Dr. Dennis Daliri, a specialist at the Presbyterian Psychiatric Hospital in Bolgatanga, cautioned against uncontrolled and unprofessional drug usage. Dr. Daliri noted that it just takes 14 days of pain medication or opioid use to develop an addiction.
According to the professional, these addictions have a debilitating influence on the victims’ lives. Dr. Daliri also reminded all that addictions that lead to mental health illnesses have no regard for anyone.
“The people who use these drugs, like pertidine and other opioids like that, you would realise most of them are actually health workers. They know what these drugs do. It is for pain relief, and at certain doses, it gives these euphoric feelings. These feelings get into them, and they want it repeated over and over. Once they realise that this is the drug that gave them this relief, they then always want to go in for it. So sometimes the mistakes come from even we the health workers who give them these drugs.”
“In fact, everything about mental health does not discriminate. That is the reality. It doesn’t know the consultant. It doesn’t know the professor or whoever you are. You can go down. Once you avail yourself, it would hit you. Interestingly, for the drugs like the opioids, the pertidine, the morphine, that group, you only need to use it for 2 weeks and you are addicted. 14 days and you are addicted, that is all you need,” he said.
He shared these health concerns when he spoke to A1 Radio’s Mark Smith on the Day Break Upper East Show recently.
“Evidence shows substance abuse is common among the youth. A lot of these youth get involved as a result of peer pressure. Some are as a result of broken homes and then there are these issues of child delinquencies. There are also many other environmental factors that cause addictions,” he said.
Dr. Daliri explained that during the discharge of his duties as a professional, he’s been told stories of how addictions or substance abuse began for many young individuals. He added that some individuals were exposed to these substances at a very young age, adding that, “some grow up to see their parents drinking. So growing up, they see alcohol as a normal part of life. They start from there, and before they realise it, they have gone overboard.”
“I have met a midwife who has actually sold a piece of land in the centre of Kumasi and a car her husband bought just to fuel her addiction,” he recounted.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
