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RyanLBailey

- 3 years ago

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Are drugs the solution?

I will say, without getting too personal, that this is more than just a hypothetical discussion for me. I'm no Scientologist, but I've always thought prescription drugs were more like a way to cheat. Like treating the symptom without actually fixing the problem. If a child is over-active, for example, I would say it's because he is being expected to fit into a box or set of behaviors that he simply isn't meant to fit into. My advice to those parents would be to adjust the box, not the CHILD, for crying out loud! But millions of people take prescription drugs every day, and apparently they produce results or people would stop taking them. What are some of your thoughts?

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Depression can be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain and it can be corrected by prescription drugs. If you are just cynical and your depression is being caused by your outlook on life then taking the drugs would only make you temporarily happy by hopping you up.

No, but they can be part of the solution. working with children with severe ADHD I can tell you meds can be a godsend. They have to be used in conjunction with a behavioral plan and a lot of monitoring has to go on as well. I also think you can tell pretty much right away if meds are going to work. As for myself, I've always loved the thought of drugs fixing certain things. If you've lived with migraines or fibromyalgia, you know from where I speak.

Drugs are chemicals. Humans always have always relied on chemicals, even before we knew why, or even that we were doing it. It can come from food, or a box, or a jug, it's all chemistry.

"I will say, without getting too personal, that this is more than just a hypothetical discussion for me." :-)

Just realized what kind of drugs you are referring to. I'll just mention the kids. I think it's an absolute crime being perpetrated against a generation of kids. Nobody has any idea what the long-term effects will be of drugging a still-developing brain. I first started questioning the ADD thing when I heard a doctor being interviewed about it maybe 6 or 7 years ago. He said rather sarcastically something like, "Of all the parents I have talked to, there was no problem whatsoever with their child until they started school."

never, drugs are the devil

You know how when you go to a new doctor or dentist, and they ask you what drugs you're taking? Well, the last couple of times I did that and answered that I wasn't taking any drugs, both times they looked at me with surprise and said, "Really?" I asked the second one about this. She kind of shook her head, and said that it's rare these days for someone to answer that they're not taking a prescription drug of some kind.

sometimes. depends on which ones

"I said God Damn, God Damn, the pusher man" Unless he wears a white coat.

In the case of ADD, the "box" the child won't fit into is the modern education system -- and it's a box that either refuses -- or is slow -- to adjust. In such a setting, treating the symptom makes more sense than dealing with the problem. If one can apply a suitable "bandaid" to the situation for long enough to get the child through the education system, it will then be someone else's problem and not yours.

Medication works. We've become quite adept at discovering and testing remedies for all kinds of physical and mental illnesses. Some work better than others, some are experimental, some are eventually proven useless. No, drugs aren't the solution to everyone's problems... but they're a pretty darn good solution to health problems.

My mother would be completely insane without her meds. She would sleep for two weeks, then she would be awake for two weeks. She once spent 12 hours rearranging 6 books. Books that she was supposed to be packing in a box, not making look pretty on a shelf. Without prescription psychiatric drugs, she would probably be dead by now. The fact of the matter is, that for many psychiatric issues, there IS no way to fix the problem. Treating the symptom is literally the BEST we can do. Sometimes, it's good enough. And when it is possible to completely fix the problem, many times part of the cure is to alter the brain chemistry. Guess how we do that? Drugs. ADD may be over diagnosed, but some people really have it, and it really disrupts their lives. I don't think we need to stop prescribing drugs, or blowing off certain disorders just because it seems like everyone has them. Because a lot of the people who say they have ADD are actually fine. And when you see someone who is fine saying they have this disorder, the disorder probably doesn't look too bad, does it? What we need to do is we need to be more careful who we diagnose, and who we prescribe drugs to.

@RyanLBailey Nashville, TN

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SoulPancake

RyanLBailey

Are drugs the solution?

joecool14

Depression can be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain and it can be corrected by prescription drugs. If you are just cynical and your depression is being caused by your outlook on life then taking the drugs would only make you temporarily happy by hopping you up.

kdmask

zamfir

Drugs are chemicals. Humans always have always relied on chemicals, even before we knew why, or even that we were doing it. It can come from food, or a box, or a jug, it's all chemistry.

RyanLBailey

"I will say, without getting too personal, that this is more than just a hypothetical discussion for me." :-)

SharonM

calholli

never, drugs are the devil

SharonM

seedeypete

sometimes. depends on which ones

Tea

"I said God Damn, God Damn, the pusher man" Unless he wears a white coat.

Griz

krillinhazuki

PopeJaimie

Are drugs the solution?

Depression can be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain and it can be corrected by prescription drugs. If you are just cynical and your depression is being caused by your outlook on life then taking the drugs would only make you temporarily happy by hopping you up.

Drugs are chemicals. Humans always have always relied on chemicals, even before we knew why, or even that we were doing it. It can come from food, or a box, or a jug, it's all chemistry.

"I will say, without getting too personal, that this is more than just a hypothetical discussion for me." :-)

never, drugs are the devil

sometimes. depends on which ones

"I said God Damn, God Damn, the pusher man" Unless he wears a white coat.

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