Africa-Press – Lesotho. This is the start of a three-part series that will focus on Co-occurring Disorders. A handful of questions came up as I was preparing to discuss this topic.
When does it become an addiction? Who determines whether it is at an addiction level or not? How do addiction specialists assess co-occurring disorders? Which led to another set of questions, what is alcohol and what are substances?
A Google search generated this response; “Alcohol refers to a class of organic compounds that contain a hydroxyl (-OH) group attached to a carbon atom.
It is commonly used to describe ethanol, the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. Ethanol is produced through the fermentation of sugars by yeast or bacteria.
” Bet you never thought of alcohol like this because yikes! Who would voluntarily choose to subject their bodies to hydroxyl and fermented sugars, yeast, and bacteria? My search continued to highlight that alcoholic beverages, such as beer, wine, and spirits, contain varying amounts of ethanol.
When consumed, ethanol affects the central nervous system, resulting in effects like relaxation, decreased inhibitions, and impairment of cognitive and motor functions.
These effects can vary depending on the amount of alcohol consumed, the individual’s tolerance, and other factors. It goes without saying that alcohol affects different areas of an individual’s functioning, however I am more interested in impairment of cognitive and motor functions.
I will not dive into the effects of alcohol on the cerebral cortex, frontal lobe, brain stem, cerebellum, as well as the hippocampus. Let us pay attention to the limbic system which plays a role in regulating emotions, memory, and reward.
Alcohol can affect this area, leading to changes in mood, increased risk-taking behaviour, and the potential for alcohol addiction. There will be more of this in Part 2.
Drugs are referred to as chemical substances because they are composed of specific chemical compounds or molecules that have physiological effects on the body.
These compounds are typically developed or synthesised to have specific therapeutic or pharmacological actions. I cannot begin to fathom the many drugs that are out there, approved or not. Fact of the matter is they exist, and the younger generation have ease of access, hence we are having a serious problem.
Here is what I am hoping people understand; alcohol and chemical substances as we call them in my field of work are rewarding, they are coping strategies, they make us feel good or better about something. I recently attended a workshop on Narcan Training and the presenter said that trying something is a choice but developing an addiction is not.
Before we attempt to understand addictions and the overlap with mental health, it is equally important to talk about culture and traditions with emphasis on alcohol because it is the commonly used choice of substance.
For Basotho, alcohol is central to our celebration of anything. Be it graduation, purchase of a new car, birth of a child, moving into the newly built house, the last day of final exams, and many others.
We tend to have alcohol as number three on our shopping lists when we celebrate any success. When you look at it this way, it is quiet harmless. Until Malome Tankiso starts stripping naked at his nephew’s christening ceremony and we roll our eyes thinking it is so typical of malome to embarrass the family.
It is only when Rakhali Ntsoaki starts crying for no apparent reason that we will know she reacts in some type of way once the alcohol hits her bloodstream.
Oftentimes there will be that guy in the social circles that is notorious for consuming a bottle of Jack Daniels single barrel whiskey by himself, without Coca-Cola to dilute or dash the concentrated-ness of the alcohol in the whiskey.
Never mind that the folks down in Tennessee did not intend for a 30-year-old Mosotho male to gallop a whole bottle of the single barrel whiskey in one night at Shades and Denim that starts at 4pm and concludes at midnight.
The human body’s engineering will crash because it was not designed to break down and absorb 47% alcohol content in that one bottle. When the gentlemen in Tennessee take their single tot on a soulful summer day in a downtown bar, monn’a Mosotho takes the whole bottle because why not? YOLO, they call it, brews and doobs someone called it.
Based on the social underpinnings of ours as alcohol assumption, it becomes difficult to determine if someone is or has developed addictive behaviors.
Funnily, Mpho at age 25 can consume alcohol every weekend during the festive season, break his back raising money for drinks, wake up with puffy eyes and selatsa, yet he can easily pass as a social drinker.
Lerato on the other hand goes on a date with that guy that drives Golf-5, he introduces a white powder that she has to sniff & snuff for a good time, and alas the miracle white powder leads to Rato working trading her body for the miracle powder and we are quick to see it for what it is, addiction.
This has to do with the chemical substance and the compounds in it, the brain’s reward system wanting more, and the rest is ‘she was such a good girl.
Lawmakers know, politicians know, parents know, the school system knows, the healthcare system definitely knows, yet we are mum on this fast growing problem.
In America, there is what is called The Opioid Crisis pandemic. I will not go into how it started as a regulated and approved drug prescriptions for pain management, and it led to something that was never imagined.
If we do not act now, we are looking at the onset of a pandemic. One that we are without the resources and manpower to attempt to fight. Are we seriously going to act like, luckily it is not my child? Trust that soon it will be.
In Part 2, I will discuss the unhealthy relationship between substance use and mental health. Until Next Time! ‘Makamohelo Malimabe works as a Psychotherapist. She holds a Master’s in Counseling Psychology.
She has certifications in Global Health Delivery, Policy Development & Advocacy in Global Health, Leadership & Management in Health, as well as Fundamentals in Implementation Science.
Her views are independent and not representative of her professional roles. She is ambitious about equitable health delivery, health policy and decolonized mental health approaches.
https://www.thepost.co.ls/insight/substance-use-and-mental-disorders/
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