By Pupul Chatterjee
While awareness and acceptance levels of alcoholism in the society seem to be increasing, according to most help groups, youngsters are still in the denial mode. Though the number of youngsters seeking help has in creased, they don’t reach out to such groups on their own.
Today almost 50 percent of the members of the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) belong to the below-40 age group. But the glamour attached to substance abuse and addictions, changes in the lifestyle and increased income levels of youngsters are some of the common reasons for the change.
A member of AA, who has abstained from alcohol for the last 26 years, said, "About 35 years ago, most of the members used to be above 45 . But today we have a lot of people even as young as 20-25 years. While this could mean that people are opening up to help more than earlier, it could also mean that the problem of alcoholism is increasing in our society." Another member added, "I started working in a BPO when I was still in college. I started earning a lot of money.
Source:Indian Express From then on me and many other colleagues slipped into alcoholism as the amount of money we earned kind of got into our heads" For many, the idea of fun, parties automatically means uncontrolled drinking and use of substances ranging from marijuana, cocaine, LSD, brown sugar and even whiteners or cough syrups, depending upon the income level of people involved.
Disclaimer: The news story on this page is the copyright of the cited publication. This has been reproduced here for visitors to review, comment on and discuss. This is in keeping with the principle of ‘Fair dealing’ or ‘Fair use’. Visitors may click on the publication name, in the news story, to visit the original article as it appears on the publication’s website.