Drug use, misuse or abuse is primarily due to the nature of the drug abused, the personality of the individual and the addict’s immediate environment. Drug abuse is a complex phenomenon which has various social, cultural, biological, geographical, historical and economic aspects.
The addict is initially drawn to drugs due to peer pressure. Often it is the combination of curiosity and peer pressure.
Proselytising - seeking to convert others - to the use of drugs is a very common phenomenon. Practically all addicts have influenced at least two or more people into addiction while they were on drugs.
People who are disturbed or those having an identity crisis are more susceptible to peer pressure.
Easy availability is one of the main contributory factors to the problem of drug abuse. In all major cities drugs are freely available at almost every street corner. While availability does not explain why drugs are abused, it is very evident that the upsurge of drug addicts is due to the easy accessibility of the drugs.
Organizations and activists working in the slums attribute the widespread increase in heroin addiction among slum dwellers to reasons other than easy availability. A slum unit comprises of two or more families which together can provide for it’s members no more than a square meal a day. Heroin cuts down two basic human drives - the sex drive and hunger.
Parental neglect, over protection or an ambivalent attitude are definitely contributory. The personality is more responsible than family disharmony.
Genetic predisposition.
• Exposure and Influence of mass media.
How to Identify Drug Addicts:
Nine out of ten addicts when questioned about their addiction will deny it. However, there are several early warning signs that may serve as pointers. One should not jump to conclusions if merely a few of these are noticed in the suspected user. The final confirmation should be left to a Doctor or a qualified therapist.
Pointers:
On waking up, the addict rushes to the bathroom. Unlike normal people, the addict spends longer periods of time. This may extend to well over an hour. While `tripping’ the addict is disoriented in time.
Despite taking such long periods of time in the bathroom, the drug addict abhors cleanliness. He may not bathe for weeks.
Often addicts go ostensibly for early morning walks to procure the drug and return home ‘high’.
It is also possible to detect withdrawal symptoms when the addict wakes up in the morning. In the case of severe heroin addiction, this usually manifests in a running nose and eyes, restlessness, yawning, coughing, sneezing, gooseflesh, fever, chills, cramps in the abdomen, back and calf muscles, muscular twitching, aching joints, loose motions, vomiting and mental confusion.
Eating habits serve as useful indicators. The addict generally has a poor appetite. It is easy for parents to notice that their child is eating less or losing weight fast. On an average, the addict loses 10 kilos by the time he completes one year of addiction. There are also changes in the addict’s food preferences. There is a sudden craving for sweet dishes.
The addict’s sleep pattern becomes owlish. The addict stays awake during the night. In the later stages of addiction, the addict does not seem to sleep at all.
Addicts from major cities tend to emulate the Western drug culture. A sudden love for rock music and outlandish fashions- headbands, earrings, spiked hairdos, tattoos, body piercing etc- new set of friends whose lifestyle he or she begins to adopt.
On the home front , the addict shies away from any interaction which does not have a monetary or selfish benefit. The addict stays away from get togethers and will attend only if there is some material gain.
In later stages of addiction, friends are also discarded. The addict becomes a loner and withdraws from all social interactions. The addict may only go out of the house to ‘score’ the drug. As dependency on the drug increases, the addict goes through severe physical, mental and spiritual deterioration.
To support the habit, the addict resorts to sell off personal possessions and household articles. To begin with, personal belongings are disposed off. Soon the addict graduates to petty theft and makes it a way of life.
Compulsive lying is perhaps the hallmark of an addict. Along with this is manipulative behaviour and constant justifications with rationalization.
Certain drugs initially triggered off sexual promiscuity. However, after a month or two, the sex drive wanes. Patients then complain of impotency.
There are other tell tale signs. If the addict is allowed to smoke normal cigarettes in the house, the contents of the ashtray will be very different from the non- addict’s. There will be loose and unburnt tobacco. This is because a little tobacco is removed from the cigarette to mix and add drugs.
If the addict is chasing the drug, one can notice matchsticks much more in proportion to the cigarette butts. The match sticks will be burnt to the end. If the drug is smoked in cigarettes, then one finds that the cigarette is smoked down to the filter.
There may be more direct evidence in the form of a ‘pudi or a vial or a plastic packet containing a chalky brown or white powder. Or, one may find on the addict a stained foil , a stained coin, a ‘toker/pipe’ and a candle.
If the addict is a ‘mainliner’ (intravenous user) then needle marks or abscesses will be seen on the forearms usually below the elbow joint. In hard core users, pin pricks or abscesses can even be seen on their legs. The mainliner’s paraphernalia will include a spoon, a candle, a lime, a needle (often rusty and infected) and a syringe.
The other marks seen on the addicts body are scratch marks, usually on the face, arms and legs. This is due to the Histamine released. In later stages of addiction, skin infections are common. The addict has what can be described as a ‘zombie’ look. When observed closely, tightening of the skin of the face is noticeable. The eyes will be glassy and there will be dark circles under them and the eyelids are usually droopy, and the mouth partially open.
The addict’s mood will fluctuate frequently. From calm when he is high, to restless when deprived of his drug. Chances are that he or she will either be depressed or very happy. Anti-authority behaviour or socially deviant behaviour is usually displayed.
Addicts are known to neglect their studies, or if they are employed, their work. One sure method of identifying an addict is by observing the pupils. In bright light the pupil constricts, and in the dark it dilates. This is because the pupils regulate the light that strikes the retinas. In the heroin user however, the pupils become pin point, (very small) and during the addict’s withdrawals, they dilate.
So, pinpoint pupils in the dark or at night is an almost conclusive sign of heroin addiction. Similarly, dilated pupils in broad daylight is also proof of heroin withdrawal.
In the case of cocaine, the addict will have dilated pupils and will appear disoriented in time and space. He will appear fully alert, and perceptive. There may be a slight increase in body temperature.
Please note the pupils are subject to change in other diseases too and the final diagnosis should be only made by your family Doctor or therapist.
Dangers of Drug Abuse:
• Interferes with immediate memory
• Impairment of intellectual tasks, driving skills and is a major cause of erratic driving.
• Acute anxiety and panic.
• Drug induced psychosis, paranoid delusions and hallucinations.
• Long term use of drugs show impairment of intellectual functioning.
• Abuse of certain drugs decreases the weight of the sexual organs like testes and ovaries, and alters the composition of hormones concerned with reproduction.
• Long term drug abuse can cause brain atrophy.
• Drug abuse can lead to liver damage.
• Drug Abuse can lead to genetic defects by interfering with the production of chromosomes.
• A typical ‘Joint’ has a much greater lung cancer causing capacity than an ordinary cigarette.
• Drug use during pregnancy has adverse effects on the growing foetus.
• A drug user’s heart works harder and faster than that of a non-user.
• Prolonged drug abusers may develop suicidal tendencies, and permanent psychotic behaviour..
• Erratic blood pressure
• Heart attacks
• Brain damage
• Arrythymias (abnormal heart rhythms)
• Anorexia, bulimia, hypertension, nausea
• General impairment and deterioration of physical and mental faculties.
• Increased susceptibility to malnutrition and pneumonia.
• Paranoia
• Irregular respiration
• Vitamin and mineral deficiency.
• Vertigo, mental confusion
• Death from overdose.
• Large doses of prescribed medication may lead to death due to the paralysis of the respiratory muscles.
• Mixing of sedatives/tranquilizers/pain killers and alcohol causes the marked depression of the central nervous system. This can also result in death due to accidental overdose.
For any query on Drug Abuse, please contact: Dr Yusuf Merchant on 9821884813. |
