adminDr Sacrifice Chirisa Mental Health Matters
Addiction is the repeated involvement with a substance or drug/s or activity, despite the substantial harm it causes.
There are four key parts to addiction:
1. Addiction includes both substances/drugs and activities (such as sex and gambling).
2. Addiction leads to substantial harm.
3. Addiction is repeated involvement despite substantial harm.
4. Addiction continues because it was, or is, pleasurable and/or valuable.
Addiction comes with huge costs, below are some of them:
Emotional costs of addiction: living with daily feelings of fear, anger, sadness, shame, guilt, and paranoia, loss of pleasure, boredom, emotional instability, loneliness, isolation, and feelings of worthlessness. The frequency and magnitude of these negative feelings could contribute to the development of an additional mental health disorder.
Social costs of addiction: disruption or damage to important relationships; decreased ability or interest in forming meaningful connections with others, and limiting one’s social sphere.
Health costs of addiction: Poor general health; poor personal hygiene; lowered energy and endurance; diminished enjoyment of sex or sexual dysfunction, poor sleep and possible damage to the health of an unborn child (in the case of substance and drug addiction).
Intellectual costs of addiction: Loss of creative pursuits; decreased ability to solve problems plus poor memory.
Work and productivity costs of addiction: Decreased productivity in all aspects of life; missing important deadlines and failing to meet obligations, impaired ability to safely operate tools and equipment including driving and lost time due to accidents arising from being impaired e.g., falling and breaking a leg.
Financial costs of addiction: Money spent on the addiction itself; money spent in dealing with the consequences of addiction.
Legal costs of addiction: Direct legal costs due to involvement with an illegal drug or activity. Driving under the influence (DUI), bar fights, domestic violence, divorce)
Lost time due to addiction: Sacrificing time spent in meaningful, life enriching activities in order to engage in addictive behaviours. Meaningful, life-enriching activities are of two basic types:
1) Love: time spent in relationships with others, and
2) Work: time spent being productive including employment, learning.
Diminished personal integrity due to addiction: Most people have a strong sense of morality. This includes a sense of what is right and wrong; what one ought to do and not do. Addicted people gradually lose their moral compass; they begin to disrespect the rights and needs of other people. They even mistreat the people that matter to them most.
A life that is absent of meaning and purpose due to addiction: This cost is perhaps the ultimate one. For some, this loss takes the form of experiencing a separation and estrangement from God. It might be a feeling that one has disappointed God by not fulfilling God’s higher purpose. For others, it means losing the meaning and purpose of life and can lead to suicide.
The harmful costs of addiction to society: The financial cost of addiction to the citizens of Zimbabwe is huge and staggering. This includes productivity losses, education wastages, failure in school, domestic violence, and child abuse, health and crime-related costs exceed $2 billion annually.
It is time we focus our attention on drug addiction as these costs are poised to spiral out of control. Sooner rather than later, this predicament will be on your door step and by that time it might be too late.
The time to act is now; get help for you or your loved ones for any sort of addiction.
Dr Sacrifice Chirisa is a passionate mental health specialist at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, one of the country’s major referral centres.
Online Reporter