Nepal: School Children 80% Customers of Drug?



I always thought that it is the adult people who are the main victims of drug addiction. However, it seems that I am wrong at least once. Nepalese school children have perhaps over written every rule in the book of common sense. I just read a very sad report in the Himalayan Times. I am quoting from the report: “An unsuspecting Nepal should wake up to a hard lesson — about 70 per cent of its documented drug addicts are schoolchildren, reports said quoting a social service organization. Narconon Nepal says it came across the stunning discovery that about 64 per cent of addicts are youngsters studying in Grade VII and VIII during its work with drug users in Nepal. According to Puja Kanwar, director of the Nepal chapter of the international network of drug prevention and social education rehabilitation centres, founded by a former convict and heroin addict, there are at least 150,000 addicts of whom nearly 105,000 are school students. Of these, over 80 per cent were introduced to drugs by other older or former students.” Sad statistics- very sad indeed. These days, the school children and the young generation are getting attracted towards the western culture and fashion. Unfortunately, they are getting attracted to the dirty side of the western culture more than the good side and that is why drug addiction is increasing at an alarming rate in the country. Many girls and boys are involved in a romantic relationship and when the boy or the girl comes in touch of drug the other partner is likely to follow suit. Unfortunately, families in South Asian countries like Nepal do not have a very supportive attitude towards drug addicts. Instead of ensuring proper treatment parents often try to hide this matter. For girls, it even creates more dangerous problems. Parents in Nepal are always worried to get a good husband for their daughter and that is why in many cases they try to hide the matter that the girl is addicted. This only puts the girl into more danger. Some girls have to sell their bodies just to get the money for buying drugs. I would recommend you to read the report of Himalayan Times. Drug addiction is becoming a huge threat for Nepalese economy. The addicted children pose a serious health threat for themselves and destroy social harmony. Their parents suffer from and family peace gets destroyed. The only way out is to ensure proper treatment and rehabilitation for the addicted children. Female drug users are more likely to face social stigma than their male counterparts are. They are in double jeopardy: one as a female and the other as a drug user. Smriti Rai (name changed), a former drug user, was forced out of her family after they knew she was an addict. “The family’s behaviour towards me completely changed as they started treating me as an outcast,” she said. She left her house in Nawalparasi and came to Kathmandu where she was taken to a rehab centre by her friends. “Although I am free from drugs now, I am unwilling to go home due to the stigma I might be subjected to.” Presently, she is undergoing treatment at Dristi Nepal, a rehab centre for women drug addicts. Pravas Rana, senior director of Narconon Nepal, an organisation working for rehabilitation of drug users, said, “Unlike her male counterpart, a female drug user cannot be integrated in the family and society even after rehabilitation.” Rana said these women might resort to prostitution and hence be victims of HIV/AIDS once they are rejected by the family and the society. Shanti Pradhan, another former drug user, has an equally poignant tale about how she took to drugs. Pradhan, who got into drugs through her boyfriend initially, was sexually harassed when she approached a drug peddler to get drugs on credit. “One day when I had no money to buy enough drugs, I asked the peddler to give me some on credit. He said he would give me the drugs free of cost if I accompanied him to bed,” Pradhan burst into tears. “I accepted his proposal merely for a dose of drug.” Narconon Nepal Director Puja Kanwar said female addicts are more vulnerable to social stigma also because of the traditional mindset and cultural stereotypes. “The parents don’t take their daughters even for treatment fearing that they may not be able to marry off their daughters if they are labelled as drug addicts.” Female drug users have dismal access to services due to lack of trained service providers and victim-friendly attitude, she adds. “The conventional attitude towards women must change first to ensure women a life of dignity and respect.”

Drug Abuse and Addiction

SIGNS, SYMPTOMS, AND HELP FOR DRUG PROBLEMS AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Drug Abuse and Addiction: Signs, Symptoms, Effects and Testing

Are you struggling with a drug problem that’s spiraled out of control? If so, you may feel isolated, helpless, or ashamed. Or perhaps you’re worried about a friend or family member’s drug use. In either case, you’re not alone. Addiction is a problem that many people face.

The good news is that you or your loved one can get better. There is hope—no matter how bad the substance abuse problem and no matter how powerless you feel. Learning about the nature of addiction—how it develops, what it looks like, and why it has such a powerful hold—will give you a better understanding of the problem and how to deal with it.

Understanding drug addiction

Other common addictions:

Addiction is a complex disorder characterized by compulsive drug use. People who are addicted feel an overwhelming, uncontrollable need for drugs or alcohol, even in the face of negative consequences. This self-destructive behavior can be hard to understand. Why continue doing something that’s hurting you? Why is it so hard to stop?

The answer lies in the brain. Repeated drug use alters the brain—causing long-lasting changes to the way it looks and functions. These brain changes interfere with your ability to think clearly, exercise good judgment, control your behavior, and feel normal without drugs. These changes are also responsible, in large part, for the drug cravings and compulsion to use that make addiction so powerful.

How addiction develops

The path to drug addiction starts with experimentation. You or your loved one may have tried drugs out of curiosity, because friends were doing it, or in an effort to erase another problem. At first, the substance seems to solve the problem or make life better, so you use the drug more and more.

But as the addiction progresses, getting and using the drug becomes more and more important and your ability to stop using is compromised. What begins as a voluntary choice turns into a physical and psychological need. The good news is that drug addiction is treatable. With treatment and support, you can counteract the disruptive effects of addiction and regain control of your life.

5 Myths about Drug Addiction and Substance Abuse

MYTH 1: Overcoming addiction is a simply a matter of willpower. You can stop using drugs if you really want to. Prolonged exposure to drugs alters the brain in ways that result in powerful cravings and a compulsion to use. These brain changes make it extremely difficult to quit by sheer force of will.

