Dr Wendel Abel, head of the department of psychiatry at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies, as he spoke on Sunday at a drug abuse forum held at Kencot Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kingston. - Contributed

Churches in Jamaica and, in particular, the Adventist denomination, were called upon to use their facilities to counsel individuals who are in need of someone to relate to as the nation faces tougher economic and social problems.

The call came last Sunday from Dr Wendel Abel, head of the department of psychiatry at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI).

"Open your doors and operate as counselling centres," said Abel. "Those who embrace Christianity are better able to overcome addiction. This is so because personality problems are deep in the heart of the problem of drug addiction.

'Reach out'

"The Adventist Church, with its geographic reach across the island, your human and physical resources and your message of health and temperance makes you ideal to reach out to many who need counselling. Addiction begins and ends with pain. The lady that has lost three sons in three years needs counselling. These and other social problems that affect communities on a daily basis need attention and the church has its part to play in this regard."

Abel was speaking to Adventist health volunteers at a drug addiction seminar organised by the East Jamaica Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and held at the Kencot Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kingston on Sunday.

Role of family

Abel said a survey done by the UWI "found that students who had a good relationship with their fathers and teachers were less likely to use drugs".

He said this underscored the fact that the family has a great role to play in the prevention of drug abuse and that fathers are also very critical to the family unit.

Training

Oneil Smith, eastern region director for the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA), in his presentation at the seminar, offered the assistance of his institution to help the church through training.

"We have a structured programme of training at the NCDA and we are willing to partner with the Church in its efforts to fight drug addiction in our society," said Smith.

"The syllabus includes basic counselling, referrals, stress management, the processes of addiction, an in-depth analysis of the five most commonly abused substances, among other areas. It usually lasts for three to four days depending on how the presentation is structured and at the end a certificate is given to the participants."