The cases of drug addiction are on the rise among the students of the colleges in lower Assam’s Goalpara district.
This was claimed by the doctors of the mental health department at Goalpara civil hospital on Tuesday in a workshop aimed to train the college teachers.
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‘Besides other drugs, the addiction to heroin injection is very much there in Goalpara. Many people don’t know that the college students in a large-scale have fallen prey to this drug,” said Dr. Upamoy Nath, senior psychiatrist and program officer of the district mental health programmes, Goalpara.
Dr. Nath added, ‘Sometimes they realize the consequences and come for treatment. Then they share their experiences of falling into the trap. First, they try one or two times with their friends but slowly it results in addiction.”
“Addiction ultimately leads to mental illnesses. This is particularly seen in the teenage group,” he further said.
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There are several government and private colleges in Goalpara town where thousands of students from the other parts of the Lower Assam districts come to study.
The growing number of cases of different types of drug addictions is certainly a cause of concern for the parents.
Tuesday’s programme was arranged under the National Mental Health Programme (NMHP) at the nursing training institute, Nayapara.
The joint director of health services, Dr. Abhijit Basu, delivered the inaugural speech and emphasized on identifying and treating the mental illness cases for the greater interest of society.
Dr. Hrisikesh Kalita, neuro-psychiatrist from the department, focused on different aspects of neuro-psychiatry including causes and ways of how to handle stress in the modern world.
Both the psychiatrists also imparted training on signs and symptoms of different mental problems – neurosis and psychosis.
Purnima Pegu, a clinical psychologist and Sk. Khurshida Ahmed, a community health officer, also spoke on the occasion.
About twenty college teachers, besides several lawyers, participated in the programme.
Eight districts of the state have already been covered under the NMHP scheme, namely Nagaon, Goalpara, Tinsukia, Darang, Nalbari, Morigaon, Karbi Along and Karimganj and all the MHP centers are located in the district civil hospitals.