Our Abuse of Medicine
The Almighty Prescription: Endless Prescription Drugs
The opioid epidemic in the US isn’t the only pill epidemic abound.
We’re taking more pills than ever before. In the US and in the Western world as a whole.
But are the pills actually helping us? Or are they just a crutch, covering up other problems?
Hell, 12.6% of Americans have used a benzo in the past year. 17% of these without a script. Even those with a script, that number is huge for such a serious drug. It’s also rising significantly.
Then we have the lovely SSRI’s. Which are increasing in usage even though they are garbage. They are even being used as an “all purpose” drug. 12.7% of people are taking these. And it’s also on the uptick.
Anti-depressant usage increased by over 400%. This increase has happened Twice in recent history.
Yet depression has been on the rise for many decades.
Normally, when a drug comes out we compare how it has addressed the issue through how many people it has cured using a trendline. However, as anti-depressants have become more common, depression has actually increased.
So what is the cure to even more depression?
Even more pills!
Half of Americans take four prescription pills on average everyday.
Do they need them? No. Rarely are they essential.
Yet 1.3 million people went the emergency rooms due to adverse drug effects and about 124,000 died from these events.
This happens (and grows in size) every single year.
So hundreds of thousands are dying… for drugs we don’t actually need.
Pill Nation
On top of this, illegal drug use is increasing. More people are destroying their lives over illicit drugs than ever.
All of these pills, legal or not, are bankrupting us. Because of our for-profit healthcare system, we regularly have to spend money on prescriptions that we can’t afford.
Our culture makes us think that every problem requires a drug to fix. When most of them require a drug only to worsen or stabilize. Very rarely do we focus as much on actual fixes to many common ailments: such as diet, exercise, or simply sunshine.
We don’t need all these drugs. They should always be a last resort… the last option. Instead, we are treating them as the only option.
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