MCCF collaborates with Sabah serene retreat to treat addicts.

KUALA LUMPUR: The lack of loving care and the pressure of life are among the factors that lead an individual to turn addiction to certain actions that can destroy their future.
Recognising the problem, the Malaysian Community Care Foundation (MCCF), entered into a collaboration with the 'Sabah Serene Retreat' in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah to provide treatment to those trapped into drug, liquor and video game addiction.
Its chairman, Halim Ishak said the foundation could help individuals who had fallen into the trap of addiction and also as an alternative treatment for the recovery process besides the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) which was the first of its kind in Malaysia.
He said the CBT treatment concept stressed more on communication with the addicts who mostly faced the problems of mental pressure besides the personal stress on the addicts who might feel that they were being ignored by their family and community.
"There are several methods emphasised such as bringing the addicts to participate in recreational activities such as scuba diving, besides bringing them closer to the family and religion.
"The time needed to cure an addict depends on the level of their respective addiction because those addicted to drugs differ from the addiction to video games or liquor," he told Bernama, here today.
He said that the centre only started operations in the middle of last year and the programme had received encouraging response from locals and foreigners including those from Australia, South Africa, Singapore, Egypt and Brunei.
The centre could provide recovery treatment to 10 addicts at any given time.
"The MCCF is also prepared to become an intermediary between the centre and addicts needing treatment because the centre is the first to use the CBT concept in the country.
"I hope that the Sabah Serene Retreat can open up branches and operate in Peninsular Malaysia," he said.
The founder of Sabah Serene Retreat, Ahmady Muhammad said the centre was part of his contributions to the community in the form of services.
He said the labour force at the Sabah Serene Retreat comprised counsellors with between 10 and 20 years of experience in the field.
"Through the CBT treatment, the focus is more on studying and going deeper into the problems faced by the addicts and why they committed the act by way of communication or the expression of their feelings.
"Previously, there were addicts who resorted to the use of sedatives for treatment but this is not the best method and in fact, it will make the problem worse," he said.
Ahmady said that through the CBT treatment, almost 92% of the addicts who were mostly between the ages of 16 and 60 were successfully treated and they did not repeat their previous mistakes. — Bernama