Addiction can affect people at any age, even during childhood. The National Addiction Symposium on Tuesday explored the types of addiction that can affect young people. 140 people participated in the symposium, mainly representatives from organisations working in the sector. Participants exchanged ideas in workshops, something praised by psychologist Cynthia Biver.
Biver works in the domain of universal prevention and her work has led her to believe that it is crucial to provide support before a problem manifests. Children, youths, and adults should all receive enough support that, when faced with a problem, they do not then rely on drugs or alcohol and form dependence on such substances.
Workshops made it clear that addiction prevention begins at primary school level, which requires an adaptation of the prevention work. Jean-Nico Pierre, president of the Luxembourg Addiction Association, provided an example of addiction at childhood: Whilst 8-year-old will not have drug addiction issues, but will certainly have an addition to mobile phones if they tend to use them a lot. Pierre believes adults should help children becoming mentally strong enough to reject addictions.
In order to implement such methods, addiction prevention organisations must work on a municipal level, according to municipal councillor for Luxembourg City, Guy Foetz. He explained that the City of Luxembourg must have concrete plans to prevent addiction becoming an issue, which should incorporate alcohol and softer drugs as well, which can often be considered gateways to harder addiction.
The symposium's results will be presented to the Ministries of Health and Education.
