My health is my future

As part of the All-Russian interdepartmental complex operational and preventive operation "Children of Russia 2021" at the Togliatti Academy of Management, on March 3 and 5, 2021, a meeting was held with first-year students on the topic "My health is my future."

In the preventive conversation, which was conducted by the vice-rector for educational work and inclusive education, candidate of psychological sciences Semova A.A., the following issues were considered: - what is drug addiction, the reasons leading people to the use of psychoactive substances, signs of people who use drugs, factors influence on the predisposition to this disease? And also the mechanism of this kind of addiction.

The purpose of the conversation was to form in students a conscious attitude to their health, a responsible choice for their lives, an idea of the negative impact of drugs on physical and mental health, social well-being and a willingness to abandon any form of drug use.

Drug addiction (from ancient Greek. Νάρκη - "numbness", "sleep" and μανία - "madness", "passion", "attraction") - a condition characterized by a pathological attraction to the use of drugs, accompanied by mental, and sometimes somatic disorders.

Drug addiction is a disease with biological, psychological and social origins. It is characterized by a loss of control with the help of willpower over use, their psychological state and social life.

Drug addiction, as well as addictions of other types (alcohol, tobacco, food, computer, emotional, workaholism, etc.) contributes to the fact that a person is temporarily distracted, switches from a difficult uncomfortable situation, providing himself with a discharge of energy. And it seems that the difficult situation is over and the person can continue to live in peace. But this is an illusion. The problem is not being solved. And the awareness of the problem does not happen, since addiction prevents this.

How does addiction arise? Every person is born with many neurons. From repetitive stereotyped actions, neurons line up in a certain way, and a very small number of connections are formed between them. These connections are built as we interact with the world around us, and ultimately create us as we are.

For example, a person does something from birth in the same way, in particular, he reacts in the same way to the controlling behavior of his parents. Submits and does what his parents demand of him, although he does not want to do it and resists inside. If such a situation occurs by repeated repetition, or simultaneously, but under the influence of strong emotions, then the reflex arc is formed in a certain way and a reflex is developed. In a similar situation, neurons begin to line up in the same way as in parental control. That is, the reflex arc itself forces a person to make a decision.

Such, from the point of view of physiology, explanation of the emergence of drug addiction makes it possible to understand that old neural connections are so effective that abandoning them creates a feeling in a person that there is a threat to survival. Any new nerve chains are very fragile compared to old ones. Therefore, it turns out to be surprisingly difficult to modify these formed bonds.

The students were actively involved in the consideration of issues related to the causes and factors of the formation of a predisposition to the emergence of drug addiction. Particular interest and response was aroused among students by such a factor as raising a child in a family.

When there is no support from parents in childhood, then the child begins to need approval, assessment and support from the people around him. And in this place, such a person already becomes addicted.

If in childhood the parents not only took care of the child, satisfying his physiological needs, but also oriented and took into account his spiritual needs, loved and supported the child, then he becomes strong, strong, relying on himself and receives from adults the attitude “You are strong and you will succeed! "

Interesting moments in the conversation was a practical exercise - to draw a "portrait of a drug addict." Purpose of the exercise: To help participants feel and experience the addiction situation more deeply.

The students worked in micro groups. Students did not have to represent a person in their drawing. It was necessary to express the feelings that arise in students when they remember or represent the image of a drug addict. After the work was over, the participants shared their impressions.

Then each group passed on their drawing to the other group. And another group had to change the drawing so that it was possible to understand about the patient's recovery.

During the discussion, the students noticed that when making additions to the picture, in general, its content did not change.

This allowed us to conclude that the situation will not go anywhere, will remain in our life if we do not deal with it. But when accepting the current situation, with the support of the external environment (family, support groups), a drug addict can change his life. By changing his self-knowledge of the world around him, a drug addict learns to stand on his own two feet, to take responsibility for his own processes, their self-regulation, and life result.