khat

Khat is a huge green plant that thrives at high elevations throughout the region ranging from southern to eastern Africa, and in the Arabian Peninsula. However, chewing Khat became common among the young (youth). The objectives of this study were to investigate the khat use behavior, users’ self-understanding, and their readiness of stopping using khat among street people in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A Semi-structured interview was used to collect information from street people in Addis Ababa. 15 participants were individually interviewed and 11 of them were males and the rest 4 were female participants. The data acquired from the interview was analyzed using descriptive and thematic analysis. Chewing Khat was identified as a common activity among the youth living in the streets of Addis Ababa. Most of the participants have an awareness of the use of khat and its effects on their health but they are still struggling to stop it. While the readiness to stop using khat was investigated and the addiction behavior and the lifestyle of the participants were affecting them from stooping chewing Khat.

Mental illness is an international health crisis that puts the lives of over three hundred million people (Four percent of the world’s population) at risk. The study was conducted at the Erigavo Mental Hospital in Somaliland and its main focus was the bond between substance abuse and mental illness. The research was to check the influence of the different drugs, screen mental health problems, and draw a link between drugs and mental illness. The sources of the quantitative data were a total of 27 employees and managers. This study is cross-sectional. We employed the measure of the magnitude and direction of a linear relationship between two variables with the Pearson correlation coefficient. The outcomes that were acquired show that there was use and particularly abuse of khat, substance smoking, and alcohol consumption, the score means of which were quite high. The investigation results, however, imply that through drug use and other forms of alcohol drug abuse, one of them counter various mental health problems. Furthermore, the addicted people demonstrated the tendency to use force in their attempt to solve the conflicts and to experience the highest degree of tension, with the mean score of the former giving 4.11 while the standard deviation of the latter giving 1.086, thus this shows the mental impact of drug use on the inhabitants of Erigavo. The main result of the study was the strong, positive relationship between drug addiction and mental illness, which became evident through an r - value of 0.509 and a p - value of 0.559. It means that those people who are involved in drug misuse are the ones who are likely to have mental health disorders. Based on the findings of the study, we suggest a combination of measures to recover drug addiction and mental illness. This consists in strengthening prevention. The study that lays the groundwork for suggestions, involves an approach that is holistic in nature. The main ideas of preventing drug usage, psychological health care, enhancing mental health services, and working towards certified professionals are key integrated activities of the whole concept. The hospital, thus, will be in a better position to eliminate the two major disease components namely; drug abuse and mental ailment. Thus, in this way, with the help of the new treatment approaches, a hospital provides and their patients who are quite likely to recover and lead healthy.