Atlantis project tackles addiction in prisons

A new Kyrgyz programme aimed at tackling addiction in custody is helping inmates to say no to drugs and alcohol. The Atlantis programme is currently working with thousands of people in prison in the former Soviet republic helping them to overcome psychological addictions to drugs and alcohol. Rafik Asanov, 33, is serving a 12 year sentence for manslaughter in one of Bishkek's prisons. He said before joining the programme his life was focused on various drugs and drink, including ecstasy. "Since I was 12 I have been living just to feel 'high’," the former addict said. "Once I broke into my parents' apartment - where I had already stolen almost everything valuable - I took a carpet and tried to leave the flat to exchange it for another hit of heroin. Suddenly, I stopped and thought what the hell am I doing? After a while, I was caught and imprisoned and simply wanted to die here in prison. Only this programme saved me," Rafik said. Rafik has been on the programme for almost three months. The first step is to separate those involved in the programme from the rest of the inmates and then engage them in intensive therapy over four to six months. The number of people in prison with an addiction problem is rising, say health workers. "If we count only convicts who came to prisons diagnosed as drug addicts, that figure comprises 10 percent of all inmates. But that figure has been gradually increasing in recent years," Raushan Abdildaeva, chair of the Atlantis programme, said. "But if we take into account those inmates who, de-facto, use drugs in prisons, that rate goes up to 50-60 percent of all convicts. This is why the issue of treatment is very important today", Abdildaeva explained. Group therapy and peer-group support feature prominently in the prison addiction project. Denis is a 29-year-old who has only recently joined the programme but already feels stronger in tackling his illness through the assistance he gets from others on the programme. "In prison we think about only one feeling - feeling high. I have used drugs for nine years and alcohol for 15. Here I have received psychological support of the group that helps me very much. If I want to get a dose [of drugs] and get nervous, I just go and talk with the others about my feelings and the desire goes down," he said. "I want to get cured. My life means something now - my children are waiting for me on the outside," said Denis. The separation from other inmates is a key element in the success of the programme, practitioners say. "Patients need to be separated from other convicts at the beginning to prevent them accessing drugs - the reality is that they are widely available in prisons. After three to four months they can be reintegrated, when they are stronger," Abdildaeva said. Presently, the programme is running pilot projects in two prisons, simply referred to as jails 3 and 47. Patients at the centres are mostly young people aged 25-29 years. A total of 56 patients have "graduated" over the past two years, 12 of whom, after having been released from prison, now work as trainers and peer group educators on the programme. When IRIN visited one of the pilot Atlantis programmes in prison 3, patients were preparing to perform a comedy show for other inmates. "Through humour, patients learn to be happier and can be self-critical in a supportive, non-threatening environment," one of the facilitators said in a brightly-painted meeting room that contrasted markedly with the drab corridors of the rest of the jail. "Change is at the core of the programme. Change happens in all components of a personality - biological, physical, social and spiritual", Kovalyova told IRIN. The programme has been so successful that it is serving as a treatment model for other countries in the region. In May, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) held an international conference looking into the implementation of the Atlantis programme in other former Soviet republics. Although a relatively low cost solution, a lack of resources means that at the moment there are few opportunities to expand the programme to the to the other 31 prisons in Kyrgyzstan which are interested in the programme.