Hospital helps cure drug addicts, alcoholics

By Rita A. Widiadana

JAKARTA (JP): One chilly night, a rich middle-aged couple rushed their teenage son to a hospital. He was in critical condition from an overdose of narcotics.

After trying in vain to find help from several hospitals and medical centers in Jakarta, the couple finally decided to go to the Hospital of Drug Dependency on Jl. Rumah Sakit Fatmawati in Cilandak, South Jakarta.

"Doctor, please help my son. We have been rejected by many hospitals here, as they could not provide my son with any medical assistance. This hospital is our last hope," pleaded the distressed couple, who feared for the life of their dying son.

The hospital's director, Dr. Al Bachri Husin -- a psychiatrist -- assured the couple that they had come to the right place. "This is the only hospital in Indonesia which provides the appropriate physical and mental therapy and aftercare treatment programs to help drug addicts kick their dependency on drugs," the director said.

Established in l972, the hospital has so far cured 12,000 drug users and alcoholics who hail from all areas of the country. The majority of the patients are between the ages of 16 and 25.

"We want to take in more patients, but the hospital has only 20 beds and limited staff," Al Bachri explained.

In his hospital, which is open round-the-clock, drug addicts will be treated in accordance with the level of their dependencies.

Each drug has different effects on one's body. Therefore, the hospital treats drug addicts accordingly, he added.

"I am very proud of my staff, including the four volunteers. They are all dedicated people. They try to do their best to help the patients 24 hours a day," he said.

To treat drug addicts is really not an easy job. "They are physically and mentally sick. They need medical treatment as well as emotional attachment and understanding from their close relatives and society," Al Bachri said.

When a drug addict is admitted to the hospital, he or she will undergo a series of physical and mental examinations at the hospital's Drug Abuse Check-up Program. Based on these examinations, a group of doctors and psychologists will work together to set up an appropriate program for the patient.

If he or she is still in the early stages of dependency, several forms of medical and psychological treatment will be given at the hospital's clinic unit.

The neuropsychiatry evaluation unit serves those who are at a high dependency level, seriously addicted to various kinds of drugs. Drug abusers who have reached this level should be hospitalized for at least two weeks. During this period, they will receive appropriate medical treatment to eliminate the drugs' toxic effects.

When they have been rid of the toxic substances, they have to continue with a series of psychological therapies, which take about three months to complete.

Therapies

Such therapies are aimed at encouraging the patients, to arouse their self-confidence and self-esteem. "One of the reasons why people consume addictive drugs is because they lack self- esteem. Many of them suffer from serious depression," Al Bachri said.

Aside from medical and mental therapies, patients are also required to join physical exercises and other creative activities that can stabilize their mental and emotional conditions.

Al Bachri added that medical and mental therapies are not enough to cure patients from drug addiction. "Parents, families and friends must be more active and get involved in this healing process," he said.

He said many parents refuse to take part in the parenting program, which is very important in helping their children kick their dependency on drugs.

The parenting program, he said, teaches parents how to treat drug addicts during their therapies and post-medical treatment period at home.

"A person is totally rehabilitated from drug addiction if he or she can stop taking addictive drugs for five years," he said.

Al Bachri said he is very happy to work at the hospital. "Many patients have already kicked their habits, but they still come to the hospital to share their experiences with other drug abusers," he said.

The hospital's staff also fosters a close relationship with the parents of their patients. "We have a parent's association called Yayasan Ayom Putera, whose activities include discussions in which they can share their problems with friends in the same boat," he said.

All the medical treatment will be useless unless parents and other close family members give full support to the patient.

At present, the hospital receives between 10 to 20 patients per year from Jakarta and its surrounding areas. About two to three of these patients are narcotics users.

Drug addicts

Doubtless, there are many more drug addicts who need proper treatment. Official data shows that the number of drug addicts has reached 0.06 percent of the country's 197 million population.

"I am of the opinion that the decisionmakers have not yet considered drug addiction as the country's major problem. Therefore, they think it appropriate to have only one hospital for drug dependency to serve the whole country," the doctor said.

Currently, the government focuses more on campaigns against basic health problems such as fighting against polio, tuberculosis and other diseases, he said. "There is nothing wrong with such campaigns. These are good efforts towards improving people's health. However, we must be more anticipative. Drug problems exist in Indonesia and they have reached an alarming level," Al Bachri warned.

