A Study to Assess the Magnitude of the Problem of Substance Abuse in a Peripheral District Town of West Bengal

Abstract

Background: Substance abuse is a complex and multidimensional problem and this problem is not merely that of an individual and a drug or a community, but of the interaction between the triad. At the present moment, substance abuse has been showing a rising trend all over the world including India. Aims: To study the severity of substance abuse (magnitude) among the participants who attended psychiatric outpatient department for the treatment in a remote town Midnapore. Design and method: The present epidemiological survey was conducted by the Department of Psychiatry, Midnapore Medical College & Hospital, Midnapore to assess the severity of substance abuse e.g. alcohol, drug, sedative and other substances in the patients of psychiatric outpatients department. To diagnosis the severity of substance abuse, Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) score, developed by WHO, was followed. Findings: Total ninety male patients, aged 12 to 79 years, came at psychiatry outpatient department treatment for substance abuse. Among the substance abusers, 26.67% were drug addicts, 14.44% alcohol user and 51.11% tobacco user. Conclusions: The newer and greater stresses related to rapid changes in life styles may the cause of this substance abuse. Surprisingly consumption of the traditional drugs like cannabis was remarkably low as compared to alcohol and sedatives. It showed effects of urbanization and shifting from traditional way of life to modern life. This survey reflects the need to intensify efforts at the community level to provide the health education to immediate stop this situation.