Manama: Many victims of domestic and sexual violence often turn to substance abuse as a form of escape, according to a leading addiction counsellor.
The trauma they face is so unbearable that they are forced to use illicit drugs such as heroin to forget the pain, consultant psychotherapist Dr Sharifa Swar told the GDN.
She said many of her patients were led to addiction by their own families.
“Most addicts in Bahrain are victims of sexual assaults by family members, including their own parents,” she explained.
“They become so outraged to an extent that they cannot bear the psychological pain it has caused them and end up using drugs in an attempt to forget what happened
to them.
“The trauma they fall into is unbearable and its symptoms include nightmares, hysterical crying and holding grudges towards those who abused them.”
The GDN spoke to several Bahraini mothers, who have been attending counselling sessions with Dr Swar to help their children overcome problems associated with addiction and undergo treatment.
One woman spoke about the struggles her 28-year-old son has been facing since he picked up the fatal habit after being sexually abused by his father.
She told the GDN on the condition of anonymity that her ex-husband, who got custody of their son, even asked him to hide narcotics in his clothes while crossing the King Fahad Causeway.
She said she felt helpless as she unsuccessfully attempted to get her son help on several occasions, but it only caused further rifts.
“He had a repulsive behaviour after living with his father – everything innocent about him changed,” she said.
“I was shocked when his father hid drugs in his pockets while travelling to Saudi, but I ignored it.
“I later found out, from my daughter, that my ex-husband sexually harassed her.
“Then the disaster happened when he raped my son and that was when I got a divorce.
“This only led to a greater disaster because he got custody of my son and he lived with him for years until he was around 20.
“He might have been sexually harassed several times after that incident too.
“He became a drug addict when he was 14 years old.
“I know that he wants to recover and that he has the will, but he can’t do it because of the environment he’s in.”
Another mother said her son became an addict after his father gave him pills for his headaches.
“His father did not know the tablets could be addictive and just gave it to him every time, thinking they can relieve his headache,” said the Bahraini woman, who wished to remain
anonymous.
“Later his friend discovered that he was addicted to those tablets and told him there were better pills he could use.
“Since then he has been addicted to different kinds of tablets that I know nothing about – it’s now been 20 years.”
Dr Swar added that it was essential for addicts on the path of recovery to address these issues with their
families.
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