By Radha Basu
Senior Correspondent
radhab@sph.com.sg

 

Some live in the shadows of society, yet others in full public glare. All are tormented by the same private compulsions which make them slaves to drugs, drink, gambling or even sex.

This week’s Saturday Special Report focuses on the addiction trap -- on why people get hooked, high and lose control -- and how they can be helped.

The good news is that more are seeking help for their addictions, showing that the biggest barrier to treatment addicts face -- denial -- is slowly being broken down.

The Institute of Mental Health has seen a five-fold increase in patients at its specialist outpatient clinics treating addictions. A little more than 1,000 new patients sought help in the last financial year, compared to barely 200 in 2002.

But the numbers, say doctors, are the tip of an iceberg, given Singapore’s 4.8 million population.

By some estimates, 2.1 per cent of people here could be at risk of becoming problem gamblers. Another 1 per cent could have a drinking problem. If you consider smoking – possibly the most common addiction worldwide – about 14 per cent of folk here are affected.

Our feature, however, does not look at smoking, since we wanted to concentrate on addictive substances and behaviours that are just as or more harmful than smoking to the but usually reaps a bigger toll on families.

Over the past three weeks, I have spoken to more than 20 recovering addicts and attended around five hours worth of support group sessions. Listening to their stories left me with a few abiding impressions.

First, it is incredibly easy to get hooked. Take, for instance, the 35-year-old corporate high-flier whose professional career came crashing down because of an addiction to sex and party drugs. He says he tried Ice and Ecstacy the first time just to show his teenage girlfriend, an addict herself, how easy it would be to quit. Instead, he got into the trap he was trying to free the girl from.

Second, addiction ruins not just your life, but the lives of your loved ones as well. At the Institute of Mental Health one recent afternoon, I met a dynamic and courageous woman who juggled two jobs to support herself and her husband, while he stole her jewellery and cleaned out her bank account twice to feed his gambling addiction.

"There was no one I could confess my shame to," she said, her voice breaking. "Whenever I wanted to leave, he would beg me to stay and I felt trapped."

Finally, there is no such thing as a complete and instant recovery. Take, for instance, the septuagenarian businessman who has overcome decades-long struggles with gambling and alcohol – only to fall prey to food. Or the former drug addict who spent 20 of the past 30 years in jail and has found new meaning in life in teaching schoolchildren how not to be like him.

He has been clean for six years now, but lives in dread of falling prey to his bad old ways every minute of every day. "I know someone who went back to drugs after 30 years of being clean," he said, recounting his fear of relapse. "You can never let your guard down."

Indeed, when it comes to addictions, prevention is the only fool-proof cure.