Yousuf Raza – Addiction in Youngsters
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the potential risks of drugs and their impact on the brain and body, as well as the link between drugs and mental health. They emphasize the importance of avoiding chemicals and promoting healthy lifestyles, as well as the need for research on the causes of drug use and parenting. The segment also touches on the prevalence of drug use among girls and boys, and the importance of parenting and parenting.
AI: Summary ©
Alhamdulillah.
Assalamu alaikum everyone.
Assalamu alaikum Azam.
Walaikum Assalam.
How are you?
Alhamdulillah.
How are you?
I am fine.
Who is with us today?
Today we have Dr. Athar with us.
We are talking about mental health and addiction
in youngsters.
Azam do you want to introduce Dr. Athar
for us?
So, Dr. Naveeda Athar is in the field
of mental health for the past about 30
years.
Her specialty is mental health and addiction in
youngsters, especially adolescents and also domestic abuse.
But these two topics are so big that
we cannot cover them in one time.
So, for today we will cover only one
topic and that is mental health in youngsters.
So, Dr. Naveeda Athar.
Assalamu alaikum Azam.
Walaikum Assalam.
Walaikum Assalam.
How are you?
Alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah.
And I forgot to tell you that Dr.
Naveeda has a private practice in Chicago.
And if anyone wants to contact her there,
we will provide the contact.
Yes.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Okay.
Great.
So, ma'am, let's begin with our topic
for the day.
Mental health and addiction in youngsters.
Specifically, it's a growing menace all over the
world, especially our part of the world.
Absolutely.
I totally agree that addiction…
Actually…
Right.
Right.
Right.
Right.
Right.
Right.
You're talking about drugs.
Correct?
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Right.
Shopping These 5 behaviours These are 5 behaviours
that when you engage in these behaviours the
same circuits of your brain light up releasing
dopamine When you are releasing dopamine and when
that behaviour ceases when you are not doing
that work for example, food people are addicted
to food when you are not doing that
work meaning you are not eating or using
any substance then your brain desires when your
brain wants that behaviour back then you engage
in that because our natural factory is in
the brain of dopamine when you look at
the sun this is the example I give
to everybody when you look at the sun
you smile especially here in Chicago in December
when the sun comes out wow that's great
when you look at a baby you smile
and dopamine is released now when we get
used to addicted again the word addiction has
a big taboo taboo word because we don't
use the word addiction like you said addiction
we always take it in negative connotation so
when that substance or that behaviour is not
available what happens?
depression happens correct?
when people get into depression then you desire
the same behaviour just simple thing you guys
are psychiatrists think about when you are hungry
sometimes we get angry yes because your brain
is sending the message exactly and this we
call it angry because when people get hungry
they desire food and if food is not
available so same is the matter same is
the matter with substances when we are using
those substances or when we are used to
using those substances that's where it gets out
of control and that's where we call it
addiction that's where we say I can't live
without it I cannot survive ok yes your
your your your message is that if these
substances are not in so much amount that
they interfere in your daily activities then it
will be fine so will it be also
true for the substances like cannabis, opioids alcohol
and all that See see that and that's
that's where the that's where the issue lies
because we think man's It it got a
gram cannabis a smoker lay down.
Okay.
Um, I will be fine I will be
able to go to work.
I will be able to drive the car
I will be able to do everything but
then you you develop tolerance Correct Use you
used only one we call it a joint
over here You use one joint for a
couple weeks and then that one joint will
not give you that euphoria anymore after two
weeks So then you you move to two
joints, correct?
Anything anything that we are we are having
like for instance coffee Coffee you have a
multi-billion dollar industry.
I have Up, they can't start bucks.
Keep our line.
I'll give you a thank you Why?
Because I can't live without coffee that that
is the major Slogan over here.
I need my coffee in the morning.
I don't drink coffee any At all, but
but this is these are simple substances.
I'm talking about that when you Open it
up as an egg.
I'll get a girl substance Chotima family who's
here that so it's not going to damage
Yes, initially it's not and at the same
time.
It's your substances.
Not only Affect your body He and brain
it affects everything Because here when when we
talk about treatment when we talk about addiction
treatment We look at it's I call it
trifecta Yes, bio psycho social because these are
the three factors that mingle to create treatment
So before I jump into treatment, I I
want to talk a little bit about tolerance
and I want to talk about two things
alcohol and marijuana our chemistry We know what
substances they're very very common among Youth especially
starting from 12 12 years of age and
and I was doing some research 10%
of world population is addicted So so that's
it's a big problem.
