Drugs, Kashmir's other evil in troubled times
Leading psychiatrists in the Kashmir Valley are concerned over the rising cases of substance abuse, mostly the use of heroin, among the student community, compelling them to impart critical training to the teachers by means of workshops and seminars.
Psychiatrists say that on an average 4,000 addicts pay visit to Srinagar’s Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IMHANS) annually, of which about 90 per cent abuse hard drugs like heroin. The rest, mostly teenagers, abuse different solvents such as Fevicol SR, correction fluid, glue, shoe polish and weed.
Addiction, widespread among youth
People experiment with drugs, according to a health guide website, for many different reasons. Many first try drugs out of curiosity to have a good time because friends are doing it or with the objective to improve athletic performance (performance enhancing drugs) or ease another problem, such as stress, anxiety, or depression. Use may not automatically lead to abuse. Experts say that it varies from individual to individual how drug use graduates from casual to problematic.
Dr Yasir Rather, associate professor in the department of psychiatry at IMHANS, says that substance abuse in Kashmir is widespread.
“Indeed, the scenario of substance abuse is an alarming crisis here (in Kashmir). For the last two years or so we are witnessing a new trend: The addicts use hardcore heroin and brown sugar. The heroin dependence, in particular, is huge. It is lethal,” he says.
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According to Rather, roughly 30 per cent of substance abusers happen to be the students.
On its part, the Jammu and Kashmir government recently informed the High Court that nearly 3.5 lakh substance abusers require treatment in the restive region.
Consultant clinical psychologists and counsellors say that some addicts, especially in their impressionable age, think that it is pretty ‘cool’ to abuse drugs and that there perhaps are no repercussions for the same.
Zoya Mir, who is pursuing M. Phil in clinical psychology and also works as counsellor psychologist, says, “substance abuse in the Kashmir Valley has crossed our imaginations.”
“The reported cases are far less than the actual situation. Affected students instead of going for a normal activity opt for heroin for there is easy availability of money as well as drugs,” she tells The Federal, adding that “addiction is a disorder, not a fun thing.”
Substance abusers in Kashmir have no profile. The addicts are rich and poor, employed and unemployed, traumatized and resilient, educated and illiterate, rural and urban, young and old. Causes are varied. There are relationship issues, failed romantic bonds, break-ups, unemployment, acts of delusion, and the desire to impress and imitate peers already involved in drug abuse.
Doctors say that they receive patients belonging to various age groups, but usually they are between 14 and 50. Even a boy, aged 11, was treated and counselled at a drug de-addiction centre. The oldest patient admitted was a 65-year-old man from Srinagar’s downtown. He was careless with the bottle (alcoholic).
Spike in numbers
The addicts come both from affluent and underprivileged backgrounds. Not many female addicts have been admitted for treatment. But doctors say it is due to social stigma that women avoid seeking treatment for substance abuse.
Dr Mohd. Muzaffar Khan, a consultant clinical psychologist who currently supervises a drug de-addiction centre in Srinagar, says that earlier the people would first abuse cannabis or medicinal opioids and then gradually shift to harder drugs like heroin.
“But now, we see people starting with heroin abuse and gradually shifting from oral to injectable consumption. The most disturbing trend is that some youth are diagnosed with multiple abuses, predominantly heroine (poly substance),” he says.
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“The changing nature of drug abuse is worrisome as we are witnessing an increase in the use of heroin. The youth as young as 16 years of age start with the heroin abuse and rapidly shift to injectable abuse, thus making themselves vulnerable to hepatitis and HIV infections,” he says.
Dr Khan further adds that despite the increase in bed capacity at the drug de-addiction centre the waiting list keeps increasing.
According to the available data, in 2018, the highest number of patients reporting for seeking treatment at Srinagar’s drug de-addiction centre was from the summer capital. Generally, there is a perception that substance abuse is rampant in the southern part of Kashmir.
This year, till October alone, Srinagar’s drug de-addiction centre managed by Jammu and Kashmir police department received 2,521 patients in the outpatient departments (OPDs) and 276 in inpatient departments (IPDs). In 2018, there were 2,981 OPD patients and 454 IPD patients. In 2017, the number of OPD cases had shown an increase to 2,284 from 1668 in 2016 while IPD patients increased from 103 to 331.
Clearly, the data indicates a continuing increase in the number of drug addicts.
Sensitisation programmes
The rising cases of drug abuse mostly among youngsters, has prompted the government and several non-profit organisations to conduct workshops to create awareness on drug addiction among children, parents and teachers.
As part of a four-day workshop organised at Srinagar’s Child Guidance and Wellbeing Centre (CGWC), a group of 30 teachers was recently imparted specialised training with the aim to spot children at early age with substance abuse or any form of mental unrest. The CGWC is affiliated with IMHANS. The workshop concluded on December 26.
Given the nature of the crisis, the CGWC organised the training workshop on basic knowledge and counselling skills for mental health issues and substance abuse among school-going children at community general hospital unit of Sri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) hospital, Srinagar.
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The stated aim of such workshops is the capacity building to improve skill set of the school teachers and to ensure that they identify children in need of mental health care and those affected by substance abuse. And then, accordingly, offer proper counselling to those involved in substance abuse in the school setting. The organisers say it is important to sensitise the teachers about the warning signs and about the behavioural changes in the students.
Remedies
Psychiatrists say that the remedy lies at multiple levels. They say the menace of drug abuse cannot be controlled only with medication, rehab programmes, and treatment. The factors which can be helpful include the role of clergy in spreading the message about the ill-effects of substance abuse, establishment of several drug de-addiction centres and anti-drug clubs, awareness through media and civil society coalitions, group counselling sessions, seminars, pep talks, sports, anti-drug movies, and also moral education. Establishment of detoxification centres and long-term rehabilitation facilities is the need of the hour, they say.
On January 5 2019, the then State Administrative Council (SAC) had accorded sanction to the first-ever drug de-addiction policy in Jammu and Kashmir. The policy lays out an action plan for addressing the drug addiction issue in its entirety. Psychologists say the draft policy for drug de-addiction has also called for an immediate end to the isolation of patients which would prove helpful in de-stigmatising the treatment.
