How big is problem?
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During the project participants have defined the problem the following way:
Addiction is a mental disorder that characterizes the person’s dependence towards something, which leads to an excessive behavior and losing control over the mind and the body.
It’s the point when you start needing rather than wanting.
Addictions to substances
General Description
Those are the addictions, caused by in-taking different substances, whether orally, by inhaling or through injections. The main difference from behavioral addictions is that the body of the addicted person gets addicted together with the mind. This is why treatment of those addiction might require serious medical help for both extremely strong periods of withdrawn and supportive therapy that might sometimes take years.
Smoking
It is the burning and inhalation of tobacco, tobacco based cigarettes, cigars or marijuana characterized by bad smell, brown decayed teeth, stress and insomnia.
Alcoholism
It is a primary chronic disease with genetic, psycho-social and environmental factors influencing its development that is characterized by heavy alcohol use with an inability to control it, the need for more and more alcohol to achieve satisfaction, potential morbidity and withdrawal symptoms such as insomnia, anxiety, confusion.
Risks
General
- premature death
- stress
- insomnia and other sleeping disorders
- anxiety
- confusion
- cancer
- depression
Smoking
Smokers have an increased risk for developing diseases such as bronchitis, asthma, persistent coughing, cancers (mouth, throat, bladder, pancreatic, skin, lung, cervical, blood / leukemia), heart diseases, raised blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, cardiovascular disease, increased cholesterol, constricted vessels), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, type 2 diabetes, developing cataract.
Reproductive system: infertility; women who smoke during pregnancy have more still births, miscarriages, premature deliveries.
Appearance-related issues: wrinkled skin, smelly hair, unhealthy teeth (periodontosis), yellow fingers, fungal nail infections, hair loss.
Alcohol
Cancer (mouth, throat, lungs, liver, breast, esophagus, colon), cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, cardiomyopathy, bradycardia, cirrhosis (scarred liver), dementia, crucial effects on the executive functions (memory solving problems, tremor, blackouts, etc.), alcoholic nephropathy (constipation, muscle weakness, feeling of numbness, muscle cramps). Stomach irritation (gastritis, etc.), diarrhea, pancreatitis, bleeding from the stomach, diabetes, sexual dysfunction, erectile dysfunction, infertility, extreme expose to sexually transmitted diseases, thinning of bones (osteoporosis), changes in coordination, hallucinations, blurred speech.
Usual Treatment
Your will is fundamental. You make the difference!
Professional medical advice is required. Not only to fight the addiction or recovery period but also to prevent further health problems, that might be cause by being previously addicted to substances. Physiological addiction should not always be quit at once - sudden quitting might cause very stressful reaction of human body and the consequences might be tragic.
Smoking
1. Try to find a structure or organization where you can find help.
2. Consider the counselling. To quit smoking is a good thing for your health and someone can help you.
3. Talk to someone who quit smoking so that you have a good example..
4. Try to find a real reason of your addiction and fix the reason. Then an addictive replacement might become simply unnecessary.
Alcohol
Only one solution does not exist, consider these suggestions: take off every kind of alcoholic drinks you have at home; if possible, don`t go out with people who drinks a lot; doing something else, check if in your town there are activities you like; find people who could help you, sharing with a group could be useful for you. You are not alone! Remember: deciding to quit to drink alcohol means you want to better yourself. That is very important!
Such nontraditional methods as hypnotherapy, coding, anti-nicotine plaster can also be helpful.
Behavioral addictions
General Description
Those are mainly non-substance related behavioral addictions. They are not listed in any of internationally used diagnosed manual of mental disorders (e.g. DSM-IV-TR or ICD-10) but are recognized as actual addictions.
This type of addiction is characterized by using a non-substance source of stimulation and relates to people, addicted or dependent on certain experiences. Behavioral addiction can further lead to a substance addiction as well.
Gambling, video games playing, extreme sports and physical exercise, media use, eating disorders, compulsive criminal behavior, pathological working, sex addiction, excessive emotional involvement in interpersonal interactions – all these practices are recognized as psychological or behavioral addictions.
Internet Addiction
Refers to behaviors, involving excessive use of Internet and Internet caused or based technologies.
The London School of Economics (LSE) refers to five main components, characterizing Internet addiction:
• Undergoing periods of not eating or sleeping because of Internet
• Experiencing boredom when not being able to connect to Internet
• Surfing through Internet even with no particular interest
• Decreased time spent with family, friends or in social / study / working places because of the need to stay on the Internet.
• At least one unsuccessful attempt to spend less time on the internet
Psychologically vulnerable people or those who have blank sport is offline lives are those who are mostly exposed to develop this kind of addiction.
Technology Addiction
Often includes gambling, on-line or off-line gaming, television compulsion, excessive use of digital devices (such as smartphones, phones, computers / laptops, tabs, e-books, etc.).
Refers to the technology based activities, involving salience (primacy of a certain activity over others), mood modification (buzz, high, escape-feeling), tolerance (increasing amounts of a certain activity to reach satisfaction + withdrawal symptoms when the activity is omitted), conflict (interpersonal conflicts within addicted people), and relapse (tendency to go back to the activity after some periods of abstinence).
Risks
Eye problems and relative health problems, cause by unhealthy lifestyle.
• insomnia
• depression
• social withdrawal
• anxiety
• increased exposure to get a physiological addiction
• financial problems, connected with excessive use of expenditures for Internet and / or devices
• social isolation
• failures in public sectors of life (e.g. school, university, work, etc.)
