Allahabad Bible Seminary

Name J. Evanjalin Jeba Golda

Subject Principles and Practices of Pastoral Care and Counselling

Subject code BMC01

Course Facilitator Dr. Moakumla Longkumer

Topic unit no. 10 Contextual Challenges for Pastoral Care and Counselling in India : Disability
and substance abuse
Class BD 2 YR English

Date 6.3.21

Introduction

Disability is a physical or mental problem that makes impossible for a person to walk, see, hear,
speak and learn. Some disabilities are permanent and some are temporary and some may have born
with disabilities. There are different categories of disabilities which is based on the affected area.
People with disabilities faces different challenges in their life its mentioned below.

Substance abuse means it is an excessive intake of alcohol, pain medications or illegal drugs.
Substance abuse is also called as drug abuse which leads to addiction. It may be caused by the
disturbances which happened in life. And it also may be because of finance, social and mental
issues. Intake of illegal drugs creates an impact in their life which is mentioned in this paper.

1.0 Disability – Definitions

According to the Oxford English dictionary, Disability means a sense of a physical or mental
conditions that limits a person’s movement, senses or activities. It also covers a broad range of
inabilities or in capacities. 1

Disability may be defined as any restriction or lack of ability to perform an activity in manner or
within the range considered normal for a human being as defined by the World Health
Organisation. International Labour Organisation defines a disabled person as an individual whose
prospects of securing, retaining and advancing in suitable employment are substantially reduced
as a result of a duly recognised physical or mental impairment. 2
Disability may exist from birth or may be acquired during a person’s lifetime. It also comes as
natural process of aging called as geriatric conditions that can be at the most delayed but cannot

1 Rachel Adams, Benjamin Reisis & David Serlin eds, keywords for disability studies ( New York : New York
University Press, 2015), 31.
2 C S Mohapatra, Disability management in India : challenges and commitments ( Secunderabad : NIMH, 2004),40.

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be avoided. A number of factors can cause disability that includes heredity, birth defects, lack of
care during pregnancy and childbirth, natural disaster, congenital disease, malnutrition, traffic
accidents, work related accidents and illnesses, marriage between close relatives, accidents in the
home etc. Disability can be physical or mental it can be categorised as locomotor, visual, hearing
and mental disability. 3

1.2 Statistics
There are currently more than 2 billion disabled people in the world that is 37.5% of the world’s
population. Around 1.3 billion people were affected by some form of blindness and visual
impairments it represents 17% of the world’s populations. About 466 million people were disabled
with deafness and hearing loss. This represents 6% of the world’s population. Around 200 million
people were affected by intellectual disability. Thus represents 2.6% of the world’s populations.
Then 75 million people need a wheel chair on a daily basis. This represents 1% of the world’s
populations 4

1.2.1 Statistics in India

In India persons with disabilities were around 2.3 percent in rural and 2 percent in urban. Among
males it was 2.4 while it was 1.9 percent among females. This survey covered 1.18 lakh households
across India. Percentage of persons with disabilities living alone was 3.7 percent and 62.1 percent
had care giver. About 21.8 percent had received help from government and other 1.8 percent had
help from organisations. Among persons with disabilities of age 15 years and above labour force
participation was 23.8 percent on the other hand the unemployed status was 4.2 percent. 5

1.3 Challenges faced by disabled people

Some of the challenges faced in daily life of disabled peoples are

1.3.1 Family related challenges

People with physical disabled are less able than others to grow their own food or contribute to
subsistence living for the family. They can be seen as burden to the rest of the family.

1.3.2 Environmental challenge

3Ibid.,
4
Lise Wagner, “ Disabled people in the world in 2019: Facts and figures,”
https://www.inclusivecitymaker.com/disabled-people-in-the-world-in-2019-facts-and-figures/
5 “ India’s 2.2.% population suffering from disability : NSO survey for July – Dec 2018”,The Economic Times,

Accessed on 27.2.21, https://m.economictimes.com/news/economy/indicators/indias-2-2-population-suffering-from-

disability-nso-survey-for-july-dec-2018/amp_articleshow/72202650.cms.

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A person’s environment has a huge impact on the experience and extent of disability . Inaccessible
environment create disability by creating barriers to participation and inclusion. For example a
deaf individual without a sign language interpreter, a wheelchair user in a building without an
accessible elevator, a blind person using a computer without screen reading software. 6

1.3.3Employment
There is a lack of coordination between different government services. So that people’s with
disabilities are unclear about which common wealth or state agencies can provide them with
assistance. Information about the financial and health impacts of entering the open workplace is
hard to find there is limited or delayed access to open employment services.
1.3.4 Inflexible working environment

Difficulties with physical access to the workplace and getting to and from work inadequate
adjustments and adaptations to workplace equipments, Inflexible working hours.

