Thursday, June 20, 2013

We The Prescription Drug Abusers

Drug abuse is rampant in the United States.  And no, I don’t mean the drugs that are deemed illegal by a government who profits greatly from its prohibition.  Almost three quarters of Americans are on prescription drugs:

Researchers find that nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug, and more than half receive at least two prescriptions.

Mayo Clinic researchers report that antibiotics, antidepressants and painkiller opioids are the most common prescriptions given to Americans. Twenty percent of U.S. patients were also found to be on five or more prescription medications.

The study is uncovering valuable information to the researchers about U.S. prescription practices.

“Often when people talk about health conditions they’re talking about chronic conditions such as heart disease or diabetes,” Dr. St. Sauver stated in a Mayo Clinic press release. “However, the second most common prescription was for antidepressants — that suggests mental health is a huge issue and is something we should focus on. And the third most common drugs were opioids, which is a bit concerning considering their addicting nature.”

What concerns me the most about this article is the fact that anti-depressants are the second largest used prescription drug.  Haven’t all the recent mass shootings been perpetrated by people taking these drugs?  I know, that isn’t fair, but considering idiots like to blame guns, I suppose it is okay to blame anti-depressants as well.

Anti-depressants are basically legal drugs that allow people to feel better about themselves.  I daresay that the vast majority of people who are taking them do not need them.  But now that they are taking them, they need to wean themselves off of them.

The few people I know on anti-depressants have no real reason to be on them, in my opinion.  In those cases, they are, I think, hiding from past pain.  We all have serious traumas that hit us in our lives and not dealing with it by taking drugs only encourages us to not live our lives.  As an example, my wife and I have dealt with five miscarriages in a row.  The first one happened the same week my grandfather died.  If I had gone to a therapist or psychiatrist or whoever prescribes those things at that time, I would probably have been given a prescription for it.  But no, my wife and I got through it without drugs, just a lot of mourning, prayer, and patience.

On another note, many of these are probably drugs for health reasons.  But I have my doubts as to the validity of how effective they truly are.  For example, my father has type-2 diabetes.  Just before he was diagnosed and given medication for it, he was losing weight, largely due to it.  In many cases, type-2 diabetes is caused by being overweight.  But when he started taking the drugs, he gained weight.  Now, I’m no scientist or doctor, but doesn’t that sound counter-productive to you?  Of course, to question the logic of the doctor is like questioning God Himself.

Cholesterol medication is another one that I suspect is highly questionable.  In most cases, if people just stopped eating garbage and exercised a bit, they wouldn’t need to take them.  Instead they take the slightly easier, but much more expensive route and chug pills.

I am not anti-drug anymore than I am anti-vaccine.  I just have serious doubts about the so-called advances in medicine made, especially when the government agencies telling me its safe are bought and paid for by the big companies who sell this stuff.  These same companies are also exempt from any form of civil litigation in the United State as well, which basically means, they can do whatever they want and get away with it.  They could fill your vaccines with goose shit and there’s not a damn thing you could do about it.  They won’t be prosecuted and they can’t be sued.

So you’ll excuse me if I don’t trust the garbage that my doctor claims I might need to take because I have borderline health issues.  I’d rather die with a clear head than a foggy one, thank you very much.