Stigma hinders recovery for former drug addicts<\/p>\n
Debbie A. Lubis, The Jakarta Post, Bogor, West Java<\/p>\n
A skinny teenager with hollow eyes was trying to hide his pain
\nwhen Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi visited him in the drug
\nrehabilitation ward at the Dr. Marzoeki Mahdi Hospital in Bogor
\nlast Sunday.<\/p>\n
\"I wish my addict friends could get treatment here too. There
\nare still lots out there who need help, Sir,\" he said, lying in
\nbed with an intravenous drip in his arm.<\/p>\n
He was going through the detoxification process to rid his
\nbody of the putaw (low-grade heroin) he had used for six years.<\/p>\n
For a week he went through drug withdrawal, with nausea,
\nvomiting, diarrhea, fever, insomnia, anxiety, spasms and physical
\nweakness.<\/p>\n
\"The withdrawal symptoms vary. They depend on the kinds of
\ndrugs the patient has used. But the recovery stage is the most
\ncritical period for patients after the withdrawal stage, because
\nthey tend to crave drugs,\" the director of the hospital, Amir
\nHussein Anwar, told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The hospital, previously known as the Bogor Mental Hospital,
\nhas treated 245 drug addicts, including a 40-year-old mother and
\nher nine-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n
Amir urged the public and families not to discriminate
\nagainst, stigmatize or neglect drug users, because that would
\nprevent them from dealing with their problem.<\/p>\n
\"Most drug users, especially injecting drug users, are not
\nwell-informed about hepatitis C, HIV or the mental illnesses that
\nthey are susceptible to,\" he said during a commemoration of the
\n120th anniversary of the hospital.<\/p>\n
Amir said 80 percent of drug addicts were vulnerable to
\nhepatitis C. He added that most of these could also have what was
\ncalled a \"dual diagnosis\" -- suffering from some form of mental
\nillness.<\/p>\n
\"Patients who abuse amphetamines are usually paranoid and have
\nhallucinations. But some 40 percent of the dual diagnosis
\npatients here can recover,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Amir said his hospital aimed to raise awareness about the
\nbarriers to mental health care, and also to provide solutions to
\nmental disorders by removing the myths and stigmas linked to such
\ndisorders.<\/p>\n
He said that during the recovery process, patients needed
\nencouragement from their peers and families to return to the
\noutside world.<\/p>\n
Rudolf Valentino, a peer counselor at the hospital, said it
\nwas important for the community to provide after-care support to
\nkeep recovering addicts from becoming isolated and secluded.<\/p>\n
\"We are not throwaway people like public has said. We can also
\nachieve things, just like anybody else. Especially after we have
\nrecovered,\" Rudolf, a former addict, said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/stigma-hinders-recovery-for-former-drug-addicts-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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