Nimhans holds workshop series on prevention of drug use among youth

The workshop aims to empower stakeholders to identify substance abuse among the youth

NIMHANS Centre for Well-Being (NCWB) inaugurated a workshop series on ‘Prevention of psychoactive substance use among the youth’, on Saturday. The workshop aims to empower stakeholders like college teachers, counsellors and workers with youth welfare organisations to identify substance use among the youth and help them beat the habit.

Addressing the gathering, NIMHANS director Dr Pratima Murthy emphasised that “substance use problems” among young people need to be addressed from a life skills perspective, which is the focus of this series.

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Dr Vivek Benegal, professor of Psychiatry and Officer-In-charge of Center for Addiction Medicine, said it is crucial to recognise children’s problems such as communication troubles and impulsive behavior early on to provide intervention.

In yet another session, Dr Prasanthi Nattala, additional professor of nursing and nursing consultant, Center for Addiction Medicine, spoke about how the key features of brain development during adolescence can be exploited to optimize the learning environment. “This would ensure that the impact of harmful environmental influences (e.g., drugs) is reduced, and adolescents would benefit from positive experiences that foster optimum intellectual and emotional development”, she said.