We know that but again How are we?
Doing prevention.
We are not doing any prevention We we
run two treatments After damage has been done,
correct?
Because I think and that damage that damage
does not does damage Does not just damage
your body and mind it damages everyone around
you Hmm Yes All
over developing age That that your your voice
is lagging, okay, so Gee we can hear
you fine.
I believe I believe What I'm trying to
say that research shows that Students or children
or kids or however you name them youth
when they start using especially cannabis before 17
years of age Sorry, I'm cutting you off
Cannabis, marijuana, chars Cannabis, marijuana, chars,
ganja, all these things are like this in
Urdu Can
you hear me guys?
Can you hear me?
It is lagging There is a lag in
the video You know, we will have to
pause and we will have to work with
it I don't think there's any way of
fixing it right now Okay, so we can
move on Yes So, where were we?
What were we talking about?
We were talking about Azam was asking chars,
ganja.
This is all cannabis, marijuana, weed These are
all different names Yes, exactly Cannabis is actually
a legal term here It is a medical
term But basically weed, ganja, hashish, whatever you
want to call it It is a plant,
basically It is a plant, but nowadays synthetic
marijuana has also come out And synthetic marijuana
is 60 times deadlier Than the natural plant
marijuana Right, right So, when we were talking
about tolerance There are two things I wanted
to talk about Alcohol and cannabis, marijuana, weed
Right Alcohol is a depressant Okay?
This is a proven fact But at the
same time, when a person drinks alcohol Initially,
it gives you a euphoric feeling Correct?
It tricks your mind to be happy What
happens after that?
When you are fully intoxicated You feel happy
When you start, when your What is called
intoxication Intoxication starts going down Then you enter
into depression And that's where the need, the
desire comes back To have more And when
people are going through withdrawal What is withdrawal?
Withdrawal means that I need more So when
people are desiring When your brain does not
have that substance anymore Especially alcohol So, there
can be seizures You must know that Seizure
is very very common among people Who use
a lot of alcohol Lot of alcohol means
like binge drinking Or 5 drinks in an
hour And the standard drink here is 0
.54 ounces of pure ethanol Is a standard
drink So, after that That's how we develop
tolerance Because I need more and more of
the same substance Now, when you think about
marijuana and weed That is a stimulant But,
again You understand what a stimulant is, right?
It gives you euphoria And it keeps you
high In slang terms, it is called high
So, when the person is high They are
happy, right?
On top of the world But, when marijuana
leaves your body What happens after that?
This happens every single day In my practice,
I see my students Who are sitting in
the classroom high And they are saying, I
have a card So, here it is legal
Marijuana is legal in Chicago And especially if
you have a medical card For cannabis, you
can smoke anywhere But, at the same time
We meet a lot of youngsters here Who
have brought their parents directly Their parents have
a lot of complaints About the use of
drugs or hash And their first sentence is
Doctor, there are a lot of places in
America Where this is legal It is prescribed
as a medicine So, you are telling us
that it has bad effects Marijuana
is not going to do anything for you
Then you will go for higher level drugs
Which are schedule 2, schedule 3 drugs And
people are getting From teenage to older age
Becoming adults And spending money And their precious
resources into that So, I was talking about
Marijuana use Decreases your IQ One standard deviation
After 5 years of use Because, this is
again The brain is under development Right now,
at 12 to 17 years of age And
even until late 20s The brain is developing
And when you introduce Substances that are toxins
Toxins, basically When you introduce those things That
are toxins in your body Your body reacts
And the brain is shocked The brain growth
is stunted When people are using drugs and
alcohol Right So, that is what I am
saying It is a gateway drug But at
the same time, it leads to higher level
drugs So, if you detect Marijuana use in
somebody And people here, it is a myth
That marijuana is not addictive It is very
addictive It affects your brain development Especially learning
And short term memory Meaning like long term
memory will stay intact But if you are
trying to Learn how to work the computer
Or you got a new job And you
are trying to learn the job But because
your brain has been so much damaged You
cannot learn So, short term memory is going
to be shut And if you look at
the brain scans If you look at the
brain scans of these people Who have been
using marijuana for 5 years You will literally