1.3.5 Limited opportunities

Poor link between state administrated school and post school programs and common wealth
administered disability employment services under representation in the vocational, education and
training systems limited scope and variety of jobs offered to people with disabilities, lower
possibilities for promotions, lower paying jobs and lower retention. 7
1.4 psychological impact

Some of the psychological impact experienced by disabled people are

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Withdrawal
• Mourning
• Internalised anger 8

2.0 Substance abuse

Substance abuse refers to the harmful or hazardous use of psychoactive substance including
alcohol and illicit drugs which leads to addiction. According to Zhiling Zou & Huijun wag
addiction can be defined as the loss of control over drug use whereas substance addiction or drug

6 Muleta Hussain Sedeto& Mohd Jameel Dar, ‘Socio- economic challenges of persons with disabilities : A case
study of Ethiopia,’ Global journal of human social science vol. 19,issue 1( 2019).
7 Sabbath M. Uromi & Mazagwa Iboku, ‘ Challenges facing people with disabilities and possible solution in

Tanzania,’ Journal of Educational policy and entrepreneurial research vol. 1,no.2 ( October 2014): 158-165.
8 Wendy Taormina Wesis, “ Psychological and social aspects of disability”, Accessed on 6.3.21,

https://www.disabled-world.com/disability/social-aspects.php.

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addiction is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterised by a recurring desire to continues. Thus drug
seeking behaviour is associated with loss of control. Addiction is caused by the actions of drug
abuse and requires repeated drug exposure. This process is strongly influenced by the
psychological and social context in which drug use occurs. 9

2.1 Major substance of abuse

Nicotine is one of the addictive stimulant substance found in cigarettes and other form of tobacco.
It causes cancer, emphysema and cardiovascular disease. Consumption of alcohol damage the
Brian and most body organs. Another most illegal substance is Marijuana. Thus drug impairs short
term memory and learning, the ability to focus attention and coordination. And it also increases
heart rate and harm the lungs. The next substance is Cocaine it is a short acting stimulant which
can lead users to take the drug many times in a single session. It also leads to several medical
consequences related to heart and the respiratory, nervous and digestive systems. Steroids can be
prescribed by certain medical condition s are abused to increase muscle mass and to improve
athletic performance. This addiction can case heart disease, liver problem, strokes and infectious
disease. 10

2.2 Statistics of substance abuse

Alcohol is used in every part of the country there is an gender differences exist in pattern of alcohol
use . While 27.3% of men use alcohol and 1.6% women use alcohol. States with the high
prevalence of alcohol use are Chhattisgarh (35.6%), Tripura ( 34.7%), Punjab ( 28.5%), Arunachal
Pradesh ( 28%) and Goa ( 28%). The top ranking states in India are Uttar Pradesh ( 4.2 crore),
West Bengal ( 1.4 crore) and Madhya Pradesh ( 1.2 crore). Among women states with largest
prevalence use are Arunachal Pradesh ( 15.6%) and Chhattisgarh ( 13.7%). A high proportion of
children reporting alcohol use was noted in Punjab ( 6%), West Bengal ( 3.9%) and Maharashtra
( 3.8%).11

2.3 challenging dimensions of substance abuse

Drug abuse or substance abuse is a process of misuse of drugs in various way and it has become a
complex problem because it is internally linked with each other serious crimes such as organized
crimes, human trafficking and money laundering.
2.3.1 Social causes

9 Xiaochu Zhang, Jie Shi & Ran Tao eds, substance and non substance addiction ( Singapore : Springer, 2017),22.
10 David M. McDowell & Henry I. Spitz, Substance abuse : From principles to practice ( London : Routledge,
2016),39-52.
11 N. A, Magnitude of substance use in India 2019 ( New Delhi : NDDTC&AIIMS, 2019), 12.

