Abstract
This study focuses on exploring the factors that have led people to relapse to using Nyaope after receiving treatment in an attempt to stop using it. These factors were found to be of a social, environmental, and psychological nature. Relapsing to active substance use remains a massive problem in South Africa, especially in Gauteng, with 3 out of 4 people who receive treatment relapsing within the first three to six months post-treatment. The focus was on the youth of Orange Farm, particularly those of the male gender. The reason for this is that it has been found in numerous research studies that the majority of people who abuse the Nyaope substance are predominantly male.
Although there has been much research on the drug Nyaope, from various viewpoints, including assessing service providers' views on why people use and relapse to using it, the properties of the drug, and what gets people addicted to it, there has been little research on the actual lived experiences of people who have gone back to using the drug, after attempts to stop doing so, despite the physical, emotional, and psychosocial effects that the substance has had on them.
This study employs a qualitative methodology, delving into the interpretations that relapsed Nyaope users attribute to their relapses. The theoretical framework encompasses the theory of personal constructs complemented by the self-determination theory. Face-to-face interviews were conducted, supplemented by a semi-structured interview guide. The research results are based on the responses of the interviews with the six participants who had been involved in the process.
This study looked at factors that may lead a person to relapse to using the substance, which can be either in the form of social, psychological, or environmental. The results also show that sub-factors such as family dynamics, community ousting, need for belonging, relativity, and lack of role models are at the forefront of the reasons for people relapsing to using Nyaope after treatment.
A bottom-up approach to providing services to the people who use this substance could be beneficial in ensuring that these services speak to and address their real needs and lived experiences. Providing sustainable vocational activities could bring meaning and purpose into people’s lives, thus addressing the hopelessness and stagnation that people who have been using substances find themselves in after treatment.
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Keywords:
Nyaope – The brownish powder that is smoked with dagga, cigarettes, inhaled, or injected by most people from disadvantaged and impoverished backgrounds. All the people who are interviewed in this study are using this substance in various forms, from smoking, inhaling, or injecting it (when diluted with water).
Relapse – (in drug use) A process of going back to active use of a substance after a sustained period of abstinence from using. All the people interviewed in this study have had short periods of sobriety but have relapsed to active use.
Challenges – refers to the situations that the people using Nyaope find difficult to overcome. A list of these is listed and discussed in the report based on the participants' perspectives.
Risk factors - encompass elements present at biological, psychological, familial, communal, or cultural levels that precede and are associated with an elevated likelihood of adverse outcomes. (SAMHSA, 2019). The risk factors in this report are categorised under psychological, societal, and environmental categories for clarity and easy identification.