see holes in their brains Meaning that their
neurotic connections are not there anymore And that
is how your memory is lapsing And one
other thing I wanted to talk about alcohol
Alcohol is a depressant And it affects your
frontal lobe Frontal lobe is the thing where
we make decisions We think And when you
are under the influence You work through your
amygdala Which is animal instinct Impulse gets very
high Correct You engage in impulsive behaviours When
they are under the influence Yes, exactly Many
people My clients I am not hurting anyone
I am drinking or I am using cannabis
But actually when a person No matter what
age When they are using cannabis or alcohol
They are damaging everybody They are damaging their
relationships I talked about biopsychosocial They are damaging
their brain and their relationships And their body
That is my clients I have adult clients
and I have younger clients And they have
started using cannabis 9 years of age I
had my first drink when I was 10
years old People tell me And I just
look at them Because I can see that
That has affected their brain development And just
to name a few Learning disabilities are very
common among marijuana users Right Dr. Arthur The
correlation between marijuana And psychosis The earlier You
start using drugs The more chances Of developing
schizophrenia In later age And in some specific
individuals There are extreme psychotic episodes Related to
cannabis Exactly These are psychotic episodes Cannabis related
We need to separate Whether it is really
schizophrenia Or psychosis related to cannabis It is
like a chicken or the egg thing You
have psychosis Because of cannabis Here schizophrenia is
genetically predisposed So yes Psychosis is very common
Because it is a stimulant And people do
hallucinate That is where they are detached from
the reality So that is very true That
people can develop psychosis And it can lead
to Schizophrenic like episodes Not really schizophrenia Because
then you have to run those tests To
rule out schizophrenia Because we cannot just label
somebody With one episode of psychosis We have
to look at How long it has been
going on And is it drug induced If
it is drug induced schizophrenia Or drug induced
psychosis Then we cannot call it schizophrenia And
also bipolar like episodes That is what I
was going to add The psychotic episodes You
get to see extreme aggression Like some of
the most violent patients That I have seen
Taking up a dagger against their mother and
sister And everyone in their family Was induced
by cannabis Extreme aggression So is that aggression
While they are high or while they are
withdrawing That's a game You need to look
at both things They are aggressive when they
are under the influence Or they are aggressive
because they need it Right?
Right So we get to see both We
talked about a lot of effects And the
harmful effects We have a lot of people
Who are parents And their children Will be
in this age group in 3-4 years
So what do you have to say Because
a lot of times When we look at
our patients We have an argument That if
we tell them to stay away Then our
children Are intruding In their privacy But if
they stay away Then how do they keep
a check on their children So what are
the early signs That parents should be careful
So one thing And I am an older
woman and I have adult kids One thing
that I have noticed over the last 30
years Is that family values have been changing
Values have been changing Parents are becoming their
children's friends They are not parents anymore And
when we cross that boundary Then children take
advantage of that So parents need to be
parents Parents need to discipline properly In terms
of behaviors Because drug use is a behavior
Now when parents are not disciplining And this
is also very common That I need my
privacy Children 12 years old They want their
privacy What for?
Parents need to question that behavior Right off
the bat Because if you let it slide
There is genetic predisposition to drug use And
at the same time The research is showing
that 50% Is the genetics that takes
part In your drug use behavior And the
rest of the 50% Is environmental behavior
Because of environmental pressure So when it comes
to parents They need to do the discipline
technique properly Instead of beating We know that
in Pakistan They start beating as soon as
they wake up This is not right So
PBR is a term that we use here
Pause, Breathe, Reflect Instead of beating As soon
as you wake up This is not right
You need to pause and see What have
I done wrong as a parent As a
mother, as a father That my son is
doing it Or my daughter Because it is
equally distributed Among both genders So I cannot
advise parents But at the same time They
need to be parents They have gone beyond
parenting And because to win their child's favor
They have become their friends And with friends
Everything works Right?
