Technology helps addicts kick drug habit
Therapy, high-tech equipment and education are at the frontline of the government’s drive to help users quit drugs for good. Zhang Yan reports.
‘Ihate drugs because they ruined my family life and deprived me of my health and freedom,” said Yang Mouxin, who is looking forward to being discharged from a drug rehabilitation center and reuniting with his family.
The 31-year-old is on the final stretch of a two-year compulsory program at the Beijing Tiantanghe Detoxification and Rehabilitation Center to wean him off methamphetamine, also known as “ice”. He is set for release in early December.
When he arrived in November 2016, Yang resisted the police officers who oversee the center, and refused to trust or cooperate with them to receive treatment.
Under the influence of drugs he quickly became emotional and frenetic, but things have changed.
“I have completely changed thanks to the officers’ patience and the education they provided. I am a new person,” he said.
“Through the treatment I have undergone in the past one and a half years, I have calmed down and feel at peace. Now, I am capable of distinguishing right from wrong.”
Yang is one of 240,000 addicts on compulsory detoxification programs in 361 rehabilitation centers administered by judicial departments across the country.
Most repeat drug offenders detained by police are required to spend a minimum of two years in these programs, according to Cao Xuejun, director-general of the Drug Rehabilitation Administration Department at the Ministry of Justice.
“While it’s easy to cure their physical addiction to drugs, it’s much more difficult for them to overcome the psychological need, which is essential if they are to completely abandon the habit,” he said.
In addition to medical and physical therapies, the department plans to expand the use of newer and updated treatments, including a virtual reality addiction assessment and correction system and transcranial magnetic stimulation technologies that can help addicts to quit drugs for good.
Mental block
Yang’s problem dates to 2004 when his mother died of cancer and his wife lost her job. He was working as a taxi driver, but he began using methamphetamine to ease the strain of the double blow.
“I bought the ‘ice’ from a former classmate in junior high school and relied on the drug to relieve stress,” he said.
In 2006, he was detained after police caught him using drugs in a hotel in Beijing, and was sentenced to 10 days’ administrative detention. As a result, he stopped using drugs.
However, he relapsed in 2007 when his wife divorced him, leaving him to care for their 12-month-old son alone.
“I felt so depressed and hopeless. I couldn’t see a way out, so I sought stimulus and solace by abusing drugs,” he said.
Between 2007 and 2013, he spent his savings of 300,000 yuan ($44,000), sold his house and borrowed money from friends as his addiction worsened.
In 2013, he was arrested for drug use again. Instead of being placed in detention, he was sentenced to three years’ community correction and his activities were closely monitored. Once again, he stopped using drugs.
However, just before the sentence was due to expire, Yang’s father was badly injured in a car accident and had to undergo surgery to treat an intracranial hemorrhage.
Yang had no money to pay the expensive medical fees, and feeling under pressure, he began using drugs again. He quickly became addicted for a third time.
“After that relapse, my physical condition became worse and worse, I had a persistent severe headache and developed heart problems and stomachaches. My eyesight deteriorated, too,” he said.
“I couldn’t support my family, so my son was sent to the local welfare institute and my elderly father was left in the hospital alone.”
When he was caught using drugs the third time, Yang was sent to the rehabilitation center. Now, after 20 months on the program, he understands his problem and is determined to stay away from drugs.
“I feel so sorry for my son and my father, who can’t care for himself and is still receiving treatment in the hospital,” he said.
“When I get out, I am determined to keep away from drugs completely. I will bring my son and father home as quickly as possible and start a new life.”
Psychological therapies
Cao, from the rehabilitation department, said the new techniques to treat repeat offenders are less reliant on the use of medication that mimics the effect of the drugs.
“Patients become physically dependent on the medication, which means they often fall into a vicious cycle because they abandon the medication and then relapse,” he said.
Moreover, relying on medication for long periods can affect health, both physical and mental, and can even lead some addicts into criminal activity, posing a serious threat to social stability, he added.
“We are applying VR and transcranial magnetic stimulation technologies — considered to be safe physical measures — to effectively evaluate addicts and help them get off drugs,” he said.
According to Zhang Lijun, deputy director of the Law and Regulation Department at the rehabilitation center, 1,000 male addicts ages 18 to 60 are currently undergoing compulsory narcotic detoxification programs at the facility.
At the start of the two-year program, most undergo two weeks of intensive detoxification.
“In the first week, addicts with obvious symptoms caused by the drugs take methadone to alleviate the withdrawal symptoms, and the dose is gradually reduced,” he said.
Li Na, director of the center’s Psychological Consultation Department, said the priority is to use “updated measures, including psychological courses and new technologies, to eradicate the mental addiction to drugs”.
Her team divides addicts into groups based on their addiction history and level of dependence and provides them with tailored psychological therapies. These include idiodynamics — which emphasizes the role of personality in choosing stimuli and governing responses — music therapy and sand play therapy, in which the placement of small figures in a sandbox is believed to reveal inner desires.
These forms of “expressive therapy” are intended to help calm the addicts, help them to control their emotions and actions, and gradually abandon drugs
“There are 40 qualified psychologists working at the center alongside 140 police officers. They offer free psychological consultations for drug users,” Li said.
In addition to psychological therapies, the addicts take classes in law and study classical Chinese culture to make them more law-abiding and teach them to be patient when dealing with people and challenging situations.
The center also requires addicts to attend physical training courses, including running and jumping exercises, along with basketball games or tai chi to improve their physical fitness.
They are also offered vocational training, such as cooking, tailoring and hairdressing skills, to facilitate a smooth return to society.
“The physical exercise fosters team spirit, boosts their sense of honor and helps to recover their cognitive ability, all of which are conducive to psychological rehabilitation,” said Xu Kaiyang, a physical exercise coach at the center.
Zhang said the center will invest more funds to purchase advanced equipment, such as virtual reality apparatus that can evaluate the level of addiction, and then adopt targeted psychological and physical approaches to assist the addicts.
According to Li, some people become so heavily addicted, both physically and psychologically, that they are unable to derive pleasure from anything but drugs.
Most of the new psychological and physical exercises are used to “cultivate the addicts’ interest in life, and provide a way of relieving pressure and anxiety that doesn’t involve drug use”, she said.
While it’s easy to cure their physical addiction to drugs, it’s much more difficult for them to overcome the psychological need ...”
Cao Xuejun, official of the Ministry of Justice
Targeted approach
Figures provided by the Ministry of Public Security show that there were 2.55 million registered drug addicts in China last year, a rise of 2 percent from 2016.
Cao said that faced with such a large number of addicts, the justice department is focusing on using both comprehensive and targeted methods to greatly improve the effectiveness and success of compulsory detoxification programs.
He added that the rehabilitation department is paying great attention to implementing a unified method of treating addiction nationwide.
This includes medical treatment, education and psychological care, rehabilitative training and diagnostic evaluation to “regulate the methods used in rehabilitation centers and establish a standardized system to test the effects of detoxification”.
Moreover, the department will focus on classifying addicts based on their history of abuse and the severity of their addiction, and use targeted measures to help them quit drugs completely, he said.