Counselling Unit of the O/o Dean, Students’ welfare, University of Hyderabad organized the online webinar talk on the topic ‘Stand-up against addictions’ by Dr Saroj Arya on 29th April 2022 from 3.00pm to 5.00pm. Dr G. Padmaja, Deputy Dean, student Welfare and Associate Professor & Head of the Centre for Health psychology welcomed everyone. Prof G.Nagaraju, Dean Students’ welfare presided over the programme and gave opening remarks. He requested Dr G. Padmaja to share the theme and objectives of the programme. He also thanked Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. R.S. Sarraju for accepting the invitation to the inauguration of the webinar discussing the seminar’s theme. Prof. RS. Sarraju then gave his wisdom on how students can be influenced when living away from home and talked about his own experience. He also indicated that by having a positive hobby or habit such as sports that an individual can get attached to, then the addictions that create long term disastrous effects though they give pleasure temporarily, can be overcome.
Dr B. Hymavathi, the University Psychological counsellor introduced Dr Saroj Arya to the audience. Dr Saroj Arya, rehabilitation and clinical psychologist, is a professor emeritus at Speaker Academy and was a retired Associate Profesor and Head at the Department of Rehabilitation Psychology at NIMH. She is a well-known name in clinical psychology and is well versed in the techniques related to psychosocial and behavioural practices when dealing with addiction. She has also been actively conducting several workshops including those on addiction.
Dr Arya’s talk focused largely on drug addiction. She started her talk by showing motivational quotes related to drugs. She also quoted, ‘you cannot change your future, but you can change your habits, and surely your habits will change your future, by APJ Abdul Kalam and talked about today’s scenario on drug addiction. She discussed the definition of drug addiction and substance use disorder and their effects on an individual. She then explained the four Cs of addiction; craving, loss of control of amount, compulsion and consequence. She emphasized that the addiction should be understood and approached holistically and reiterated that it’s not only the addict’s responsibility but the responsibility of the society to help in dealing with the problem and rehabilitation. She explained the importance of understanding the brain science behind addiction and empathizing with addicts.
Further focusing on science, she described the three major parts of the brain involved in the process of addiction. She explained the function of each part individually and how it works when the individual gets addicted. Dr Arya then showed a few slides with the content on Drug de-addiction programmes in India and how the government of India is involved. She focused on the psycho-social steps at individual, family and society level in dealing with addiction. She also pointed to how prevention is always better than dealing with the problem after the individual is already immersed in it. She emphasized the need for assertive communication and concluded by urging the youngsters to not fall into this death trap.
The question and answer section followed after the talk with counsellor M.Subhash who presented the questions posted by student community to Dr Arya. The first question was about mental health disorders like depression and anxiety because of drug addiction. The second question discussed how we could help someone through a drug addiction by just being there when they resist help. The third question revolved around the safety of psychiatric prescriptions. The last two questions focused on the importance of self-awareness and decision-making. Professor Santosh Kanade, Deputy Dean, Students’ Welfare proposed the vote of thanks and extended the gratitude to the speaker, Pro Vice Chancellor and DSW and to all the professors and students who attended the programme and all the officers and staff of the offices who stood as a support in organizing the programme.
Contributed by Aakriti Bansal, Department of Communication, UoH
Watch the full video at the link below:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=357278456363665
About University of Hyderabad
The University of Hyderabad is an institute of post-graduate teaching and research. The school was established by an act of the Parliament of India in 1974 as a Central University. Over the years, it has emerged as a top ranking institute of higher education and research in India. The university also offers courses under distance learning programs. The university is a member of the ‘Association of Indian Universities’ (AIU), the ‘Association of Commonwealth Universities’ (ACU) and ‘International Council for Distance Education’. An Academic Staff College has been functioning on the university campus since 1988 under the UGC scheme for improving the standards of teaching in colleges and universities. The college organizes orientation and refresher courses for college and university teachers.
For more information, visit: University Of Hyderabad