Like I said When that boundary of adult
and child relationship Has been diluted Then the
child is not in control And again One
other thing I work with domestic population One
thing that I have seen When home life
is not prudent Is not good Children come
out Your base should be strong When the
base is not strong Because One need Human
need, desire is belonging I want to belong
And when you don't belong in your family
Because family is not paying attention Then I
find other resources to belong Which could be,
I can join a gang I can start
using drugs I can start using alcohol I
can start having * underage Nobody talks about
that But these behaviors are common Because there
is no peace at home There is no
peace at home 50% marriages are ending
up in divorce So Before becoming a parent
They need parent education Not when Johnny is
15 years old And he is coming home
drunk So this is something parents need to
be aware Of your whereabouts I have adult
kids but they were teenagers at one time
And back then we didn't have cell phones
We had a house phone And I would
say I need address and phone number Wherever
you are going, on the fridge And they
did And then We don't have curfew here
but I had curfew for my house And
they used to bicker about that But I
said no, this is it This is how
you are living under my roof So parents
At one place are soft and at another
place They use the stick The authoritative parents
Meaning the ones who come from Mayana Ravi
They have to advise the kids And provide
for the kids That has been eliminated from
our culture We are in the race of
the West Us Asians We are running after
the West And we have forgotten our values
Our values are lost We just wear jeans
And speak English And that's it I have
been in Pakistan for 20 years But this
is something that I hear and I see
That simplicity has been eliminated If you have
an iPhone I need an iPhone for sure
Today I am going to go buy it
Even if I have to sell myself So
that's again This topic is so broad That
you cannot just say That kids shouldn't do
drugs It starts from home It starts from
home because Parents are not paying attention Parents
are busy in their own lives One other
thing is Earlier our families were joint families
Grandparents used to look after the kids Now
everybody wants their own nuclear family Most of
the time both parents If there are both
parents They are working And when children come
home There is nobody to ask them How
was your day?
What did you do at school?
Did you eat lunch?
These are simple things But when we are
not providing these simple things Then kids are
going to drift They come, throw the bag
and leave Where did they go?
Who knows what kind of neighbor that is
And it's again Drug use Drinking weed We
think it's a bad thing It's haraam in
Islam But that leads to more complexities It's
not that it's bad in development For money
Because money is needed for weed And people
do things for money Children are doing things
That you cannot even imagine Them doing I
can't even name those things that people are
doing here And I'm pretty sure in Pakistan
too Girls and boys both are engaging in
behaviors That are forbidden in Islam And then
we sit here And we blame Afghanistan and
India To bring the drugs in our country
That's another political issue Drugs are there Drugs
have been there forever Since the dawn of
all this age Correct?
But why do we use them?
No one asks that Because death medication is
another phrase we use here When someone is
angry We drink weed It calms the anger
And when the situation at home is bad
We drink weed We drink weed with friends
Less is sick to Ganja Because that seems
to be your growing problem In Pakistan This
is the most prevalent The way you talked
The associated behaviors with drugs We also see
The groups in which there are drugs How
those groups are involved In some other crimes
You also pointed out If we talk a
little more about this The same groups They
also take the form of gangs They are
also involved in sexual crimes They are also
involved in theft Because it also starts Jointly
and gradually they become gangs Exactly If you
pick up some research That is a true
fact Actually brain chemistry changes forever When you
take one hit Do you understand hit?
Do you understand hit?
If you take one hit Your brain chemistry
changes You don't think the same way You
used to think before you drank weed And
it can lead to major problems Major major
problems And lives Lives not just Lives could
be destroyed for generations Because it also affects
sexuality It also affects your income potential It
also affects your family You know having a
family If these people are 18-19 years
old If they are addicted to cannabis marijuana
Who will marry?
And if someone is God-fearing What will
happen?
They can't provide because they are busy Spending
money I can't hear
I
can't
hear Why do you get married?
Why do you get married?
You are married right?
Yes Why do you get married?
So that I can have a family of
my own So that I can be with
somebody And again belong So I can belong
to somebody But A person, a man or
a woman Already belongs to marijuana And when
Parents force them to get married It's
unfair It's unfair to the other party Who
we are deceiving Because Because When a person
is addicted They already belong to something else
They already have their partner Marijuana or alcohol
Or other drugs They do not need another
partner And that's where I say If someone
gets married Because We are living in dark
ages If someone's behavior is bad Get them
married It's not the child's or the girl's
job It's not an education It's not tied
to someone's shoulders That's another growing problem I
haven't been to Pakistan But I have been
in touch with every possible scenario That I
see Getting married, doing drugs And not being
able to provide Because what happens When money
is invested in drugs There are fights at
home When there is a fight at home
What do you do?
You go out and smoke So this is
Sort of like a cyclical problem This is
not an ending cycle Once it starts It
takes away everything It's sort of like a
A tsunami Have you heard of it?
