a few, regular counselling sessions make a difference, for others their will power is enough and in some cases parents take up the responsibility and make their child overcome this dreadful habit.

Keekli: How can one avoid drugs staying among drug addicts?
Dr Ramesh: It is very important for teenagers to learn how to say no and when to say it. Usually students get carried by thinking that experimenting once with drugs won’t do any harm, but it is a doorway to becoming a regular user. So breaking this myth among youth, I would like to say that ‘taking drug just once’, is just a justification that the teenagers try to give themselves for using drugs.

Keekli: Teenagers of Shimla believe Marijuana is a natural substance so it can’t be harmful. It is less harmful than tobacco or alcohol? Your views.
Dr Ramesh: This is another myth believed by the youngsters or I should say justification for using drugs. Herbal drugs like cannabis, mostly used by youth of the city because of easy availability, has the capability to completely damage a child’s brain. A very common psychological disorder that can be seen in 90 per cent of the cases is Psychosis, in which the drug user loses contact with the real world. Hallucinations, delusions and sleep deprivation, are common symptoms of this disorder. It is very difficult to overcome this disorder as it grows with time. I would like to give a message to the youngsters that if not stopped in time, it can lead to Schizophrenia, which is a lifelong disease.

Keekli: Does doing one abusive item (like cigarettes or alcohol) lead to abuse of other drugs?
Dr Ramesh: It is like a vicious circle. Cigarettes and alcohol is a gateway to using other drugs. When intoxicated by alcohol, a person becomes liberal to take other drugs as well.

Keekli: How do drug tests work? What drug testing methods are available currently in Shimla?
Dr Ramesh: There are two types of drug tests available in Shimla — urine and blood tests which can detect the presence of the drugs in the body within three days of consumption.

Keekli:  Do you think drug tests should be conducted in schools in order to reduce the drug abuse among the youth?
Dr Ramesh: Following the example of the schools in foreign countries, schools can conduct drug tests on students but keeping in mind that confidentiality and acceptance. As it is a very sensitive matter the results should be highly confidential and must be shared only with the parents. Instead of treating the drug user as an outsider, the school should play a vital part by helping him recover.

Keekli:  Are there effective treatments for drug addiction? PLEASE ELABORATE.
Dr Ramesh: There is not a uniform way of treating drug users as each one is different from the other. There is psychological therapy given by the psychology department, in which the patient regularly visits the OPD for medication and counselling. Then there is family group therapy in which a major part is played by the family and also provides love and support a child which helps him to recover faster. For complicated cases we have the De-addiction Centre in the hospital in which the drug user is kept under strict vigilance of the doctors.

Keekli: What all initiatives has your department adopted to treat drug addicts?
Dr Ramesh: Being psychiatrists we try to understand the psychological state of a person who is dependent on drugs, which make it a little easier to treat the patient. As drug taking is not completely a physical disease, it needs a lot of research in each case and understanding of human in order to make the drug user overcome the problem.