DURING the period of Christmas and New Year, there is one irony that I have observed. At a time when the mood of fun and festivity is most at play, fate and misfortune are inevitably not far behind.
Many people let their hair down in much the same way as their natural guard or sense of caution. To be able to celebrate the period, it is perhaps necessary to lose some of the usual inhibitions common to our normal social interactions.
To assist in this process, of course, several varieties of alcoholic beverages are available. Alongside fun, fate and misfortune stalk the party for the weary and naïve. This is not to say fun is a bad thing. To the contrary, this period is important in allowing some time for relaxation and resolving so much of the stress that our lives bring us, which is harmful to our health.
However, experience has taught me, from years of sitting in the hospital casualty room, that in the wake of Christmas and New Year celebrations, many people come in maimed and disfigured as casualties of fun and festivity.
This article is written in the post-festivity period deliberately because this is when sobriety has returned and a more reflective mood is prevailing. I suspect these comments will be better received and hold true to the festive experience of many.
Therefore, there are a few tips that may allow for a safe and happy festive period for us all in the future years. In addressing this, I will ask three questions.
1. What are some of the health risks during the festive period?
2. How can they be avoided?
3. How can I enjoy my holiday in a healthy way?
Health risks during the festive period
There are many health risks for the uninitiated during the period of festivity. Why this is so is a matter of human nature rather than a matter of science. One plausible explanation, among many others that can be given, is that, during this period of enjoyment, excitement and merry making is socially acceptable.
To compound it all, it comes in the guise of religion or Christianity. So under the umbrella of celebration of the birth of Christ, much else goes on unnoticed in the fringes of festivity, some of which poses a threat to our health and those around us. There are several, and I will only mention six of the more common ones.
1. Binge drinking
2. Accidents and assaults
3. Drug abuse among teenagers
4. Gender violence
5. Self harm and suicide
6. Unsafe sex
These six items can neatly fall into two categories, which are the abuse of drugs and the abuse of people. The most commonly abused drug during this period is alcohol, firstly in volume, a condition called binge drinking.
This is defined as the taking of excessive volumes of alcohol over a short space of time, which is likely to cause harm to body organs, keeping in mind that the World Health Organisation recommends roughly two bottles of Mosi per day as safe usage.
Secondly, the category of people who abuse alcohol widens during this period. That is to say the abuse broadens beyond those groups who normally drink socially. In particular, the risk of binge drinking has been shown to be most among women and underage drinkers (teenagers).
Recreational drugs may be abused during the period as well, including energy boosting drugs such as amphetamines, sex boosting drugs (phosphodiesterase inhibitors) such as Viagra, and vison enhancing drugs (Hallucinogens such as LSD).
Hallucinogens make you see what is not there. Soft and hard addictive drugs (cocaine and heroin) may be added to the cocktail of drugs abused, not to forget marijuana. The result of this to the body organs, which are suddenly and unexpectedly forced to cope with high levels of harmful chemicals, is focused on two key organs – the liver and the kidneys.
These organs are the body filters which keep the body clean of impurities. They face the brunt of this assault. You may not then be surprised to learn that Zambia has one of the highest rates of kidney and liver damage and failure in this sub-region.
The social results of this abuse, aside from the medical ones, are road traffic accidents and assaults. Road traffic accidents have now risen in Zambia to be one of the leading causes of mortality (death) and morbidity (injury).
The second category is the abuse of others and self. Quite often, this is also a consequence of the influence of drugs. Often, the drugs abused have a stimulator effect on the brain, that is, it makes people excited and happy.
However, these feelings do not last, and eventually they cause depression. During this phase, Gender-based Violence (GBV), self harm (suicide) and unsafe sex are common. GBV arises often from martial conflict occasioned by late home-coming from a social function, inappropriate provisions for the family during the period, financial problems and extramarital relationships, among many others.
The consequences are physical injury to the man or woman or both, increasing the health risks as well as the financial misfortune of the family. An additional area of GBV is rape, or sexual violence on a non-consenting or underage partner.
The festive period is a peak period for self harm or suicide. The festive mood itself places upon people a demand of happiness, which, if they are unable to have due to their personal circumstances, leads them to despondency, isolation and low self worth. These feelings, compounded with drug abuse, will often give ideations of self harm or suicide.
There will also be feelings of worthlessness and disaffection with the rest of the festive crowd, and the feeling of being a stranger and out of sync with happiness.
Unfortunately, many attempt to commit suicide in the most ineffective manner such as drinking of battery acid, which leads to severe damage to the food passage rather than death. This results in a life of misery for many years to follow. This is aside from the loss and misfortune of family and friends when suicide is successful.