It is a tsunami Talking to you reminded
me Of a similar scenario An addict was
addicted to Cannabis and heroin And his family
said Get him married When his wife saw
That he belongs to cannabis He belongs to
the drug So he hugged his wife And
started doing drugs And what happened to him
But for us to treat his wife To
the level of dependence That she had developed
To the extent of her addiction That was
an incredible challenge Especially considering That in the
past 5-10 years In Pakistan Especially the
more Elitist schools Smoking, smoking cannabis Alcohol, heroin
These things are rampant Even among girls Absolutely
I totally agree That even among girls And
then you talked about The couple getting addicted
To each other That is called co-dependency
You understand co-dependency When one person is
using it The other uses it And then
think about That family where both Partners are
using Think about what is going to happen
To their children They could be born deformed
Because of alcohol use They could be born
with Low birth weight So it is happening
Among girls and boys But why is it
happening We need to know the cause of
that We can't say that because of drugs
Our children are drinking That is not the
cause Drugs are coming from Pakistan You can
go out in the streets You can buy
anything For 10-20 dollars Here it is
more expensive Do you know The fact is
It is exported from Pakistan And it goes
back When it goes to Pakistan It is
40 rupees This is a fact If you
do some research Ganja is the best made
in Pakistan Best Ganja It is from Karachi
Actually it is called Karachi The best Ganja
here is called Karachi So that is again
Why are we You are also from Karachi
Say it again I said you are also
from Karachi Yes I have lived here for
40 years Almost now But going back To
why This is a big question mark Correct
When people start using drugs When people start
drifting towards drugs We need to We need
to note that behaviour We need to look
at that Don't ignore it We need to
be On top of that behaviour Behaviour leads
to drug use And I am pretty sure
I haven't done much research On higher level
drugs in Pakistan I am pretty sure That
our population has moved from Ganja To Heroin
and Cocaine I told you You name it
You get everything It doesn't give you that
It is the gateway But somebody has to
Yes So It
has been 45 minutes now I think That
is enough for today Thank
you So much for coming here Thank you
so much Almost 9 over here No problem
I wish I could have Said more about
parenting Because what we need here Is good
parenting good parenting.
Not after math.
We are working to put out the fires,
but we don't use prevention.
Prevention should be there.
Your small children, 7, 8, 9 years old,
they need to be satisfied so that they
don't go towards that behavior.
Thank you so much Dr. Athar for coming.
We will see you again.
It's my honor that I was invited.
We will ask you to join us again.
Thank you so much.
I will do it.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
I think what we will do is, this
was a slightly different format from our previous
shows.
We went for a recording this time, which
is why we couldn't take your questions this
time around.
We would hold them for another session, right?
So, feel free.
We
will
try to answer them in the comments.
Otherwise, there's a change in the format of
our Saik Baithak that I'd like to announce.
One thing that we're going to start doing
is, we're going to give you an email
address to post your questions.
Azam and I will try to answer those
questions, as many as possible, in a separate
segment of Saik Baithak.
Apart from answering your questions, we will pick
one psychological illness and give you a small
summary that everyone should know about different psychological
illnesses.
So, we're going to start these two separate
segments in the upcoming shows from next week
onwards.
Azam, do you want to tell people how
we're going to take this drug addiction issue
forward next week?
A specially exclusive show.
What do you want to do?
It's better if you tell us.
We're a little scared to come.
Again, there are a lot of rehabs and
rehabilitation centers in Pakistan.
There are a lot of rehab centers in
every lane of the neighborhood.
The fraud that happens there, the fraud that
happens there, the money that is stolen from
the people there, the lives that are destroyed
there.
This is the flip side, the other side.
One is the business of drugs and the
other is the business of anti-drugs.
The business of getting rid of drugs and
how it is as devastating as the prevalence
of dependency itself.
So, we're going to take that up in
the next session.
How prevalent fraud is and how directly it
is related to our field.
So, we're going to take that issue up
exclusively and go into all the details of
all the crimes that take place in the
name of rehab centers.
We will also show you some fraudulent prescriptions.
What kind of fraud is this?
And if we have the opportunity, we will
enlist fraudulent institutions as well and people.
But for that, we will have to enlist
everyone.
That's going to be a challenge.
Thank you so much.
We will see all of you next week
with this topic of psychiatry slash investigative journalism.
I'm going to take that next week, Inshallah.
All right, Azam.
Allah Hafiz.
Bye-bye.
Allah Hafiz, everyone.