But although I see a lot of good, science/medicine has also brought harm, and I have unfortunately seen the effects of it first hand. My 25 year old stepbrother suffers from anxiety and depression–like symptoms, and because of it, doctors prescribed him strong medicine to help curb the effects. But these medicines are both a blessing and a curse. When used properly, they can really help. When abused, they can be a total nightmare. Alprazolam (more commonly known as Xanax) is the addictive psychoactive drug that my step brother was prescribed. It is often prescribed to people who suffer from panic disorders/anxiety. My step brother is a sweet and caring guy, but when he overdosed on Xanax, he turned into a complete monster who punched holes in walls, broke down doors, and acted like he didn't care about anyone. One of my best friends also had a Xanax prescription and abused it, and again, I watched him go from someone who was caring and intelligent to someone who just didn't care about what he did and who he was affecting. I have come to realize that there is often a very fine line between a medicine such as Xanax that helps or that worsens a situation.
The craziest part to me was how easy it was for both my friend and my stepbrother to obtain these medicines. In some cases, all they had to do was make a phone call and voila, their prescriptions were filled. Its frustrating that whoever fills their prescriptions had no idea of the harm that my stepbrother and friend brought to both themselves and those around them. Too much of a good thing often became a bad thing.
I think that to some extent, this issue is linked to the idea of semantic contagion, how defining a term in some ways arguably spreads the condition and normalizes it. I don't want to say that both my friend and my stepbrother don't have legitimate issues, but I wonder how much their issues have been exemplified in their heads because of what society tells them about themselves and about issues like depression and anxiety. I certainly have other friends who, for example, learned about ADHD and immediately said, "Hey, that sounds like me!" and promptly went to their doctors, spewed out some symptoms, and got a prescription for Ritalin/Vyvance/Adderall.
I think that overall, medicine and advancements in science have done a lot of good. But this advancement has also opened up doors for addiction and abuse, and making bad situations even worse. I have seen this happen to people that I care about, and I am sure that I am not the only one.
I re–read this and felt the need to make some clarification. My problems with these strong medicines are not in the medicines or the science that went in to making them, but rather in the society that prescribes and uses them. Today, there seems to be "a pill for everything", and that its a deceptively easy answer for an issue that may require more than just a pill. But I don't think that it is always conveyed that there may be other options, or that these medicines have the potential to be dangerous when abused.
I completely agree with you. I have seen people turn into different people when on medications. I think, especially in our world, prescriptions are turned to too readily.
ReplyDeleteLast year, after my mom died, I was really depressed, clinically, but I refused to go to the doctor and get medication. Instead I went to a grief counselor. Going to talk to someone didn't immediately make my depression go away, but it did eventually. Even though my depression comes and goes I can manage it without medication because, for me, that was a realistic choice. I didn't want a pill to make my world sunshine and rainbows, I wanted to deal with depression from a human perspective (rather than a scientific/medicated one) and get to the root of the problem, the death of my mom.
I think this "there has to be a pill for everything" is in part fueled by society's tendency to favor reductionist explanations. It's so much easier to say depression is caused by a specific chemical imbalance in the brain, rather than by the complex mixture of social and scientific causes that Jesse alluded to. We love it when things can be explained by one or two words. Now that I think about it, our love for reductionism starts from an early age--who didn't like those days in elementary/middle/high school when the teacher announced that a test was going to only be true/false and multiple choice questions?
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with everything you are talking about with prescription drugs and other modern medicine being both a gift and a curse. I think that the things you have seen your brother go through a long with what Jesse and Julian said above are all very legitimate. I think that it is extremely fascinating to focus on both the positive and the negatives of these effects that medicine bring on the world. Again like science and culture there is this in-between grey spot that most likely no one will ever agree on.
ReplyDeleteMy brother also has been on and off anti-depressants for years, and its definitely been an interesting time. I think that the semantic contagion idea affects him quite a bit, and its kind of a vicious cycle. Doctors diagnose him with something, he thinks they are right no matter what, and he's told a pill will help him. Our society definitely likes to put things in a neat little box, as do the doctors, saying that what my brother is going through is depression. I know that I can never truly understand how he feels, but it frustrates me when he cites the doctors and his meds as the reason he is having a bad day or something like that. Good post and some great points by the way.
ReplyDeleteMy best friend, Famous Feminist Diane Price Herndl, was diagnosed with breast cancer @ 38. She's a survivor, but she's written that she's still not sure surgery, radiation and chemo were the right choice; that it saved her. Probably did. Western medicine.
ReplyDeleteBUT 'depression' is not cancer. And Xanax is not surgery. I'm so sorry for your brother (and all of you). When those drugs work, they can help. But..... And thanks for the story.