One of the most harmful social and health crises facing the world today is the widespread epidemic of drug and alcohol abuse. Each year, millions are dragged into the mire of substance abuse, leading to illness, lost productivity, and often crime and death.
In the Caribbean alone, there are thousands of people suffer from substance dependence or abuse due to drugs, alcohol or both. Alcohol abuse, and the use of marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy and “designer drugs” (including prescription drugs), has raged through the islands. At the same time, developing nations are paying tremendous social and economic costs due to the plague of substance use and misuse.
Lots of people crave addictive agents to cope with miseries and problems, to escape boredom, or to find excitement. One of the chief causes of this growing problem is intense tension, or hyper-stress.
And it is simple to understand why. Look at the world and what do we see? Chaos! There is war, strife and violence in various parts of the world. Violence, sickness, disease, inequality, poverty, suffering, economic uncertainty, interpersonal conflicts, and the concern sense of helplessness - these infest all nations and billions of people to one degree or another.
Increasingly, people are seeking to escape the reality of these problems—and to ease the pain of continual anxiety or stress—by using potent pills, mind-altering powders or chemicals. Medical drugs and painkillers are not the solution to personal and emotional problems. Rather, they usually offer only a temporary respite from stress. If used constantly, they can lead to serious, sometimes irreparable, damage.
The fact is, we all face a certain amount of stress. The key to dealing with it is not to avoid the stress through drugs or alcohol or any other escapist device, but to tackle the stress head-on and learn how to manage our stress levels.
To do this, we need to first of all realize that not all stress is bad. Second, we need to understand that we as individuals largely determine our personal stress level by how we react to the pressures and stimuli around us. How we react is controlled by our mind and emotions. Stress and emotional stability are directly connected.
Today, an increasing number of people, young and old are turning to alcohol, tranquilizers, amphetamines and street drugs to numb the emotional fatigue or mental illness brought about by excessive anxiety and stress.
To avoid the temptation to turn to drugs or alcohol in dealing with stress, we must understand certain techniques that will help us effectively manage personal stress:
Learn to Live With Stress - We can’t possibly avoid all stress. It is a natural part of living in this 21st century. We simply need to learn how much we can handle and take steps to avoid excessive stress.
Be Positive - Establishing a right mental outlook can prevent and even alleviate certain physical maladies caused or aggravated by stress and negative thinking.
Be Realistic - We live in a negative, stress-filled world. We know we will have disappointments in life from time to time. None of us can have smooth sailing 100 percent of the time.
Some situations are beyond our control. We have to accept them. Why continue to slog away in a no-win situation? Instead, act where possible, but also realize and accept limitations when and where they exist.
Whether we like it or not, our lives are stressful. We must learn to see this in a positive light. Simply think positive! There is no need to avoid all stress in our lives. We simply need to learn how to effectively manage it—even causing it to work for us.
