Substance Use Disorder: A Cultural Catastrophe

Life throws up innumerable situations, which we greet with both negative and positive emotions such as excitement, frustration, fear, happiness, anger, sadness, joy et al. All human beings are not equipped to take on changes or difficult situations in life, naturally. Out of them, many dont adapt to those situations. The result normally is those situations and accompanying stress overwhelm people. The mind-boggling changes in every sphere of lifeculture, profession, modes of transportation and rapid lifestyle changes put pressure on men to adjust with equal speed. Stress begins to wear them out and there is a loss of resiliency against adverse situations of life. Consequently, they begin to pull away from others and give in to depression. It is said that life acts and you react. Our attitude is our reaction to what life hands out to us. A significant amount of stress symptoms can be avoided or aroused by the way we relate to stressors. Stress is created by what we think rather than by what has actually happened. For instance, handling adopted children, adolescents, academic failures, retirements or sudden loss of money needs a relaxed attitude, focused will and preparedness to face the quirks of life positively. Otherwise one tends to feel stressed and reacts in anger and frustration. Children of stressed out parents are more likely to be ill equipped to handle stressors positively. They may suffer from emotional disturbances, depression, aggressive behaviour or confusion besides chances of weak physical constitutions, which again can be a source of anxiety. With a better control of attention one can feel that the world is a more congenial place to live in. A right attitude can make a resilient person out of us in the face of stressful situations. We can choose to stand aside, or to take weak and ineffective measures, or to implement robust and enduring measures to protect the health and wealth of populations.