An educational project to increase the stress resistance of youth is being developed in the Vitebsk region

February 24, Vitebsk / Sergei Kochetov - BELTA /. A pilot educational project to improve the stress resistance of youth is being developed in the Vitebsk region. This was announced today at a press conference by Elena Martynova, chief physician of the regional psychoneurological dispensary, according to a BELTA correspondent. Currently, the main focus in preventing drug addiction is on working with young people. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account age-specific features: if older people have a health-saving attitude, then adolescents are experimental, they do not yet fear the consequences. In this regard, the main emphasis in working with adolescents should be on teaching adaptive behavior, the ability to resist stress, and to react correctly to various situations without resorting to narcotic or psychotropic substances, Elena Martynova emphasized. To this end, specialists from the regional psychoneurological dispensary, together with representatives of the Vitebsk Masherov University and the Medical University, are developing an educational project, which is planned to be implemented at several experimental sites in Vitebsk schools, and subsequently, possibly, to be extended throughout the region. The main goal of the project is to teach young people the skills of psychological resistance to involvement in drug use, so that adolescents, upon receiving a corresponding offer, know how to refuse it, Elena Martynova emphasized. The project is a series of methodological seminars, trainings, and role-playing games designed for adolescents, as well as for teachers and school psychologists who will subsequently work with young people. According to data as of January 2011, the age group under 35 accounts for over 80% of the total number of registered drug users in the Vitebsk region. At the same time, minors (under 18) account for about 18% of the total number of registered individuals. The proportion of individuals aged 19-25 is close to 30%, and drug users aged 26-35 make up almost 34%. Currently, in the region, out of the total number of registered drug users, schoolchildren, gymnasiums, and lyceums account for 6.9%, and their number has decreased by 2.4 percentage points over the last three years. The proportion of vocational school students among drug users is 2.7% and has decreased by 0.2 percentage points compared to 2008. The proportion of students in technical schools and universities has increased compared to 2009 to 2% and 2.1%, respectively. In total, more than 1.2 thousand people using psychoactive substances are registered with narcologists in the region. -0-