Visakhapatnam: Inhalant abuse witnesses a rise among adolescents

Visakhapatnam: When Raju (name changed) inhaled a whitener as suggested by his close friend, he slipped into a trance that made him imagine himself as much stronger and bolder. By inhaling the stuff, he got addicted to the mind-altering effect it leaves on him. "You just have to rub them a bit and sniff at it. It is very cheap but leaves a good effect," the 13-year-old opens up after a lot of persuasion.

Disturbed by his father's sudden anger outbursts due to prolonged alcohol abuse, another 15-year-old boy got introduced to inhaling glue through a community network. Today, he may forget to carry a lunch box to the school but definitely not a glue bottle along with him. By inhaling the glue bottle, he says, he could forget recurring scenes of his father beating his mom that played in his mind.

From disturbed atmosphere at home to peer pressure and bottled up emotions, each has a different reason to narrate their journey towards inhalant abuse and its subsequent addiction. In what seems to be an alarming trend, experts indicate that inhalant abuse is on the rise among adolescents. What starts as an occasional exercise during initial days becomes a constant companion over a period of time. Easy accessibility and low cost make some of the adolescents fall prey to inhalant abuse.

Even as there are long-term repercussions due to prolonged inhalant abuse such as reduced lung function, liver damage, reduced kidney function, memory loss and heart damage, a majority of adolescents find it difficult to overcome addiction. "Mostly, inhalant abuse is prevalent among school and college goers. In addition to providing a conducive atmosphere at home, parents have to keep a close tab on the behavioural change of their wards. Communicating with teachers at regular intervals and tracking the behaviour of the child will help in spotting the problem in the initial stage itself," opines Uma Mahendra Raj, chief functionary of the State Level Coordinating Agency for Andhra Pradesh for National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR). Unlike those who are into substance abuse, there is no structured treatment for inhalant abuse even as some fall under the bracket of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). Experts say that those who are into inhalant abuse suffer from varied degrees of hallucinations. Besides suffering from rapid mood swings, irritability and agitation, they do develop risk taking and violent behaviour and, in some cases, criminal thoughts too. "Though there is no supportive infrastructure to treat inhalant addicts at the moment, cognitive behavioural therapy, rehabilitation, counselling, family support and rewards along with continuous monitoring mechanism play a crucial part in treating inhalant abusers. Provided, the issue they face is detected early and is followed by an appropriate treatment," suggests S Nagaraju, consultant psychiatrist, Sanjeevini, The Mind Care.