ADDICTION AND SOCIAL OSTRACISM

Addiction to alcohol/drugs is one of the oldest ailments known to mankind as intoxicating substances have always been around since time immemorial used for recreation, celebration, religious, ritualistic shamanic practices etc.
 There was a time when people were ostracized for being part of a particular race, caste, creed or disease across the world.
Addiction to alcohol/drugs is such a disease that the person afflicted is ostracized by immediate family apart from society at large.
A client’s daughter shared that friends were not invited home as she was ashamed of her drunken daddy. Most times the alcoholic in a blackout says and does things that he has no memory of the next day ... he realizes this by the look on his wife’s face. The addict at least has the excuse that he is under the influence of the substance. What is the excuse of the families who shout, scream and treat them as though they were lepers / untouchables?
People avoid family members of addicts as they do not want to “get involved”. There are sniggers behind their backs and bullying and insults to their faces.
Till even the first part of the 20th century those addicted to substances were relegated to “mad” houses. Today too they land up at psychiatric offices wherein they are given medication for behavioral issues resultant to substance use- further damaging the individual, as many consume both, the substance and the medication. 
Social invitations decline once an alcoholic gets repeatedly drunk and creates ruckus at functions....  the employee is sidelined for promotions and loses his job over a drinking problem.
The family hides the addiction even from doctors resulting in progression of the illness and sure death.
The person is looked upon in disgust disdain and as a discard... hastening his journey to the grave.
Do we treat someone with any other illness like this – would we treat a family member or friend who is a diabetic or hypertensive like this? Or do we look at treatment options for them? Would we not help a family who has a member suffering from any of these illnesses with knowledge of doctors we know or Treatment facilities we are aware of?
Why this ostracism? Just as anyone with any illness does not ask for it, neither is addiction a disease that is asked for- the substance controls and consumes the person afflicted... if left untreated will be 100% fatal and result in Death.. like any other systemic disease.
As a society, let us wake up to the awareness of this disease and realize there is help available… let us arm ourselves with the knowledge of the same. Treatment that is seen to work the best is Residential, Non medical, Voluntary, using Counseling and alternative healing methods like Meditation ,Yoga etc.
We at AH facilitate this process to enable the individuals afflicted /affected by Addiction to alcohol/ drugs go beyond them and towards a fulfilling life!  We have doctors who are specialized in drug & alcohol rehabilitation.
Share the solution- the problem is known to all- awareness of the solution is what is required-  be socially responsible- someone somewhere might find help and You might be instrumental in saving Lives..  AH is one of the best alcohol addiction treatment centers.

PROHIBITION

-By Dr. Sujatha Nair
Mahatma Gandhi was the primary advocate of prohibition in India considering alcohol as a social evil. Prohibition exists in Gujarat, Nagaland; parts of Manipur; and Lakshadweep.
It is not the person who controls his drinks – it is the drink that controls and consumes the person.  
Gujarat
Let us take state Gujarat as a model for the results of prohibition.
Since 1958 Gujarat has a law in force that prohibits the manufacture, storage, sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages. The only Indian state with death penalty for makers and sellers of homemade liquor where fatalities are caused. And yet there is rampant Alcoholism prevalent there.
Smuggling and illicit liquor trade flourishes. 'Folder' is the local slang for the person who provides alcohol on demand. The Union Territory of Daman that is an hour away from Gujarat has a flourishing liquor trade thanks to the tipplers from there. Liquor is smuggled in from neighbouring States, manufacture and sale of spurious liquor still goes on and so do the related deaths, the last being of 148 people in 2009 indicating that the authorities are in cahoots with the bootleggers.
All the other states with prohibition allows production of local brews and also IMFL (Indian made foreign liquor)
Kerala
Kerala is planning to implement prohibition in a phased manner, by the next decade. The liquor business forms 22 per cent of the state’s revenue. As a first step to total prohibition, the government decided to close down 730 bars out of 752.  Increase in retail prices have never been a dissuading factor for drinkers.
Is alcoholism and Kerala meant for each other? There are queues since early morning outside liquor shops that resemble the lines outside a temple. Kerala has the highest per capita consumption of alcohol in the country. The drinking age has dropped from 19 years to 13.5 years. The per capita consumption is 20l/person amongst those who drink. Today there is not a celebration there that does not begin with popping of the proverbial cork. Children are watching a generation of parents coming home drunk or getting drunk at home or drinking in the day at home/outside and growing up to think that this is “normal.”

There have been numerous talk shows on the subject with people baying for shutting down bars in villages and towns to curb the menace of alcoholism. This only reflects the abject lack of awareness amongst the people and sad to say even the medical fraternity in Kerala regarding the actual nature of the disease of addiction and myths abound.

The primary aim of prohibition has been to curb alcoholism, and this has failed miserably. There is instead increased consumption of spurious liquor, local brews, perfumes, after shaves etc. Alternate addictions set in and rise which tend to affect the health of the addict, even further.

Banning alcohol will not result in an end to alcoholism

Awareness about the nature of addiction and primarily awareness regarding the solutions to go beyond it needs to be propagated in every village, town and city.

It is very essential to treat the Addiction in the person in a residential,++ non-medical facility, as left untreated addiction is fatal .Treatment of the family becomes as essential for co-dependency as consequently it destroys families. For the same purpose the government has now established Alcohol Rehabilitation Treatment Centres all over India. Indian government has come up with Drug Addiction Treatment Center as well.

True lasting change has to happen from within outwards...never only with a change in the external milieu.