Sometimes realizations of reality in a foreign country hit you a few days late. This is not such a bad thing. It gives your perspective and allows you to make changes and considerations without the hassle of Thai manners and gives you the break you need to not offend people. For example, after talking with the psychiatric nurse last week I realized that these people fully FULLY believe that if we start a sports program for these yabba (meth) addicted kids they will willingly put the yabba down and play sports.
Now, I realize many of you aren’t completely aware of my past but speaking from some serious experience I can tell you that no kid addicted to yabba is going to give two shits about a soccer game. The last thing you want when swallowing uppers is to play in sports or be social on that kind of level. But that is the thinking of people in this corner of the world- when they see addiction… they believe that if they offer something super cool to teenagers the teenagers won’t want the drugs anymore. I’ve tried explaining this isn’t how it will work. Or that the kids that will come will either come high or won’t be addicts to begin with (which is fine but then we’re not really addressing the problem). It goes unheeded or they tell me “we have to start somewhere”. I suppose there is an element of truth to this… we do have to start somewhere but if we’re laying a foundation on sand instead of solid ground there’s no point in starting.
Second reality, there is an adjudicated program that many of these teens who have been caught on or using yabba must go to. This program consists of meeting with the psychiatric nurse once a week (twice a week for the “bad” kids) to “check in”. There MIGHT be some therapy offered (she wasn’t specific to who gets the therapy, who the kids are talking to or if it seems to be helping) and some of the “bad ones” even get family therapy (but again she wasn’t specific to the fact of who these “bad ones” are or if the family actually participates). There are a lot of holes and I’m still not sure if these holes are coming from the language gap or if the nurse is being typical thai by attempting to “save face” and not admit the problem is as bad as it is… probably a bit of both. The reality, that these kids get little or no emotional support and their real problems behind the drug use go unaddressed, is a real one.
Third reality, I asked the nurse how often these kids get drug tested. The kids, being caught with highly addictive substances and made to go to a program so that they stop using drugs, you’d think they’d be tested for said drugs. Reality? They are not. The kids are not drug tested once. NOT once. Its not in the budget. Which means that a large majority of kids in this government program are still actively using (I’m sure a few stop using after being caught and arrested) amphetamines under the noses of their parents and their local government. And for the few who stop using yabba, alcohol becomes a quick and socially acceptable substitute. The community either ignores the fact that they haven’t stopped, are in denial or simply ignorant to the real problem.
Fourth reality, I discussed 12-step groups with the nurse and asked her point blank what she thought about them and if they could be applied to the kids in this area. In one short sentence she wrote the program off as a western ideal that could never work for a culture that didn’t like to talk about its problems. This, of course, doesn’t mean it we won’t do it (people have been wrong before) but it was a depressing thought that the ONLY psychiatric nurse for over 20,000 people wrote of 12-step programs a long time ago. They are western and unproven in this area. Reality is that all we need is one Thai person. Just one. One thai who is willing to share themselves with a 12 step program who is unafraid of the incredible stigma and is willing to lead by example. I suppose more will be revealed.
Creating an evolution in culture is about as hard as creating an evolution in the gene pool. It seems and often feels as if I’m pushing against an impenetrable wall. How does one explain the nature of addiction to a people who have swept alcohol addiction under the rug for generations? How do we create change? Answer: slowly. Incredibly slowly. So, onward I go. Pushing forward ever slowly.
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