Perceptual ineptness in relation to drug addiction

Abstract

Addiction of any kind is indeed detrimental, leading to psychological, financial, and social disorders. However, drug addiction is seen as one of the major concerns worldwide, having the most distressing consequences. This may be attributed to a number of psychosocial factors which put a person at a greater risk to develop such behavior. For some, drugs provide a kind of relief in times of distress, and for others, it increases the confidence level and improves the performance on a given task. Several studies have been carried out so far highlighting various precipitating/perpetuating factors (parental neglect, discord, peer pressure, lack of coping and resilience, and social incompetence) in maintaining such behaviors, as well as the preventive ones (authoritative parenting, extended family system, and enhanced psychological capital) to overcome this menace. What makes it more challenging is holding a fallacious belief of baking (roasting) the weed (Charas) as a skill and smoking as a means of lifting one's morale and a matter of prestige. This may be attributed to the germination of a thought of exhibiting the power of masculinity before the same or the opposite sex and thus eventually sidelines the efforts made by the stakeholders to restrict the ill effects of drug addiction on youth and on society as a whole. There is thus a pressing need to educate young minds and restructure their belief system at a very early stage of development. In that direction, all the institutions (family, school, and place of worship) must go hand in hand to ensure that youth is aware about the ill effects of such illicit behaviors, well in advance.