- So far, ISSSTE has dealt with more than 150 cases related to the Clonazepam Challenge.
- Through TikTok, the consumption of this drug that requires a prescription for its acquisition has become popular.
- Its unnecessary consumption can cause from drowsiness and nausea to poisoning.
The Institute of Security and Social Services of State Workers (Issste) launched the program “Caution. Beware of the infodemic: Clonazepam Challenge”. It is part of the institutional strategy “First think” aimed at promoting health, self-care and timely detection of risk behaviors, informed the general director, Pedro Zenteno Santaella.
Derived from recent publications on social networks about the challenge called “Whoever sleeps last, wins”, practiced by girls, boys and adolescents. It’s about consuming controlled drug clonazepam without medical supervision and the head of ISSSTE warned that it puts the health of those who take it irresponsibly at risk.
The medical director, Ramiro López Elizalde, explained that the actions of this ISSSTE program are disseminated through social networks and internal institutional communication channels that include medical units of the organism in the three levels of care.
In addition, it is part of the Institute’s Comprehensive Mental Health Program, Comprehensive management of mental health emergencies: Código Morado; the ECOS transversal strategy for Well-being: Community Health Teams; and the Center for Information and Toxicological Care, located in the Toluca General Hospital, which provides remote advice 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to clinics and hospitals in the country, in response to alerts of detected cases.
The consequences of participating in the Clonazepam Challenge
According to the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris), misuse of clonazepam can cause side effects such as drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, loss of balance, coordination problems, difficulty thinking or remembering, headache, muscle or joint pain, and even blurred vision, tremors, incontinence or urinary retention and increased saliva. The most extreme are severe breathing problems or sedation and if combined with other medications could cause coma https://bit.ly/3mdW4zn.
The national head of ISSSTE Mental Health, Lucía Ledesma Torres, highlighted that specific actions have been implemented on this important issue at the “20 de Noviembre” National Medical Center (CMN), 14 regional hospitals, 26 general hospitals, 72 hospital clinics and first-level units that provide care to affiliated persons, including girls, boys, adolescents, and young people.
One of the objectives is to guarantee the right to mental health protection with psychological, psychiatric, emergency care and smoking cessation services, timely detection of addictions and risk behaviors associated with the alert program on the misuse of clonazepam . He commented that among the reasons for care, intoxication due to substance use stands out; among them, psychoactive drugs.
Since the strategy began “Caution. Beware of the infodemic: Clonazepam Challenge” and according to service data by Código Morado, service has been provided to more than 150 cases throughout the country. Regarding those associated with intoxication by psychotropic drugs, 14 alerts of detected cases have been issued and attended to, seven of which have been minors.
He emphasized that at the end of 2021 the Medical Directorate implemented the Operational Guide number 20 for the comprehensive management of emergencies in mental health: Purple Codewhich has more than 140 mental health hospitalization beds in the ISSSTE hospital network, where until December 2022, 1,450 patients were treated.
Also read:
Clonazepam challenge and the dangers of consuming controlled drugs
Cofepris publishes an alert for the Clonazepam Challenge: “It is so serious that it can cause a coma”
Clonazepam Challenge, the new and dangerous trend of TikTok
