Traumatic upbringing during childhood may lead to impulsive and compulsive behaviours in adulthood, which in turn may increase risk of becoming addicted to drugs, according to a new research from the University of Cambridge.

Led by Dr Karen Ersche, the Cambridge researchers aimed to identify risk factors that make a person vulnerable to developing drug dependence.

They examined 50 adults with cocaine dependence together with their biological brothers and sisters who have never abused drugs. All participants underwent extensive assessments of their personalities, including their ways of feeling and thinking.

The researchers were also interested in negative experiences that participants may have had during childhood (to include physical, emotional or sexual abuse).

“It has long been known that abusive experiences during childhood have long-lasting effects on behaviour in adulthood and this was confirmed by our results. The siblings had more troubled childhoods compared to healthy peers in the community, and we also found a direct relationship between traumatic childhoods and their personalities,” said Dr Ersche, of the Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute (BCNI) at the University of Cambridge. “This relationship is interesting because impulsive personality traits are known to increase the risk of becoming addicted to drugs but it is not an excuse for drug-taking,” she added.

The childhoods of the brothers and sisters of the cocaine-dependent individuals were also traumatic, and they also exhibited higher-than-normal levels of impulsive and compulsive behaviours, but they did not abuse drugs.

The researchers next intend to explore how the siblings who do not abuse drugs managed to deal with their traumatic childhoods and their highly impulsive and compulsive personalities.

The scientists want to understand what makes the siblings resilient against addiction. A better understanding of what protected the brothers and sisters from drug abuse may provide vital clues for developing more effective therapeutic interventions for those trying to beat their addiction.

“Not all individuals with these personality traits would have had a traumatic upbringing. Nor does everyone with these traits develop an addiction. However, our findings show that some people are particularly at risk and their upbringing may have contributed to it,” Dr Ersche added. (Agencies)

On July 15, 2004, a group of phanek (sarong) clad Meitei women marched up to the Assam Rifles headquarters in Imphal, Manipur, to protest against the alleged rape and killing of Thangjam Manorama Devi. Standing outside the historic Kangla Fort, these 20-odd women did the unthinkable - they stripped naked in full public view. Twenty-four hours later, when footage of this protest reached the television studios of New Delhi, the nation watched in shock. What was it that led the Meitei women to take such an extreme step to be heard? In this excerpt from Beautiful Country - Stories From Another India by Syeda Hameed and Gunjan Veda, discover what really happened that day from the women who led this protest.

Gunjan Veda: 15 July, 2004. A group of phanek (sarong) clad Meitei women, in heir thirties, forties, even sixties, marched up to the Assam Rifles headquarters in Imphal to protest against the alleged rape and killing of thirty-two-year-old Thangjam Manorama Devi. Their anger was evident in the slogans they were shouting; these were soon picked up and repeated by people on the streets who had stopped to make way for them. Standing in front of the gates of the historic Kangla Fort, these twenty-odd women did the unthinkable - they stripped naked in full public view before the sign which read - ‘The Assam Rifles’.

It had been exactly one month since the killing of Manorama. The streets of Manipur’s capital were deserted. “It has been this way ever since her killing,” said Esther Chinnu Haokip, a Kuki woman of average build with short cropped hair. She had come to collect me from the Tulihal Airport and take me to my hotel in the main market area. “Not that bandhs (strikes) or curfews are new here. We have one every few weeks. But this time it has been going on for too long. The people are really angry. They don’t care if Manorama was an insurgent, she was a woman and no one had a right to violate or kill her,” she explained.

Ramani Devi, an elderly Meitei woman with a grandmotherly face, did not speak a word of Hindi. She was the secretary of the All-Manipur Women’s Social Reformation and Development Samaj. Through Shubhra who acted as my translator, she told me about the Meira Paibi movement. “In the 1970s, consumption of alcohol was at an all-time high resulting in serious violence against women. So the imas came together under Mamon Devi and, in April 1975, the Nishabandi Movement was launched. After a day of back-breaking work, the women would take turns to stay up all night and keep vigil. The movement was successful,” said Ramani Devi.

