Hospital helps cure drug addicts, alcoholics

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.