How many pills does it take to satisfy an American? Really, how medicated does one country have to be to maintain its composure? According to television and magazine ads we all need medicine — anyone who has trouble falling asleep, 8-year-old boys who can’t sit still, adults who aren’t happy with how their lives turned out. People believe these ads and rush to the doctor’s office to see if they have the horrible disease they just learned about for the first time on TV. Are we really the strong, moral nation that we pretend to be, or do we just act like this because we all ate Prozac cereal for breakfast? What would become of America if all prescription drugs vanished into thin air? Could we pull through? It’s sad to say, but no, we couldn’t.

People have problems. That’s the way life is. Things like depression, anxiety and little boys who can’t sit still have been around for a while, and we can see that in our country’s own history. Einstein couldn’t sit still. Mike Tyson has a rage problem. Our white ancestors enslaved countless Africans without guilt, then started a redneck sheet-wearing club when they had to let the slaves go. The point is this: people aren’t normal. People by nature are anxious, excited, sad and overcome. The drug companies tell us that these are problems that must be fixed with a pill — a pill they can give us. These conditions aren’t called problems, people. They are called emotions. We were all born with them, but the pie isn’t always sliced perfectly. Jon might get a little more manic on his piece, Sally might get some extra energy and Billy’s pie lacks a little balance.

Dr. James Ethier, who works in Wenatchee, Wash., and has a doctorate in addiction therapy and general medical practice, said the number of people he sees whose symptoms fall under depression or anxiety is rising. I asked Dr. Ethier about over-prescriptions and his response was that doctors are supposed to attempt to meet the patient’s need. If the need is Prozac, then he gives Prozac — it’s what’s been proven to work. His reasoning, he said, is he believes people’s mental disorders can interfere with their daily lives, including their work, family or creativity. When I asked him if there are other options, he mentioned counseling and therapy and that people nowadays just don’t take care of themselves. They don’t eat healthy or exercise, then wonder why their systems feel off-kilter.
“A lot of people wouldn’t need medicine if they lived right both physically and mentally. People need creative outlets or their brain tends to get frustrated. I would, however, agree that there are a number of medicines people are taking that they might not need.”

Next time you are watching TV pay attention to the pharmaceutical ads.
“Are your legs restless? Do you have road rage? These might be related. Ask your doctor about (fill in Rx here). Your life could be normal again. Side effects may include drowsiness, vomiting, sudden stroke or heart attack, excess ear wax, or the possible excess growth of hair from your butt. But other than that, it works great!”
The media is turning our society into a bunch of fearful weenies who haul a-- to the doctor every time something might be wrong.

Ask yourself these questions: Did the Roman soldiers pop a Xanax before battle? Did injured Civil War heroes have morphine-on-tap like they do today? Do you think Jesus downed Prozac when he found out he was going to be crucified? Was Ritalin passed out to schoolchildren 200 years ago? No. I know what you are going to say. “They didn’t have those drugs back then and we should take advantage of our scientific progress.” But the point isn’t about availability. The point is that these same people who lived hundreds of years ago had the same emotional problems we have today. They found ways to deal with it, obviously, so why can’t we? Why must we resort to the prescription pad before other methods are tried? One word: money.

According to MSNBC.com, more than 130 million Americans swallow, inject, inhale, infuse, spray or rub on prescribed medications each month. The same study shows that Americans buy more medicine per person than any other country in the world. CBS News reported in 2006 that one-half of Americans take at least one prescribed drug a year, one in six taking three or more a year. Adult use of antidepressants tripled from 1999 to 2000, and according to CBS white males are diagnosed three times more often with depression than Mexican or black males living in the U.S. If this many people are visiting the pharmacy on a regular basis, than one can imagine the overall revenue that drug companies bring in annually (it’s in the hundreds of billions).

The situation in the schools is just as sad. A study done by the U.S. Social and Health Department in 2006 reported that boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed as ADHD than girls. When I was going to grade school, there was maybe one kid in the whole school who had to go to the nurse to take his Ritalin every day. Go to any grade school now and it’s not the same. This is how it works: A mother takes her son to the doctor’s office because his teacher has complained about him being restless and acting out. He doesn’t want to stay seated and focus, the teacher says. So the mom tells the doctor, the doctor checks the boy’s heart rate, then busts out the prescription pad. Easy fix, right? Has it occurred, I wonder, to any of these doctors, parents or scientists that boys between the ages of 3 and 12 weren’t made to sit in a classroom all day? In the early 1900s most families couldn’t afford to not work their children, so little boys missed out on education. Instead, they worked the fields or helped Dad do whatever it is he does. Those boys didn’t need Ritalin. They were outside, in the open, experiencing the real world. This is where a young boy belongs, not shoved behind a desk for eight hours a day.

Established author John Eldredge wrote a book called “Wild at Heart” in which he attacks this issue. Warren agrees that every child needs an education, but that boys shouldn’t necessarily start school from the moment they can speak. Warren suggests that the present school system coupled with the present treatment for ADHD is ruining our countries’ young men. Warren says that boys need to be with their fathers, outside or at work, learning how to become men. Once they know how to behave correctly, they can be put in school.
Sydney Boyd, a sophomore at UI, had something to say when asked about the subject.
“I think it’s ridiculous how many people take pills. It doesn't seem necessary.”
Boyd, from South Africa, went on to say that she knows maybe three or four people there who take prescriptions and at least three times that many here on campus.

People have been sick since day one. The cold, the flu, whatever. It happens, it’s part of life and it’s called survival of the fittest. We’ve taken that statement out of the evolutionary process and replaced the unfit with someone who’s been bankrupted by the pharmacy and is too high on Valium and Zoloft to even notice.
There are other remedies for depression, anxiety, even road rage (which by the way is a diagnosable drug in this county). Explore these methods. You wouldn’t buy a house because one person told you it was needed, would you? Let’s take back our health and quit giving vacation and college funds to them men in white coats.

	1. 21-03-2008 09:57
	China need time Like what you said, China has been getting better now. So, what they is need time. Everything is ¡°Not supposed to be easy.¡±  I agree that, between ¡°foods¡± and ¡°rights¡±, ¡°foods¡± should come first surely. Just remember that China and U.S. are in different social period now, which is the difference between ¡°developing¡± and ¡°developed¡±.   So, before sitting in your comfortable chair and criticizing China, you should do more research and talk to the Chinese people. If you are really concerned about China, I think making some donation for those Chinese who living in poor is more useful than writing a subjective article.  I kind of agree with you about the media control in China. However, I totally do not agree what you said about Tibet and Chinese Rockets fans, which seems to me as Humiliation! It does not match the moral level of a U.S. college student.  Just go to China and do the real research and see what China looks like TODAY. CNN is not always right. Gather more various information and make your judgment with least bias: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSQnK5FcKas; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9QNKB34cJo Registered

Leoocean

	2. 21-03-2008 10:05
	China need time sorry, above comment added to a wrong place. Just disregard it. Registered

Leoocean

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