Tuesday, May 31, 2005

 

Where are all the young men

I had reason to visit the Mental Health Centre on Thursday night and one thing that stood out was the large number of young men in the institution.Between the prison and the Mental Health Centre over 300 young men(my estimate) who should have been making a contribution to society have all lost their way.What a sad state of affairs!

A lot of the young men at the Mental Health Centre are there because of abuse of drugs like cocaine,marijuana etc.It makes me wonder why do seemingly intelligent young men allow themselves to be reduced to this state.I look at my relative-who I went to visit at the institution and the question resonates louder in my mind.His story is the story of a love affair with alcohol whose usage got worse as life got bumpy.As if the alcohol usage was not bad enough other drugs were added to it making a bad situation even worse.

I am under no illusions about the dangers of alcohol(Kyle,are you reading?)and the havoc it wreaks on the body,and in the lives of loved ones.That does not mean I have to agree with decrimininalising marijuana.But I digress-anyway I still do not understand how his life slipped out of control so fast.But,when I think about it I realise that it was a gradual process to get to the point to where he is.There must have been signs that something was not right which would have gone unheeded.

As a person who has often been on the slippery course, I know how easy it is to put up a public face while inside there is endless turmoil.But despite the very public signs that he is not in control my relative remains adamant that he is fine.How do you help someone who is unwilling to acknowledge they have a problem? I don't know and I suppose there isn't anything you can do but be there.

Comments:
True words....heavy male bias in the Detox unit here....nuff males in dem twenties....bun herb, coke, many with psychiatric illness...nutten a gwaan for them.

Anyhow, I have seen some rehabilitate themselves. The first thing they need to do is to acknowledge that suppem is not right and that they need help, and they have to be willing to accept it, and do what they need to do to get back on track. Until then, it is almost hopeless. I hope your relative will eventually get on the pathway to recovery. Dr. D.
 
young males more suceptible because they believe that they are invincible. its like a badge of honor for a yout to be able to 'hold his liquor'and so he continues to drink more and more. same thing with the drugs, they think they juss smoking the herb for fun and suddenly blam them onto serious serious drugs or they overindulging. its real easy to binge on drugs.
 
"How do you help someone who is unwilling to acknowledge they have a problem?"

In truth, you can't. This is a personal battle. All you can do is avoid unwittingly enabling his habit.
 
You can't do it unless they want to be helped. Keep offering the help as Dorna said by not fueling the habit unknowingly.
 
Sometimes I wish that I could slap some folks I know in the head and tell them to stop drinking, stop the weed, etc; however, it's just one of those little issues that a person cannot see a problem because they're so engrossed in it, until someday when something gives...
 
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