In an attempt to find inappropriate love and happiness during this period, it is not uncommon for people to fall into unsafe sexual activity. The influence of drugs impairs the social inhibitions that might normally restrain them. In this state, the use of any safe sex practice is obviated by the apparent urgency and cavalier feeling of the moment.
How can health risks be avoided?
The main danger with the festive season is the false sense of invincibility and good health that is generally prevalent, supported perhaps by the Christmas spirit that Christ came to give us abundant life (a deliberate misinterpretation of the spiritual intent).
It is often forgotten that the good health we possess is easily lost by a few moments of intemperance. It is a prudent thing to ask yourself if the things that you are doing today will make your body healthier tomorrow.
If you are a Christian you might add the question, would Christ approve of this activity? You will find that your conscience in this sense will guard your health.
Some more practical approaches to the health risks encountered during this period are the following:
1. Drink healthy
2. Wear seat belts
3. Watch over children, teenagers and others
These three points remedy well the six main health risks itemised above. That during the festive season there will be parties is inevitable. That you are likely to be invited to some, and be offered alcoholic drinks, is equally inevitable. A common challenge at a social function is how to answer the question, “Are you not having a drink?”
Some common and comfortable ways of parrying off this question are:
“Doctors orders” or “I am off drinks for a while”. Others are: “I have had too many already” or “I m only allowed a few, otherwise I trigger my gout (arthritis) or my migraine (headache)”.
Once people think they may put you at risk by offering you a drink, they will tend to protect you for the rest of the evening. You need not lie. Simply say what is comfortable for the environment so that you are not seen as disrupting the social event or festivity.
Try to minimise travel by road. If you have to, always wear seat belts and insist that everyone else in the car does. A small party trick to assess if you are sober enough to drive is to throw your car keys between your left and right hand without dropping them ten times. If you drop them, even once, you should not drive.
Watch over your family. It is a good thing to get home early and ensure your children are in bed. If they are with you at a family event, take an interest in what they are doing.
Try to keep them in on the activity. Make sure all the car keys are out of their reach. If they have to be involved in fireworks displays, be close by. Fireworks can cause severe injuries to children.
Do not be naïve about your teenage children. Check around for tale-tell signs that could suggest abuse of alcohol or drugs. Sniff around the toilets, the servants’ quarters and the bins.
Do not hesitate to ask about unusual materials or smells. Talk to them and learn what teenagers are doing for fun, or you will be surprised. Do not accept any of your charges to isolate themselves from the rest, keep everyone involved.
Do not get so imbedded in the fun of the event that you miss the signs of despondency, and the threat of self harm (suicide). You are not being snoopy or a kill-joy, you are just being a parent. Remember, you will have to clean up the mess if things go wrong and also take the blame.
Enjoying the holiday in a healthy manner
The impression is sometimes created that health and fun are in competition with each other. Therefore, you have to sacrifice one in preference for the other. In general, it is held that it is socially acceptable to do this during the festive period of Christmas and other holiday times.
My feeling is that this is not necessarily true. In fact, quite to the contrary, pursuing a healthy lifestyle should be fun. It is a question of being excited about your own good health and setting some targets. Do not assume that you will remain healthy by mere chance.
Since it can be presumed that everyone wants to live a long and happy life, this can only happen if we are healthy. It is evident that everyone wants to be healthy.
Often, the first problem with a big holiday like Christmas and New Year is that most of us do not plan well for it. Most of us have the general plan which says I am going to have lots of fun period with my friends.
What this means is that it is events that run our holiday; we run into old friends and we get entangled in whatever plan unfolds after that. This lack of planning will certainly expose us to health risks. Three suggestions we may wish to consider are:
1. Plan for your holiday
2. Plan for a family time
3. Plan for fun and a healthy time.
If you do not plan for your holiday, events will do it for you. When they do, you lose control, and may place yourself in harm’s way.
It is often said that you need money to plan for holidays. This is obviously not true. However, it is believed by many and discourages people from planning.
The plan may be as simple as staying at home with the family over the holiday period, or visiting parents in the village (this used to be the tradition in the 70s, and I believe this may be seen as archaic nowadays).
Involve the rest of the family in this plan. This makes it more exciting. It can be a day out at your favourite natural resort in your town (I have noted that almost all the major towns in Zambia have such places).
Make sure that there is an opportunity for family fun during the event. Carry along a ball, badminton rackets (this game is easy to set up anywhere), skipping ropes, fishing rods, etc. You need not be an expert in any of these as they are all designed to get people doing a bit of running, swimming and doing healthy outdoor exercises.