CHENNAI: When he woke up one day, Samson* felt that irresistible urge to reach out to his drug. He knew the feeling, this was not new. But this was not a normal urge that a teenager without a perspective about life would feel. Samson is 52, long past his youthful days. And the craving he felt was for a drug that he had given up 19 long years ago.
Addiction is a hellhole from which escape is not just hard, but long drawn. It is a quicksand, getting trapped in the spiral to the bottom happens instantly. Crawling out of it, as one recovering addict puts it, is a continuous battle that one has to fight, for life.
In an addict’s world, reality has little currency. Not that they are unaware, but his allegiance to the poison of choice becomes more important than all other considerations - health, family or even life.
“I knew drugs were draining my energy, making me unproductive and sick; it was taking me to the jail,” recalls Samson. He was perfectly aware of what was happening. “But still I did not know how to stop my addiction,” says Samson, sharing his experience with fellow recovering addicts during the 25th anniversary of Narcotics Anonymous, a peer group that helps deal with the demons.
This peer group method is perhaps slower than the de-addiction clinics and rehabilitation centres. There are hundreds of such clinics and centres that have mushroomed in the recent past. But are these really helping addicts for permanent recovery? The members of Narcotics Anonymous do not agree, because addiction is wired in the brain; it cannot be removed by a temporary process.
“By confining an addict to a room and putting him or her on medication will not help. Because for an addict, medicines are just another form of drugs; they end up getting addicted,” says Samson.
Peer groups work differently. There in the group, sitting around the person who is striving hard to come out of the grips of addiction, are people who know what it takes to make the transition. They share the struggles they had to face. Listening to the experience of the senior addicts on how they worked to remain on the path of recovery gives them the most crucial boost - confidence. It assures them that there is someone to listen to what they are going through, and that helps.
“Because addiction cannot be dealt alone. One need community to assure that he or she is not alone, even when their own families disown them,” says Ranjit*, another member of the group. This kinship is what Narcotics Anonymous provide.
However, the groups, the peers, the support group all come later. For every addict, that moment of clarity that leads to efforts to wean himself away from the drug is different. “For me, the story of realisation started with my fear of death,” notes Ranjit, who made that call nearly two decades ago.
“I did not realise the seriousness of my addiction. But once I started losing the strength of my body and developed liver problem, anxiety set in. That was when the fear of death struck me. But by then, I had lost everything - my family, my health and my money. My father did not want me at home, but was sending money for my treatment. After losing everything, I realised that I should stop this drug,” says Ranjit.
“If I want to stop the drug, today is the day. It does not matter how long I had used it,” the group observes.
The story is the same for all addictions. “I was an alcoholic and a chain smoker. As my addictions were gradually ruining my health, my mother, wife and others who cared about me asked me to come out of it. But I was adamant. Things went out of control. But one day I realised that I was sacrificing all happiness in life. That was when I wanted to quit,” explains Sanjeev*, another member of the group, who counts the empathy of the peers as the factor that helped him tide over the addiction.
There is an important lesson to be learnt from Samson’s experience: anyone can give up the drug temporarily, but giving up permanently is difficult. Even after years of recovery, they may experience wavering of emotions while fighting this war against drugs - within ones head. Any addict wanting to turn a new leaf should make himself understand that this is what drug does to an addict. There perhaps is no better message for campaigns against drugs.
(*Names changed to protect identity)