This article may poke fun at things but really it is written with best of intentions and I’m no therapist. Think for yourself.
I’ll start with America. Yeah, we’re having a helluva a time right now. That’s what the news says at least. This is a place where people live with the least amount of pain compared to the rest of the world. You say prove it! Okay, well, here it is.
There came a shift, I believe, in the early 1990s. Prior to the 1990s, people were living more constructively with their pain. Now, they do not live with it; they put it aside for the quick fix. You have all seen the drug commercials that hit television in the 1990s?
Prior to the mid 1990s, when people had shyness, or anxiety they confronted their fears head-on and worked through the “pain.” During my college days, I signed up for acting and speech courses. I also joined a Toastmasters group and took a pricey Dale Carnegie course. I was doing the deal.
Now alot of the public resorts to taking pills, first. I was sucked into the whole pill popping scene of the late 1990’s. It was after seeing a Paxil commercial. I went to my psychiatrist and requested Paxil and he prescribed it. It was so easy. I saw a commercial and in a few days I had pills. Now think about this phenomenon. Just look on Youtube and you will see testimonials about this.
The basic video is: I saw the drug commercial and went to see the psychiatrist or M.D. but they were too busy and so I talked to a nurse and told her my symptoms and then I got a prescription.
The follow up video goes something like: Now I am having side effects and cannot sleep or I am gaining weight. The doc is changing me to another medicine. I’ll see how it goes but maybe I should get off pills.
The third video goes something like: The new pills are not working either. I keep telling the doctor that I can do it on my own but the doctor insists I give it a try.
Then the video maker usually falls off the face of the earth. What happens next?
The next video comes out something like this: I am so mad at these doctors. They know nothing. I am better off just living with the anxiety than these side effects.
Through it all, I have held onto my guitar more than the pills. I’m no doctor or therapist. Do your own research. The doctors know best about certain mental conditions that require medicine.
In my experience, it was more trouble and money than it was worth it. I should have learned to just live with the pain instead of buying into a quick fix. I’m an artist by the way, and this is what drives me.
So here it is, keep pressing on, don’t give up, don’t complain, just get on with it.
