BOC: in helping addicts, the cooperation of a narcologist, a psychologist and a clergyman is manifested

September 28, Baranovichi. Helping dependent people is a social service of the Belarusian Orthodox Church. Archpriest Dionisy Pyasetsky, HEAD of the Coordinating Center of the Belarusian Orthodox Church for Combating Drug Addiction and ALCOHOLISM in Honor of the Martyr Boniface, shared this opinion with journalists at an off-site meeting of the Advisory Interfaith Council under the Commissioner for Religious and National Affairs, BelTA informs.

“Issues of ALCOHOL, drug, gambling addictions are the social service of the church. As a Christian church, the Belarusian Orthodox Church sees in the suffering, first of all, the image and likeness of God. Darkened by sin and passions, a person has lost his way and he needs to be given a choice how to return back,” he said. Dionysius Pyasetsky - When we talk about addiction to a mind-altering substance, people often get the impression that the causes of addiction lie in promiscuity, in the fact that a person has not been accustomed to work, or in other problems that occur immediately or in a short period of time. can be solved. In fact, the causes of chemical addiction are bio-psycho-socio-spiritual."

According to him, in helping addicts, the cooperation of a narcologist, a psychologist and a clergyman is manifested. "Each sector must be involved and worked out with the addict individually. A characteristic feature of addicted people is that they do not see themselves from the outside or do not see 100%. They do not realize the sinful fall, the tragedy of the situation. First of all, others see it, That is why, in most cases, relatives, mothers, wives turn to the temples of the Belarusian Orthodox Church with the question of what to do, "said the head of the Coordinating Center of the Belarusian Orthodox Church for combating drug addiction and alcoholism in honor of the martyr Boniface.

The Belarusian Orthodox Church is also actively working with relatives of dependent people. “These are separate groups where they can get help, first of all for themselves, because a relative is the first person who sees the whole difficult situation. In each diocese there is a place, a priest who has knowledge about addiction, and there is a sobriety society or advisory A person can go there and get a clear scheme of how he, his relative, should continue to interact with the addict and where to go later if he has motivation," the archpriest said.

"We have been providing social rehabilitation for 27 years, we have 15 rehabilitation centers. We see the effectiveness of rehabilitation for people who, after a year and a half of rehabilitation and adaptation, resocialize, create families or restore them. According to our statistics, about 70% of people return to normal life," - stressed the Bishop of the United Church of Evangelical Christians in the Republic of Belarus Leonid Biryuk.

"About 1.2 thousand people underwent a full one and a half year rehabilitation (this is a voluntary program). Almost 100% of the employees of our rehabilitation centers, volunteers are people who themselves have undergone rehabilitation and know how to work with addicts, because this is a special contingent", - added Leonid Biryuk.

Photo by Vitaly Pivovarchik