We live in a drug culture

You've probably seen this commercial for Abilify before, but I'll post it for those who haven't.



When I heard this commercial it just struck me how reliant on drugs we really are. Basically what this commercial is saying is that if you take drugs and they don't seem to be helping, or helping enough, the answer is to simply take more drugs. Drugs are not always the answer, and usually they just aren't the answer at all. We tell out kids, "Don't take drugs", "Say NO to drugs", etc. but then we are bombarded by commercial after commercial that says if you want to feel better, perform better, etc., the answer is in this drug or that drug.

Now a lot of people try to make the argument that there is a difference between prescription medication and "drugs" and on some level that is true, but on another level it just simply isn't true. Most of the street drugs today started out as drugs recommended by doctors. Yes, even cocaine and heroine. They were psychiatric drugs. We didn't know about their long term effects, side-effects and all that back then like we do now, so they are generally not prescribed anymore. But the flip side to that is that the drugs we have today are rushed to market without enough research and/or the doctors who prescribe them don't really pay attention to what they are doing or why they are doing it. (And I say this from experience.) The drug company tells them, "try this" and they do.

Some times medication is necessary. I'm not saying it isn't. But we rely on them too much. As a culture, we seem to have this notion that everything can be fixed with a little round pill taken once a day (or 30 minutes before sexual activity) and I think that is wrong-minded. We look for the easy way out and sometimes there just isn't one.