Sankalpa

‘The Pharm’ is a short film made by local people from Finglas and Cabra who attend the Sankalpa addiction rehabilitation program.  The film is about addiction to valium and alcohol and focuses on the plight on a mother who is struggling with life in Finglas.  The central character Deborah (Amanda Doonan) is not only struggling with the stresses and strains of her own life, she also has a teenage daughter Laura (Lynne Murray) who has started to mirror her mother’s behaviour.  Deborah turns to her Doctor (Ray Higgins) for support who in turn prescribes her valium without an adequate assessment of her needs and in the end the prescription reinforces her isolation and sense of despair.  Laura eventually convinces her mother to go to FAST (Finglas Addiction Support Team) but Debora is reluctant to admit she needs support. 

As a first film for Sankalpa ‘The Pharm’ provides a realistic portrait of the problems some women face when trying to deal with stress or depression.  The film highlights the ease at which doctors prescribe valium and how prescription medication does not really deal with the underlying causes of the problem.  There is clear evidence in the research literature that valium is widely used by heroin users.  Valium is sold openly in the city centre.  Some drug users secure a valium prescription from their doctors and then sell it on to supplement their income and to buy other drugs.   Recent research in the Irish context indicated that the prescribing of valium and other benzodiazepines increased with increasing levels of material deprivation.  There is also evidence indicating that prescribing of benzodiazepines is significantly higher among females than males.  Valium is being prescribed as a social support drug in the absence of adequate community services.  But the long term cost of this approach has yet to be calculated.  Our reliance on drugs to solve social problems has become embedded in our culture and is being passed from one generation to the next.  Then there the side effects such as liver damage especially when valium is combined with alcohol and other drugs.  It is hoped that ‘The Pharm’ will help to highlight the issue and show that there are alternatives to the medical approach for anxiety and depression.   

Sankalpa are running a competition in conjunction with the release of the film on the 8^th of October.  For further details see www.sankalpa.ie  

The Pharm will premier at the Lighthouse Cinema on Friday the 8^th of October and Minister Pat Carey will be in attendance.