Telangana: Alarming rise in drug abuse among youth

A combination of factors including disposable incomes, working parents, peer pressure and more importantly the ease of availability is driving the surge of substance abuse among adolescents between 10 years and 19 years in Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana.

Hyderabad: A combination of factors including disposable incomes, working parents, peer pressure and more importantly the ease of availability is driving the surge of substance abuse among adolescents between 10 years and 19 years in Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana.

With family members, including parents, still treating substance abuse as a taboo subject and hesitating to openly discuss its ill effects, adolescents, who already have underdeveloped brains, especially the prefrontal cortex responsible for decision-making and impulse control, are susceptible to impulsive behaviour.

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“Even today, parents hesitate to openly communicate the risks associated with drug or substance abuse with their children. Moreover, all kinds of habit-forming drugs from tobacco to marijuana are now easily accessible to adolescents, who also have the pocket money to afford them. What starts as a silly adventure becomes a lifetime of addiction and pain,” says senior psychiatrist and council member, of the Indian Psychiatric Society, Dr Vishal Akula.

The senior mental health specialist is a firm believer in engagement and spreading awareness about substance abuse not only among youngsters but even parents.“Ultimately, everybody should aim to prevent adolescents from falling into the drug abuse trap. That’s the reason why engaging with the community and spreading awareness on this important aspect is so vital. There is also a need to fight the stigma that is associated with the individuals who seek help from mental health care specialists,” says Dr Vishal.

Prevalence of substance abuse in India:

The National Survey on Extent and Pattern of Substance Abuse in India, conducted by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), has indicated that the country has 30 lakh children and adolescents (10 to 17 years) who use alcohol, 20 lakh adolescents are addicted to cannabis and 40 lahks are addicted to opioids of various kinds.

“Although the AIIMS study was taken up in 2018- 19, the study accurately provides us with an accurate estimation of substance abuse among the younger generation. The statistics clearly indicate that there is a definite need to recognise this rampant abuse as a major social evil by all,” feels Dr Vishal.