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Sector: Alcohol Abuse
Ravindar had many hopes for his life. But unable
to control his alcohol addiction, these dreams
moved further and further away from his reach. At the age of 20, he had
his first drink, and his life would never be the
same. His own friends had shoved that first
drink in his hands. Little did they know how
this would affect him and make his life spiral
downwards.
There was not a single drop of alcohol in
Ravindar’s house. His parents worked hard to
provide a good life for their son. Ravindar too
worked hard. He would wake up early each morning
and do daily work in order to contribute to his
family’s income. He used to work as a conductor
on a truck and travel all across Himachal
Pradesh. At night, Ravindar would relax with
many of his trucker friends. When they first
offered him alcohol he refused, aware of what it
had done to some others who were around his age.
But finally he gave in to the social pressure
and had his
 first
drink of alcohol.
What started as a drink became an uncontrollable
habit. Ravindar would often drink 6-8 bottles of
alcohol a day making him unable to work or
function. He would stumble around the village
aimlessly wasting time. He rarely tried to find
work anymore and lost any motivation to progress
in his life. The whole village came to know
about his problem and shunned him because of his
behavior. In order to fund his habit, Ravindar
needed money and would try to convince employers
to hire him. But they refused knowing that he
was always under the influence of alcohol.
Nothing could stop Ravindar from drinking. Even
after he seriously injured himself while drunk,
he continued his habit. He was addicted and from
morning to night he would have a bottle by his
side. Instead of drinking the chai that his
mother affectionately made for him each morning,
he would sneak away and drink. Eventually, his
friends were disgusted by his habit and told him
to stay away from them.
Ravindar’s parents were worried about his state
and felt they had lost their son. Desperate to
change his ways they pleaded with him to stop.
But Ravindar assured them he did not have a
problem and continued drinking when he left the
house. Although the situation seemed hopeless,
there was a part of Ravindar that wanted to
return to his old life, a life where he was
respected by his parents and community. When
Ravindar’s parents showed him the damage he had
caused one night
 after
drinking heavily, he was shocked. He could not
remember anything he had done and realized for
the first time that he had no control over
himself when he drank. Ravindar knew he had to
change for the sake of his parents and for
himself. One of his neighbors, a relative of a
CORD worker, was aware of CORD’s Alcohol Abuse
Awareness Program and encouraged him to attend.
Nervous at first, Ravindar knew this was his
only way out of addiction and went to CORD. At
CORD, Dr. Kshama Metre (affectionately called
Dr. Didi), put into effect the Sinclair Method
as taught to her by her dear friend Dr. Roy
Escapa from London. In this method, an alcoholic
does not have to give up drinking. Instead, the
alcoholic takes a 50 mg tablet of Naltima
(Generic: Naltrexone Hydrochloride) before
drinking. As the person begins to drink, the
receptors on the cells are blocked and are not
as rec eptive
to the alcohol. The strong reinforcement which
the alcoholic has built after years of drinking
slowly begins to subside. Within 6-12 weeks of
using the tablet, the desire to drink is curbed.
Ravindar was desperate to try anything to give
up drinking, so he started taking Naltima after
getting a liver test at the Red Cross Society in
Dharamsala. Naltima was very effective for
Ravindar and with the support of his family and
community he completely stopped drinking alcohol
within 12 days, an unusually fast recovery.
After seeing what life was like without being a
slave to the bottle, Ravindar was determined to
never drink alcohol again.
Today Ravindar spreads his story to others
facing the addiction. He continues to be
monitored by CORD workers and frequently attends
follow-up sessions. He has been trained by CORD
as a Resource Volunteer and creates awareness
about alcohol abuse in the villages of Kangra
District. Inspired by Ravindar, many of his
friends have started coming to CORD for
treatment. Ravindar is proud of his journey to
recovery and is never ashamed to share his
story. He has taken his life back and has helped
many others do the same.
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