12 July 2010
By Vasundhara Vyas Mehta
Ahmedabad, India
More teenagers taking to medicines, cough syrup to beat stress of results and admissions; this leads to a calamitous overdose sometimes
Soon after the board results, Rohan, who had failed, was found in an unconscious state in the hostel toilet. A classmate spotted him and the incident was reported to the principal and Rohan was rushed to a nearby hospital.
Pressure of the board exams, results and admissions has subsided. But, the number of youth who stay addicted to medicines and drugs, available across the counter, is growing alarmingly. City counsellors bear testimony to this trend.
When doctors confronted Rohan, he confessed of drinking a cough syrup whenever he was tense. "A classmate taught me this method and I am not alone in the class who does it. We were a group of five friends who would have the syrup together, but I was the only one who failed to clear the exams," Rohan said.
His father works in Dubai and the boy used to often call for money from his mother who lived in a village in Mehsana. "I first took it after the first pre–board, when I could neither sleep nor study. My friend said that I should have a few sips and I would feel better.Gradually, I increased my intake and after the results I was consuming almost eight bottles," he told a city–based psychologist.
In another case, Meet, who had undergone an orthopaedic surgery earlier this year, had got addicted to a pain–killer prescribed to him by his doctor. "His father noticed empty foils of the medicine, much more than prescription of the doctor. He also caught Meet gulping down 15 tablets daily. When I asked Meet why was he taking these medicines, he said to counter the pain," said Puja Pushkarna, a city–based psychologist.
It was later diagnosed that Meet, a good student, was stressed by the approaching board exams. Pushkarna said, "In most of such cases, the students are first introduced to the drug or medicine by a friend. They are teenagers and think it is just a medicine and not drugs. They don’t realise this can be an addiction and cause harm."
In another case, Sameer, also a good student, was stressed out following preparations for Class 12 exams and coaching for a career in chartered accountancy.
He was advised by a friend to take anti–anxiety drugs that his doctor had prescribed to him. Sameer soon got addicted to the medicine and took it whenever he felt stressed.
Just before the results, Sameer got so anxious that he gulped 60 tablets and was found in an unconscious state by his parents, who rushed him to a hospital.
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