Brazilian psychiatrist gives course in Paris for therapists who accompany drug addicts

The idea of ​​training was born in the United States when he was doing a postgraduate course in chemical dependency at Harvard. Jaber realized that there were “counselors” (counselors), professionals who act as “lay” therapists, who did not go to university, but have a great deal of knowledge about the disease, usually because they have recovered or because they are relatives of someone who has recovered from the disease. chemical dependency.

Despite being aimed at an audience without prior training, physicians and psychologists are currently also interested in its course in Brazil.

Until 2019, training was paid and face-to-face, but with the pandemic, it started to be given at a distance, via the internet. “The course has become extremely cheap and accessible”, says the psychiatrist, who only requires a contribution from participants transferred to a project to prevent situations of risk in childhood and youth, in the community of Rocinha, in Rio de Janeiro.

“Like people with problems”

For Jaber, to help and care for a person who has an addiction, it is necessary to “like people with problems”. Since the chemical dependent tends to deny that he has a problem and project responsibility for his situation onto other people. “He says that the father, the mother, the government, someone is to blame. He has a lot of excuses,” he explains.

Then “it is necessary to be interested in interfering in the discomfort of another person, to have this desire to live to help others to improve their lives”, he continues. He explains that many of the former addicts end up becoming therapists, because those who recover from addiction and manage to abandon the use of chemical substances start to have “a certain gratitude and a desire to help”.

For the psychiatrist, this is a very important point. “Finally, the course makes up for the lack of technical knowledge for this. So, basically you combine desire with science and with that you manage to assemble a relatively cheap workforce, which is very successful in the recovery of other addicts”, he summarizes.

Jaber says that the reception of the initiative at the European Congress of Psychiatry, held in March, in Paris, was very positive. “This work, specifically, has a very large adherence, a very great interest because it makes accessible the creation of a specific workforce for a disease that is increasing worldwide, the use of chemical substances, and, consequently, chemical dependency. , which is the disease that can occur when drugs are used”, he says.

According to the psychiatrist, there are no courses like this, aimed at a non-university public, outside Brazil.

Few public initiatives for the treatment of chemical dependents

He regrets that the public sector does little for the treatment of drug addicts in Brazil. Jaber recalls that, according to a 2021 UN survey, the Covid-19 pandemic caused a significant increase in cases of people with problems related to alcohol and drug consumption in the world.

“Mpolitical changes brought different scenarios regarding this problem in our country, in such a way that there is no incentive for this type of treatment. It is possible that now this will change, but so far the scenario is not good for that”, he evaluates.

In addition to chemical dependency, he mentions electronics addiction as a new problem that has already been diagnosed. “Since January 2022, therefore, 14 months ago, electronic gaming disorder has officially been diagnosed, including in Brazil,” he says. “This disorder leads to an exponential increase in the demand for gambling, at an ever-increasing intensity and with progressive abandonment of leisure situations and academic situations in youth. Young people start abandoning other activities, giving priority to gambling”, says the psychiatrist.

“Frequently, this leads to alterations, including organic ones, such as obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, postural problems, because young people spend a lot of time in a posture that is not the most appropriate. Finally, intense psychological problems, because gambling provides strong emotions, but distances from feelings. So family relationships are very compromised”, he analyzes.

Despite the recent diagnosis of the disease, he recalls that currently the subject of young people’s addiction to games is explored by the soap opera “Travessia”, by Glória Perez, shown on Rede Globo. In the plot, young Theo, played by actor Ricardo Silva, distances himself from family and friends, due to his compulsion for electronic games.