• hostility and uncontrolled aggression
• anger management problems
• loss of interest in other spheres of life
Usual Treatment
You could start to ask yourself how many hours you spend on social network or with the device during the day; try to put a limit of time when you are on social networks or you use technologies; try to go out without phones or other technological objects you involve too much; if you haven`t anyone to speak to consider asking for help from a professionals.
How do we deal with addictions in our countries?
Greece
"Banning smoking in indoor areas sounds funny still. People are not convinced that it’s ok to carry your smoke out of the house, or the cafeteria to respect non-smokers.
You think you can do it just because you don’t respect law"?
Katerina, Greece
"It didn’t take me more than month to realise, that gambling in Greece is big problem. I strongly belive that here are more betting places than coffehouses. People are not aware how this can become a problem that ruins not only your life, but also those who you love".
Liva, Greece
Italy
"Italy is world renowned for its wine production, but this is not always a good thing. In Italy 30 ML (half population) drink alcohol and 500.000 are alcohol addict and many Italians start to drink at young age (around 11 y.o.). Every year Italy has 30.000 deaths related to alcohol. Not less important is the drug problem: Italy is the 2nd country in Europe for cannabis usage. Gambling is a raising addiction, with 500.000 people (usually low class income) addicted."
Matteo, Italy
Algeria
"Algeria men are big smokers, smoking prevalence was reported at 30.4% in 2016 - one of the highest in the world.
Every year more than 14,900 of Algerian people are killed by tobacco-caused diseases".
Ahmed, Algeria
"Algeria is known to be one of the most tobacco consuming countries, and it s effecting negatively on its people's health. Fortunately the government has noticed this problem and it's making some radical procedures to stop this life menacing problem! Like banning tobacco commercials and creating smoking areas".
Med, Algeria
The Netherlands
"In the Netherlands there are about 2 million people who are addicted or abuse substances. About 1.700.00 of this group are using legal substances such as alcohol, tobacco, sleeping pills or tranquillizers. Alcohol is the substance used the most. In the past 10 years various initiatives have been taken to improve access to addiction care. The Dutch healthcare provides treatments which are shown to be cost-effective and helpful".
Ziagul, The Netherlands
Tunisia
"The addiction rate in Tunisia for substances and habits keeps on rising. In fact, the economic crisis has led people to addiction as a way of escaping their realities. The most common form of addiction is alcohol as Tunisia has the highest rate of alcohol consumption in the Arab world. But, NGOs and local authorities are taken action towards finding practical solutions".
Wissal, Tunisia
"The law 52 which caused high disagreements in the Tunisian society, states that every person that gets caught with drugging substances in their system are sent to jail for a year and has to pay a fine even if they get it from inhaling only,. 56% of people who went to jail based in this law are first timers. But after months of protesting, the law changed to a more reasonable one especially that this kind of sanction exposes prisoners to criminality and even more addiction. Instead, rehabilitate centers are considered as it is a more efficient solution".
Olfa – Tunisia
Jordan
According to Jordan Times global modeled age-standardized prevalence of daily tobacco smoking in the population older than 15 years decreased from 41.2 per cent in 1980 to 31.1 per cent in 2012 for men and from 10.6 per cent to 6.2 per cent for women.
While according to Telegraph Jordan is the 8th in the list of the most-smoking countries in the world.
Am I addicted?
- You will find a short questionnaire designed for the initial self-checking below. Answer the questions to see if you are at the risk zone. Don't forget that this is just an informative test. You will still have to consult a doctor in case of any need.
- Use our tips and methods mentioned above to help you, fighting with an addiction. Whether personal or somebody else's!
Questionnaire
Are you exposed to having addictions?
(Substance: alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, etc; - any substance that becomes harmful when used regularly; Behavior: use of internet, training, practicing beauty trends, relationships, working, eating, etc- any behavior that becomes harmful when practiced regularly)
1. Do you use substances or practice behaviors to cope with unpleasant memories or feelings, to control pain or the intensity of your moods, to face situations that frighten you, or to stay focused on tasks?
2. Have you noticed a relationship between your substance use or practice of behaviors and your mental health? For example, do you get depressed/too excited when you drink?
3. Do you feel depressed or anxious when you don’t use substances or don’t practice your usual behaviors?
4. Do you have an unresolved trauma or a history of abuse that you know of?
5. Have you previously been treated for either your addiction or your mental health problem?
6. Have you tried to stop using substance or stop practicing behavior, but couldn’t?
7. Do you ever lie about how much or how often you use substances or practice behaviors?
8. Have your friends or family members expressed concern about your substance use or behaviors?
9. Do you ever feel bad, guilty, or ashamed about your use of substances or behavior practices?
10. Has your use of substances or practice of behaviors caused problems in your relationships?
11. Has your use of substances or practice of behaviors gotten you into trouble at work, school or with the law?
12. Do you often feel loss of interest in your daily activities?
13. Do you often experience feelings of helplessness and hopelessness?
14. Have you experienced huge loss of energy that lasts for a long period of time?
15. Do you experience concentration problems?
16. Do you often feel worried?
17. Do you often experience shortness of breath, dizziness, racing heart, headaches?
18. Do you often experience insomnia (difficulty to fall asleep)?
19. Do you often have unrealistic, grandiose beliefs or hopes?
20. Do you sleep less than 6 hours a day?
21. Do you always feel overenergetic?
22. Do you often experience anger or rage?
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