Experts worry young generation wasting away in addiction

Addiction is an important and severe subject that the public ignores and is usually given attention when individuals succumb to its effects such as diseases, depression, and ultimately death.

Speaking to Nile Post, Dr Alvin Akankwatsa of Nakasero Hospital said there is an influx of drug addicts who individually don't realise they have a problem with drugs but rather associate them with everyday diseases until they are forced to seek professional help.

"A lot of times I have interacted with patients that are oblivious of their current mental state and we have to get them admitted in mental asylum centers," Dr Akankwatsa said.

Addictions start slowly and continue to feel normal until they are very tough to part with and have to be suppressed by professional mental health handlers like psychiatrists.

People get addicted to many things and however much they might sound harmless and normal, they turn out harmful and brutal in the long run.

"I started smearing the cocaine in my mouth as my friend had advised and gradually, the amounts kept increasing till I started sniffing it through my nose," says Sara (not real name), a former addict.

"The feeling was so ecstatic that I got to a point where I would forego food and buy cocaine."

Addictions especially with drugs do not just disappear or get done away with in a short while.

Victims struggle with severe side effects and cannot seem to stop the habits on their own, a reason why medical professionals have to come in and save the situation.

"I would get moments of convulsions and total blackouts whenever it would get to the time I used to have my cocaine injections. if I hadn't involved my family and a psychiatrist, I doubt I would be alive to give these confessions now," a former cocaine addict revealed.

Addicts fear coming out to seek guidance and help due to the stigma associated with drugs in society.

Different individuals and organisations have come up to sensitise the public about the dangers of addiction and offered recuperating sessions for these individuals which have been successful for some individuals.

Harmful use of alcohol, drugs, and other behaviors has devastating effects on individuals, families, and their communities and has enormous socioeconomic impacts both on the economic and global levels.