Taruni Devi, another Meira Paibi with a smiling, finely-lined face, continued the tale. “Then, in the late 1970s, atrocities by the security forces escalated. Young boys would be picked up at night and beaten mercilessly. It was 29 December, 1980. After a blast, the police came to pick up a boy named Ibomcha. We got together and stopped the arrest. That day, the Meira Paibi Movement was born. It has not been easy but today we have 2,500 clubs and associations across Manipur.”

The women told me that much has changed since the early days. Now the people respected them and came to them for solving social disputes. Every married woman automatically became a member of the Meira Paibi Association of her area. “And we no longer have to stay up all night. If there is a problem, a woman has only to ring the lamp post of her locality and every Meira Paibi will come out,” said Taruni, who had left her home many years ago to strengthen the movement.

While the history of the movement helped me understand the women of Manipur better, I still wanted to discuss the events of 15 July.

“Ima, it is about 15 July. What happened that day?” Shubra asked Ima Taruni on my behalf.

“It was not an easy decision. In Manipur, a married woman does not even take off her shawl in front of others. But our hearts were bleeding. We had suffered enough. On the night of 14 July, we met and decided to do something drastic to make the authorities take notice. The next morning, two hundred women were to meet at Sinjamai but when I went there, not a soul was present. They had been dispersed by the army. That was the final straw. I began marching to Kangla along with a group of Meira Paibis. The men and some journalists asked us what we wanted to do but we just told them to follow at a distance and not get in our way. You have already seen the rest of the story,” she said with tears in her eyes.

“Since that day, we have been called many names. People have called us shameless and our men folk were furious, but tell me, what choice did we have? Here we are stripped of our dignity every day,” Ima Ramani added, putting a comforting hand on her colleague’s shoulder. Suddenly, there was a commotion outside. A young boy in his twenties came running in and screamed something in Meiteilon (the Meitei language). The expression of the Meira Paibis changed. A few shrieked. Ima Trauni and Ima Ramani scrambled to their feet, anger evident on their faces.

“What has happened?” I asked a visibly shocked Shubhra.

“A young boy has committed self-immolation in protest against the AFSPA. They have taken him to the hospital but his condition is very critical. He was just 28,” she explained and broke down. Ima Ramani spoke to Shubhra. Nodding her head, Shubhra turned to me. “We should leave now. The police have imposed curfew and the protestors are defying it in anger. Things can turn very violent.” So we hurried to my hotel and switched on the television set. I watched in shock as the news channels relayed the entire immolation attempt of Pebam Chittaranjan. And suddenly, I was angry, angry at the State for allowing this to happen; angry at the security forces for driving youth to such extremes and most importantly, angry at the policemen and the cameramen who watched in silence as a youth was burning. They had done nothing to save him.

I left Imphal the next morning through back lanes with a placard on the taxi; ‘Sick’, it said. It happened to be the truth. I was sick... at heart.

(Women’s Feature Service)

For people who are diabetic or prone to diabetes, having a steady job appears to be good for their health.

And the benefit lies in their adherence to anti-diabetic medications, and not just because of the insurance coverage, according to a new University of Michigan study.

It found that that jobless working-age people with diabetes are less likely to adhere to their oral anti-diabetic medications than diabetics who are employed.

Further, people of working age with diabetes are more likely to be unemployed than those who do not have diabetes.

The lack of a clear-cut, cause-and-effect relationship between insurance and medication adherence surprised lead researcher Rajesh Balkrishnan of the U-M College of Pharmacy and School of Public Health.

“Improved use of medications is more than just a facet of having medical insurance. It is linked to bigger issues such as being employed, periods of joblessness or a personal financial strain,” said Balkrishnan, who believes that a healthier, active lifestyle and access to medical care resources through employers that want employees to remain productive play a big role in adherence.

Other factors that account for lack of medication adherence include lack of financial resources, stress due to unemployment and lack of access to health care.

Researchers looked at diabetes because it is one of the most commonly present chronic conditions in working-age adults in the United States, and globally it is the seventh-leading cause of death and the eighth-most costly disease to treat, Balkrishnan said. (Agencies)