Our Medicated Society

The following is a short article written by someone I am proud to call my daughter

Our Medicated Society

by "married with children"

Is it possible that the decline in our nation’s healthcare could be the amount of prescription medications the American people are now taking? It seems that every ailment, mental or physical, now has a drug available to “fix” it.

I once sat at a table of seven grown women, doing crafts of all things and within an hour came to find I was the only one not on something. They suffered from OCD, depression, and anxiety. My husband and I often crack jokes about this topic, “I’m tired” there’s a pill for that, “I’m angry and out of patience” there’s a pill for that, “I’m constipated” there’s a pill for that. The crazy thing is there really is a pill for just about everything. Whatever happened to the good old-fashioned attitude of our forefathers. You’re depressed? Put on a happy face or grin and bear it. Your child has too much energy and can’t sit still? Send them outside to play!

Our society has become too quick to label everything and I believe the second you give the problem a clinical diagnosis you no longer think you have the power to change it! I’ve recently watched first hand someone “battling” depression. Medicated and seeking counseling, her attitude was appalling. She truly believed and said “ I can’t find joy in anything because of my illness”. I instantly flashed to the scene from the movie “Airplane”. I wanted to grab her by the shoulders, shake her, and yell “snap out of it” with a good slap across the face. And why in the world would the side effect of an anti-depressant be thoughts of suicide? Does anyone else find that alarming?

And when you seek counseling for depression they have you dig deep into your past because of course you know any problem you have as an adult can be traced back to something that must have happened to you as a kid. Give me a break! If that were true and certain events of our childhood determined us as adults, this society would be more screwed up than it already is.

Maybe if the drug and insurance companies would stop over-prescribing for everything imaginable, the healthcare system wouldn’t be where it is today. And if you can’t quite stomach this article or agree with me, I’m sure there’s a pill for that too.