The drug is not the kind of word that has an outstanding reputation of it’s own. It is mostly associated with spoiled teenagers
More about drug addiction:
1. Drug abuse or addiction is one of the most common chronic and compulsive disorders that often require formal treatment.
2. Drug abuse changes a person’s brain chemistry, and the longer one uses it, the more damage they pose for themselves.
3. There are ample rehabilitation centres in most countries now to overcome the problem of drug abuse. However, people hardly go there for treatment in most cases.
4. There are some very symptoms like isolating oneself, spending time with new friends, losing job etc.
This year 26th of June was celebrated as a day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking
Now is there any remedy that can help us to keep our youth away from this menace? Answer is ‘Yes’. Engagement in sports activities can help us to keep away youth from drug addiction. Sports are nothing but a social forum where people participate as equals and apply their minds and bodies to achieve a certain objective. Sports require a rigorous application of body and coordination with others. Sports help adolescents control their emotions, especially anger, to improve their sense of responsibility, the ability to express themselves, their self-confidence and to avoid bad habits. Parents of the new generation should encourage their children to play sports. Every family is now more conscious about the benefits of sports. Sport participation can play an important and positive role in the health and development of children and youth. One area that has recently been receiving greater attention is the role that sport participation might play in preventing drug and alcohol use among youth. Sports is one such positive reinforcement that can transform their lives by restoring healthy habits while doing away with drugs. There are certain critical behavioral aspects that make a person susceptible and, later, subservient to drugs. We call them dependencies, and they can be replaced with healthy habits just by indulging in sports. In that sense, sports is not only a significant antidote to drugs; it is also preventive. Because, to play is a great way to deal with anger, frustration, stress and other such factors that drives people to substance abuse in the first place. Sports also provides the necessary distraction and vent to stress caused by denying the drug an addict is habituated to. It therefore supplements classical pharmacological and psychotherapeutic approaches to de-addiction. Of course, there are players, some quite successful, who are found to be on drugs to enhance their performances, but that is a different matter. A performance-enhancing drug in sports is different from sports used as a potent tool to defeat drug addiction. Unlike psychopharmacologic and psychotherapeutic interventions, where the relapse rates are high, with sports as part of the intervention strategy, it is observed globally that the relapse rate is significantly reduced.
Sports is, as recent research has pointed out, an essential antidote to addiction and the best way to integrate the de-addicted into the mainstream. This is particularly true for young adults, as drug abuse makes them reclusive and incapacitates their ability to function in a social set-up involving more than two people. Research has found that sports, in young people, can lead to improved self-esteem, ability to handle stress, improved academic performance and better inter-personal relationships. Moreover, providing players with structured opportunities to develop life skills, such as communication, decision-making and anger and stress management, can enhance the preventive value of sports as a tool for drug abuse. Being a resident of Anantnag town, I have witnessed so many episodes where many youth lost their lives after getting themselves trapped in drug addiction. Drug overdose death rate has tripled across the world in last two decades. Most of the youth between the age of 18 to 25 are likely to be drug addicts. Every year hundreds of youth die due to use of drugs. In last few years I have witnessed that different organization are trying to engage youth in sports activities so as to keep them away from drugs. District Football and Cricket Associations of Anantnag are organizing tournaments and allow maximum participation of youth in these activities. Such steps are praiseworthy. Our Society must encourage all such steps and activities. We must therefore promote the slogan : Say No to ‘Drugs’ and ‘Yes’ to Life.
(The author is a teacher presently working at Govt Higher Secondary School Damhal in Anantnag district. Views are his own)
[email protected]