Many Indonesian youths have been familiar with various addictive drugs and alcoholic drinks since the late l960s, thanks to the strong influence of the West's Flower Generation.

In the l960s, local teenagers only knew of a small number of addictive drugs such as morphine, cannabis sativa, and other stimulants such as LSD, he said. "Now, people recognize a large number of narcotics, drugs and other stimulants," he said.

People, he said, should also realize that we are now living in the era of globalization. One could easily obtain and absorb various types of information -- including all kinds of facts about drugs -- due to the rapid progress made in communication technologies.

"If narcotics and designer drugs are easily found in Western countries, they are also available here in Jakarta and other cities," he said.

Television programs, movies, magazines and books have greatly influenced the lifestyle of local youth, the doctor added.

Thousands of teenagers have now become faithful users of various illegal drugs and alcoholic drinks. "Teenagers are prime targets of irresponsible drug sellers and traffickers because they belong to the high-risk group, who are very vulnerable to outside influences," the doctor noted.

Most teenagers first take illegal drugs because they do not want to be excluded from their peer groups. "From beginners, these teenagers may turn into serious drug addicts. This situation is horrifying. Once a teenager becomes a drug addict, he or she will do almost anything, including committing crimes, to get the drug into their bodies," he explained.

Problems

It is clear that drug addiction will create social, political and economic problems. Drug addicts will certainly have serious physical and psychological conditions.

He also said that many criminal actions, including student brawls, are mostly committed by users of illegal drugs. A large number of traffic accidents also involve drug addicts.

"I believe that the drug problem is very crucial, because it is also closely related to politics, business, collusion, corruption and crime. Many people are eager to get involved in a drug business because it is a gold mine," Al Bachri argued.

He added that people want to deal in drugs because it is a profitable business. "You can imagine how much profit drug sellers can net from their businesses if they have thousands of teenage buyers here in Indonesia," he said.

A heroin addict, for example, needs at least Rp 1.5 million (US$750) a week to buy a putauw, a pack of 10-gram heroin. An Ecstasy pill costs between Rp 50,000 ($25) and Rp 150,000 ($75). "You can calculate drug addicts' monthly expenses. Who can spend such a lot of money if they do not belong to rich families?" he said.

Teenagers coming from low-income bracket families are also targets of drug vendors. They offer cheaper stimulants and tranquilizers such as Nipam, BK pills, low-quality alcoholic drinks and even glues, which cost between Rp 2,000 ($1) and Rp 15,000 ($7).

"If these teenagers fail to get these illegal drugs, they will not hesitate to steal money and even kill their friends and families in order to get money to buy the drugs," he said.

"I have already called on people -- the decisionmakers in particular -- to pay more attention to the drug problem, because it is now getting worse and worse," he said.

The drug problem can become so complicated that it may even affect a country's development progress, as has already occurred in Colombia and Nicaragua.

Drug problems, he commented, will never end unless the authorities and society work hand in hand to eliminate them. Advanced countries like the United States and the European countries have been launching a war against illegal drugs for the last few decades. The United States, for instance, has spent millions of dollars to fight drug traffickers. Prevention and medical help have been very effective, he said.

Programs

"Indonesia has not yet started appropriate prevention and medical action to deal with drug problems. It is high time the country started such programs, because Indonesia is now regarded as a potential market in Asia on account of its strategic geographic location and its high buying power," he said.

Ideally, he said, any prevention programs should be applied to school children in the form of a drug prevention class. "All parts of society should be more alert to the danger of drugs and learn how to deal with the problem. I feel concerned because so many people, including medical persons, have very little knowledge on drug problems, let alone solve them," he said.

Having been active in drug prevention and medical treatment for more than 20 years, Al Bachri said it is very important to have a lot more hospitals for drug addicts.

In particular, he suggested that every city should have at least one hospital which specially treats drug addicts. At present, drug abusers and alcoholics from the country's 27 provinces must come to Jakarta to receive appropriate medical treatment.

If a person is addicted, he should have immediate treatment. Otherwise, he will become very sick and aggressive, and this will lead to various delinquent behaviors, he said.

"If the country has only one drug dependence hospital, how can we cope with the increasing number of drug abusers?" Al Bachri said.