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A drug treatment program for young backpackers with psychosis due to

Cannabis use

H.Mell

Israel AntiDrug Authority

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Backpacking The post-army backpacking trip has become a significant social phenomenon in Israeli society ov er the past 20 years.

According to estimates of the Israel Anti-Drug Auth ority, the Foreign Ministry and other bodies, close to 50, 000 young Israelis go on backpacking trips each year, Around 30,000 of them go to the Far East, usually t o

India

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Backpacking & Drugs

• Studies show that there is very wide drug use among Israeli backpackers abroad (Mevorach, 1997; Simchai, 1998; Bar-Hamburger, 2004, Paz & Potasman, 2005, Mell 2011 )

• The most commonly-used drug among backpackers is Cannabis - Marijuana, Hashish, Indian Charas .

• In less common use - Mushrooms , Cacti, Ecstasy, LSD , Cocaine.

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In the internal pockets:

How do I know that my friend has mental problems?

First Aid – what can I do for him?

Telephones of agencies who can give information and help

Passport coverStarting in 2011, in medical

centers that provide vacines before travel abroad, passport covers are

distributed free

Prevention - Education and information

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Between prevention and treatmentThe Israeli Home alternative to self treatment

• The initial diagnosis of drug victims and immediate aid are very important and may significantly influence the likel ihood of deterioration or improvement in the patient’s condition and the l ikelihood of developing mental disorders in the future.

• Backpackers mentally affected by drug use are afrai d of receiving treatment in a foreign place, using public services that don’t always meet Western standards.

• Sometimes we find young people in a psychotic state who are taken care of by their friends, who hide them and don’t g uide them to the treatment needed.

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Between prevention and treatmentThe Israeli Home

The Warm Israeli Home serves as a place of meeting for backpackers and provides a range of activities and services, such as: books for borrowing, music, movies, internet, phone, and activities to prevent drug use

First aid and assistance for young people who need to be rescued and returned to Israel. So far the Home has provided a first response to hundreds of backpackers in distress .

(going down from 10-12 hard cases, to 1-3, every year)

Rescue

Case story – going to Varanasi with Magnus

To bring back home G., suffering psychosis due to massive use of Charas.

Treating with simple

common sense

IZUN (harmony) villageTreatment

was established to treat and rehabilitate young people suffering from mental health problems due to the use of hallucinatory drugs, most of them durin g backpacking tripsThe village’s therapeutic outlook means that it is not possible to adopt the approach of treatment for addiction, when the main problem here is not addiction.

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Immediacy . One of the recommendations of Kfar Izun is that treatment begins immediately upon patients’ return from abroad, and that the village is ready and equipped to recei ve patients immediately after getting off the airplane.Proximity . The villageis located on the beach and the pati ents’ rooms are similar to bungalows. In addition, the treatment staff (almost all of whom were once backpackers themselve s) makes sure to recreate some of the environments and exper iences from the trip.Expectations . Each patient is told that the crisis s/he experi enced is temporary and will pass quickly, and s/he will r eturn to normalcy after a short period (3-4 months) at the village.

Approximately 80% of those accepted to the village are treated with psychiatric medications.

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Data of backpackers in Kfar Izun - 2010

• No. 49

• Average age 22.7• M – 61% F – 39%

• Arrive from: East Asia – 74%, South America – 13%

• How came back home? By himself – 55%, by professional rescue –25% , friends – 15%, family – 5%

• When was the crisis? First month of the trip – 9%, second month –9%, more than 4 months – 82%

• Types of drugs: Cannabis – 100%, other hallucinogens - 40%, Cocaine – 30% (approximately).

• Psychiatric or Psychologic treatment in past – 52%• ADHD – 18%

• Status of parents: M – 70%, D – 22%, W – 8%.

• Military service : Combatant 63%, not combatant – 37%

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Results ?

In a research made by Haezrahi, Shabtay & Bar-Hamburger (2006( about 115 patients (among them ,not all were backpackers) who stayed in Izun between 1.1.2005 – 9.30.2005, the summery was, according the psychiatric evaluation:

24% full recovery

39% improvement

31% chronic mental dis. (in remission)6% no improvement.