MYTH 2: Addiction is a disease; there’s nothing you can do about it. Most experts agree that addiction is a brain disease, but that doesn’t mean you’re a helpless victim. The brain changes associated with addiction can be treated and reversed through therapy, medication, exercise, and other treatments.

MYTH 3: Addicts have to hit rock bottom before they can get better. Recovery can begin at any point in the addiction process—and the earlier, the better. The longer drug abuse continues, the stronger the addiction becomes and the harder it is to treat. Don’t wait to intervene until the addict has lost it all.

MYTH 4: You can’t force someone into treatment; they have to want help. Treatment doesn’t have to be voluntary to be successful. People who are pressured into treatment by their family, employer, or the legal system are just as likely to benefit as those who choose to enter treatment on their own. As they sober up and their thinking clears, many formerly resistant addicts decide they want to change.

MYTH 5: Treatment didn’t work before, so there’s no point trying again; some cases are hopeless.Recovery from drug addiction is a long process that often involves setbacks. Relapse doesn’t mean that treatment has failed or that you’re a lost cause. Rather, it’s a signal to get back on track, either by going back to treatment or adjusting the treatment approach.

The far-reaching effects of drug abuse and drug addiction

While each drug of abuse produces different physical effects, all abused substances share one thing in common. They hijack the brain’s normal “reward” pathways and alter the areas of the brain responsible for self-control, judgment, emotional regulation, motivation, memory, and learning.

Whether you’re addicted to nicotine, alcohol, heroin, Xanax, speed, or Vicodin, the effect on the brain is the same: an uncontrollable craving to use that is more important than anything else, including family, friends, career, and even your own health and happiness.

Using drugs as an escape: A short-term fix with long-term consequences

Using drugs as an escape: A short-term fix with long-term consequences Many people use drugs in order to escape physical and emotional discomfort. Maybe you started drinking to numb feelings of depression, smoking pot to deal with stress at home or school, relying on cocaine to boost your energy and confidence, using sleeping pills to cope with panic attacks, or taking prescription painkillers to relieve chronic back pain.

But while drugs might make you feel better in the short-term, attempts to self-medicate ultimately backfire. Instead of treating the underlying problem, drug use simply masks the symptoms. Take the drug away and the problem is still there, whether it be low self-esteem, anxiety, loneliness, or an unhappy family life. Furthermore, prolonged drug use eventually brings its own host of problems, including major disruptions to normal, daily functioning. Unfortunately, the psychological, physical, and social consequences of drug abuse and addiction become worse than the original problem you were trying to cope with or avoid.

Why do some drug users become addicted, while others don’t?

As with many other conditions and diseases, vulnerability to addiction differs from person to person. Your genes, age when you started taking drugs, and family and social environment all play a role in addiction. Risk factors that increase your vulnerability include:

Family history of addiction
Abuse, neglect, or other traumatic experiences in childhood

Mental disorders such as depression and anxiety
Early use of drugs

Signs and symptoms of drug abuse and drug addiction

Although different drugs have different physical effects, the symptoms of addiction are the same no matter the substance. The more drugs begin to affect and control your life, the more likely it is that you’ve crossed the line from drug use to abuse and drug addiction. Unfortunately, when you’re in the middle of it, you may be in denial about the magnitude of the problem or the negative impact it's had on your life. See if you recognize yourself in the following signs and symptoms of substance abuse and addiction. If so, consider talking to someone about your drug use. You’re on a dangerous road, and the sooner you get help, the better.

Spiky Heaven,( Director and Producer, Bibek Chaulagain) is your new guide to everything you need to know about drugs. Addiction is a very serious disorder that plagues a great deal of men, women, and teens throughout the United States—and, chances are, if you have come to this website you know and care for someone who is addicted to drugs. You made the right choice in selecting this website, because we can help you find any information you need to try to understand drug addiction as well as to try to help someone battle their addiction.

Addiction goes through three different stages. The first is when a person is preoccupied with the drug. They are anticipating the taste of the alcohol or the hit of methamphetamine, for example. The second stage is when a person becomes intoxicated on the drug or high on the drug. The person is considered to be addicted if he feels the intense need to do so. The last stage is withdrawal.

The first and second stages pretty much go hand-in-hand. When a drug addict is anticipating his drug of choice he wants his drink or his hit now. He doesn’t want to wait for a few hours or until tomorrow or next week—he wants it right now. This is because his body knows what it is like to be intoxicated or high, and it craves that feeling. Too much time in-between the first and second stage can cause the third stage to happen—and no drug addict wants that to happen.

Withdrawal is probably the strongest of the three stages for most substance abusers because the fear of going through it is what keeps the abuser going back for more of the drugs. Withdrawal symptoms can be quite severe—this is the why many drug addicts have difficulty going through drug abuse treatment programs.

Drug abuse treatment programs aim to get drug abusers off of their drugs of choice, whether they are addicted to heroin, alcohol, crystal meth, or some other addictive substance. Most of these treatment centers—or detox programs, as they are also called—have specialized plans developed by doctors who are trained in substance abuse treatment. But, many drug addicts are so fearful of withdrawal symptoms, and so afraid that they will have to go off of their drug “cold turkey” that they avoid these drug abuse treatment programs altogether.

Of course, detox programs are generally not designed around a “cold turkey” approach of getting drug abusers away from their addictions. But, by the time a person is addicted to any drug, his concern is focused on his drug of choice and may not be thinking clearly—his fear may guide him to believe that other people just want to take away his drug. Or, a person may simply not understand how drug abuse treatment programs are run and may not believe that they have other methods to help abusers wean themselves from their addictions.

Drug addiction is a very serious condition, and it can affect anyone. Drug detox programs can help, but only if the addict will agree to give them a chance.

Drug Addiction?????