What Attracts Youth to Drug Addiction?

By Asmaa Abdelaty

we used to think of drug addicts as morally flawed people. It was often thought that they mixed with bad company, but may have been raised on Islamic values, or they may have grown up in broken families. In an attempt to discover the causes behind drug addiction, and what attracts young people to take drugs, and how to deal with it, I interviewed experts in the field, including Mr. Fakhr El-Deen Magdy Ahmed who has been a Substance Dependence Counselor for seven years.

Mr. Fakhr El-Deen Magdy works as a counselor and group therapist on hotlines in hospitals in Egypt for "Fighting Drug Addiction and Abuse". He is a former addict who has been in recovery for eight years. Having experienced both positions as an addict and as a therapist, his views on the subject have been rich and eye-opening.

"Homat Al-Mostaqbal" campaign began as an idea in 2004, by `Amr Khaled to tackle the problem of drug addiction. Shayma' Mahmoud, Ahmed’s wife, happened to be a member of "Homat Al-Mostaqbal". They have trained professional teams on how to raise awareness in society, and to establish drug prevention programs in schools, clubs, and universities.

As a Disease
Drug addiction is a disease that disrupts the normal function of the brain, and affects behavior. Whoever experiments with a drug is faced with its addictive nature for the first time and the chances of becoming an addict increase.
Ahmed stresses on the recent scientific discoverythat drug addiction is a progressive disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors at play. At the same time, it is preventable, and can be treated; otherwise it lasts for a lifetime. Ahmed defends this position by differentiating between addicts, and those who abuse drugs, as some people may only try the drug once, and never return to taking drugs.
Ahmed has met many addicts who grew up in very stable families like himself, and who have been successful and effective members of society. Ahmed considers that addiction does not only refer to drugs, but also to any activity like gambling, the Internet, sports, sex, television and even anger.
What's the Attraction?
Unfortunately, there are existent factors in society today that cause young people to find drug-taking attractive. Many people resort to drugs out of curiosity, while others like to feel good or in a better state than they were in.
Ahmed noted that experimental drug-taking matches the aspect of adolescent behavior that desires to try new things, take risks, or question social constraints.
“Sorry to say that drugs among adolescents is now thought to be fashionable, and a sign of "being cool!" Some drug addicts were athletes who started taking drugs through the abuse of performance-enhancing drugs, which is how I became an addict,” said Ahmed.
“Stress, disappointment, and depression are reasons to seek out drugs in order to lessen the stress, and the abuse of prescribed medication by doctors until they become addicts," noted Mahmoud
"Not to mention that drugs are becoming cheaper, more available, and easy to obtain than before," added Mahmoud.
Drug Addiction
Ahmed described how drugs infuse chemicals into the body that induce false temporary pleasurable effects so the drug abuser would feel the need to try again and again. However, the body arrives at a level of drug tolerance, making the addict in need of larger doses in order to experience a similar sensation. Over time, pleasure decreases, and the brain loses its balance of health, and that is when the addict starts abusing drugs to simply feel normal.
"The addict doesn't realize he has a problem until he reaches what he calls the bottom, whereby they abuse drugs so that they can walk, talk, work, and deal with others. Some addicts reach the state where they can not wake up and leave their bed until they get a dose that they prepared the previous night," said Ahmed.
Ahmed mentioned that the addiction leaves an addict detached from life and the people around him, and also leaves him without money, and intellectually, physically, and spiritually broken. They do not think clearly; all their previously held principles and beliefs have been destroyed.

"Usually, the addicts I deal with, when asked why they became addicts, first answer that all people are addicts," said Ahmed.
The Cure
Addiction can be cured through medication, and behavior therapy. Different types of addiction have common programs or steps to follow in the course of treatment.
Ahmed believes that stopping substance addiction has nothing to do with having a strong will and determination, since that exists even within addicts. For example, an addict might spend the whole day traveling, and taking risks, searching for a dose, and using willpower to obtain it. Addicts in recovery, however, have to embrace basic skills that empower them to refuse the addictive behavior in order to avoid relapse in the future.
Allah the Almighty says in the Qur`an:
”Verily, God does not change men's condition unless they change their inner selves." (Ar-Ra`d13: 11)
Ahmed assures that the first withdrawal phase; step 0 in the program, is the most important in the coming months of psychological therapy. Drug addicts must have an honest intention and the willingness to change. They have to make a thorough moral inventory of themselves, and accept their weaknesses, and work on them while accepting the fact that people will not easily accept ex-addicts, and alter their impression about them in just one day or night.
“Finding new healthier ways of relating to others and dealing with life is very significant to replace old sources," said Ahmed. As a counselor, Ahmed refers to the awful things addicts write about and the psychological and physical abuse they were subject to; and if they are not freed from this, and if they do not forgive themselves and those who abused them, they will go into relapse after recovery.
"Drugs help addicts to suppress innate pain, and to avoid dealing with life and its pressures, so after leaving drugs, with the least amount of pressure, the pain comes out leading to drug addiction again. That's why the recovery period is recommended to be more than one year. They experience happy and sad occasions without resorting to drugs, as occasions are very crucial in the life of a drug addict."They come out of such programs believing that life is not easy, and that it's about responsibility and adaptation. That's why recovered ex-addicts who have gone through such programs for more than one year are good candidates for co-existence, and the ability to face life’s disappointments afterwards," said Ahmed.

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Asmaa Abdelaty is an Egyptian part-time writer. She holds a bachelor degree in Computer Science and minor in Business Administration from the American University in Cairo. She works as a software engineer and team leader in an international IT company. She is interested in critical reading, writing, and research especially in Qur’anic studies, human development, social psychology, cross-cultural studies, and world history.She can be reached at youth_campaign@iolteam.com