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A poor relationship and lack of communication with parents is responsible for drug abuse among
children . Few drug users are taking drugs because of their atmosphere usually we can see it in
those people who are growing up in a home were alcohol and drug abuse is considered as Normal
behaviour. People who are engaged in love affairs, the loss of a loved one’s and depression attracts
a man more and more to the misuse of substance.
2.3.2 Economic cause

In India poverty is a curse because it creates various problems one of them is drug abuse. Financial
worries lead people towards drug abuse. People are producing narcotic drugs to increase income
so the production of narcotic drugs is responsible for the misuse of drugs.
2.3.3 Mental causes

There are mental causes which leads a person towards drug abuse situation of sadness, depression
and stress are common cause of drug abuse. 12

2.4 Impact of substance abuse

Substance abuse causes serious damage to individual lives and to the society some of the impacts
are

2.4.1 Economic cost of drug abuse

There are tremendous economic costs associated with drugs. For example on average drug abuser
spend about Rs. 500 per week on drugs. A study on Delhi estimated that a user spend between Rs
35 and Rs 95 a day on the substance of choice. These costs erode the net earnings of the household
and thus adversely impact living conditions and subsistence. 13

2.4.2 Health problems

The additional stress of coping with the drug abuse within the family may produce physical and
psychological distress and trigger drug or alcohol use in the woman. Some women may engage in
prostitution to support their partners drug habit and are at risk of contracting sexually transmitted
diseases including HIV.
2.4.3 Marital discord

Marital discord and family breakdown are some other serous consequences of drug and alcohol
abuse. Raise in economic burden, domestic violence, shifts in roles and responsibilities and

12 Rudrakshi M Mendhe&Dr. Baba Saheb, “Challenging dimensions of the Problem of drug abuse in India : A Socio
legal analysis,” probono-india (blog), Accessed on 27.2.21, http://probono-india.in/blog-detail.php?id=188.
13 Dr. Pratima Murthy, Women and drug abuse : The problem in India ( New Delhi : UNDCP, 2002),20.

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socially unaccepted behaviour such as extra Marital relationships leads to disharmony within the
family.

2.4.4 Unemployment
Problematic substance use increase the likelihood of unemployment and decrease the chance of
finding and holding down a job. 14
2.5 psychological impact

Some of the psychological impacts are

• Mood swings
• Cravings for the substance
• Memory loss
• Lack of focus
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Insomnia15
Conclusion
Thus far we have seen about disability and substance abuse. Disability is an physical or mental
condition which limits themselves to do their activities. Because of their incapability less
priorities were given to them which affects them badly. So equal priorities must be given everyone
because every human beings faces challenges in their life but it may differ from one person to the
other. In substance abuse the affected person cause danger to themselves by intake of drugs. It may
be takes place because of some disturbance which their experienced in their life.
Bibliography

Adams, Rachel, Benjamin Reisis& David Serlin eds. Keywords for disability studies. New York :
New York University Press, 2015.
McDowell, David M& Henry I Spitz. Substance abuse : From principles to practice. London:
Routledge, 2016.
Mohapatra C S, Disability management in India : Challenges and commitments. Secunderabad:
NIMH, 2004.
N.A, Magnitude of substance use in India 2019. New Delhi: NDDTC&AIIMS, 2019.

14Ibid., 21
15Issac Alexis, “ Lasting psychological effects from drug use and abuse”, Accessed on 6.3.21,
https://www.rehabcenter.net/lasting-psychological-effects-from-drug-use-and-abuse/ .

6
Zhang, Xiaochu, Jie Shi& Ran Tao eds. Substance and non substance addiction. Singapore:
Springer, 2017.

Journal
Sedeto, Muleta Hussain & Mohd Jameel Dar. ‘ Socio – economic challenges of persons with
disabilities : A case study of Ethiopia,’ Global Journal of human social science vol. 19,issue 1(
2019): 1-8.

Uromi, Sabbath M & Mazagwa Iboku. ‘ Challenges facing people with disabilities and possible
solution in Tanzania,’ Journal of educational policy and entrepreneurial research vol. 1,no.2 (
October 2014): 158- 165.
Webliography

Issac, Alexis. “ Lasting psychological effects from drug use and abuse”, Accessed on 6.3.21,
https://www.rehabcenter.net/lasting-psychological-effects-from-drug-use-and-abuse/.

Mendhe, Rudrakshi M & Dr. Baba Saheb. “ Challenging dimensions of the Problem of drug abuse
in India : A Socio legal analysis,” Accessed on 27.2.21, http://probono-india.in/blog-
detail.php?id=188.
Wagner, Lise. “ Disabled people in the world in 2019: Facts and figures,” Accessed on 27.2.21,
https://www.inclusivecitymaker.com/disabled-people-in-the-world-in-2019-facts-and-figures/.
Wesis, Wendy Taormina. “ Psychological and social aspects of disability,” Accessed on 6.3.21,
https://www.disabled-world.com/disability/social-aspects.php.
“ India’s 2.2.% population suffering from disability : NSO survey for July – Dec 2018”,The
Economic Times, Accessed on 27.2.21,
https://m.economictimes.com/news/economy/indicators/indias-2-2-population-suffering-from-
disability-nso-survey-for-july-dec-2018/amp_articleshow/72202650.cms