Oh the motivation!...
'I have immortal longing in me.' - William Shakespeare
What motivates you to get up in the morning and accompanies you to put on your unique 'armour' that so perfectly defines you, in order to take on the world??
Some OT students said seeing that smile of accomplishment and pride on their clients faces after completing a task successfully. Others said that they love seeing a difference or positive change within their clients. One student even said that it brings her immense pleasure just sitting and listening to her clients. These are all great motivators!
So, what motivates me? The human mind has always interested me. Finding out why people act and think the way that they do has fascinated me my entire life! To me it is an adventure to get down to the core of peoples issues...I often want to solve everyone's problems!! (ugh, trust me it is not always a good thing to be wired in that way) This does not mean that I am good at it or can do it!...but I would like to think that I have become a little more accepting, aware and understanding of different peoples ways and means of living their lives. I feel that together with OT I may able to help them gain insight in a professional and appropriate way as well as teaching them coping mechanisms for the challenges that they are facing.
Wandering through life, I have come across many of my imperfections or wrong doings and have noted that few people pointed them out to me or would just ignore them by playing over them. This, they may have done out of love to protect me. We all know that love can sometimes add or contribute toward the already existing problem instead of helping correct the flaw or making one conscious of it. Many people, when confronted about their issues become hypersensitive and feel that others are 'attacking' their personality, character or malfunctioning body which creates havoc within their hearts. Others may take it far to serious and their self esteem might take a huge knock. To me there is always a 'source' as to why someone is portraying the behaviour or thoughts that they are displaying for all to see...and this source, may it be low self esteem, negative thoughts etc. we will be looking at closely when assessing and treating our clients this semester which I am quite excited about!...(the nerves are starting to creep in after mock practical though) It will take a great deal of tact and sensitivity as I have experienced first hand, how uncomfortable criticism can be, even if it is constructive and done with a whole lot of love. We need to be able to receive it and to give it in order to grow, which will require a whole lot of learning! eeeeeeek*
"If you want to leave footprints in the sand of time, don't drag your feet." - Arnot L. Sheppard
I have been allocated to Newlands Park Centre for the Psychosocial block together with three other girls. Newlands Park is a substance abuse rehabilitation centre where a three month programme is run with the clients which includes individual sessions as well as groups. Our module coordinator will be our supervisor for this semester which I am happy about BUT I also know that we will be working very hard :) These next couple of days will be dedicated to reading up about substance abuse and how we as OT's go about treating our individuals.
Here are some interesting yet scary facts to begin with;
SA drug statistics
- About 65% of murders in South Africa were associated with social behaviour largely fuelled by alcohol abuse.Drug consumption in South Africa is twice the world norm. (CDA-2009)
- 15% of South Africa's population have a drug problem. (CDA)
- Drug abuse is costing South Africa R20-billion a year and could pose a bigger threat to the country's future than the Aids pandemic.
- According to SAPS figures, 60 percent of crimes nationally were related to substance abuse. In the Western Cape, the figure was closer to 80 percent. The perpetrators of these crimes are either under the influence of substances, or trying to secure money for their next fix.
- In 2004, government disbanded the SA Narcotics Bureau (SANAB), a dedicated drug-fighting unit within the SAPS that had achieved some notable successes. Since its closure, drug-related crimes have increased exponentially - in fact by 30 percent.
- The recently-released United Nations World Drug Report had named South Africa as one of the drug capitals of the world.
- The abuse of alcohol and usage of dagga has lead to the country to being one of the top ten narcotics and alcohol abusers in the world.
- One Rand in four in circulation in SA is linked to the substance abuse problem - 2009. (CDA-Bayever)
- Drug arrests leapt from 300 in 2006 to 1500 in 2011 in Cape Town
Rehabilitation
- Between 2% and 6% of those admitted to drug rehabilitation centres are hooked on prescription medications.
- “Most drug rehabilitation centers have a success rate of less than 3%.” (Prof. .Malaka / University of Limpopo).
This information scares me a little and just goes to show that we can't change the whole worlds problems at once but we can always start small...
"Courage is being scared to death - and saddling up anyway." - John Wayne
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