De-addiction centres the need of the hour at government hospitals

Stating that Tamil Nadu has a reasonably high consumption of alcohol, Dr Lakshmi Vijayakumar, psychiatrist, WHO consultant and founder of Sneha - a suicide prevention helpline, said, “A majority of the people who drink in the state consume hard liquor, which definitely causes a lot of problems, more so in families from the low-income strata. Alcohol addiction causes alcohol induced accidents, trauma, physical issues and mental health issues. This addiction can result in the individual becoming paranoid, and it can lead to problems such as alcoholics suspecting their spouses of infidelity.”

This not only leads to domestic violence, but can also result in suicides, she said, adding that one third of the suicides that are committed in the state are under influence of alcohol. “There is no doubt that we do require a rehabilitation centre in each institution. So far, de-addiction centres are usually supervised by the Ministry of Social Defence and not the Health Department. For the centres to function in a holistic manner, both departments should collaborate and do this,” she added.

With the minimum age of alcohol consumption having fallen from 19 to 14 years of age, psychologist P Nilam said, “We need to address the problem at the individual level, societal level and community level. The number of outlets need to be reduced, besides reducing the alcohol related violence. When a person reaches a stage wherein he becomes physically dependent, it is understood that they require rehabilitation. De-addiction counselling should therefore be available for everyone in the state, free of cost.”

Not only would the centre include individual counselling, facilities will be available for the families to be counselled too, she said, adding that as many of the existing centres are not recognised or run by trained persons, follow ups are severely lacking.

It may be noted that a few hospitals in the city have separate wards for de-addiction, namely Voluntary Health Services Hospital, the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and Institute of Mental Health and the Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital.