Rehabilitation of drug-addicted persons: the experience of the Nav-Chetna Center in India

Abstract

The Nav-Chetna Drug De-addiction and Rehabilitation Center, Varanasi, India, was established in December 1985. It provides out-patient and residential rehabilitation services, medical treatment, counseling, educational and vocational guidance, yoga therapy and after care. Drug-dependent persons under rehabilitation treatment at the Center are encouraged and helped to promote personal development, to build up and strengthen their initiative and confidence and to bring about improvements in their maturation, attitude and behaviour to overcome drug addiction. This is accomplished through a therapeutic-oriented programme, which creates conditions that optimize the natural tendency of the individual to self-actualize and eventually stabilize. Yoga plays a crucial role in this programme at both pre- and post-clinical stages. It offers a new avenue for positive mental and physical health and helps to free individuals from drug dependency and its associated problems.