According to a recent MedPage article, “Prescriptions for narcotic painkillers soared so much over the last decade that by 2010 enough were being dispensed to medicate every adult in the U.S. around-the-clock for a month.”
All I can say is, “Wow.” How very much we hurt–and I think the hurt and pains people are seeking relief from are far, far more than physical. Recently, I had a back spasm that just about put me under. After suffering for over a week, I finally saw a medical professional who prescribed a muscle relaxer and a stronger paid med that I would normally ever take.
I took one of each that night, and knew I would not take them again. Yes, they lessened the pain considerably. They also lessened my ability to think and feel in any way I call “normal” considerably.
I chose to think and feel with normality and to live with the pain and discomfort as the spasm slowly worked its way out and left residual tenderness and hypersensitivity that may be there for a long time to come.
But I also understood, as I felt myself getting more and more numbed and disconnected mentally and emotionally, why people turn to these. For just a little while, the difficulties of living in the down and dirty world most of us face on a moment-by-moment basis disappeared. Time lost meaning, thoughts of outside affairs and lists of undone tasks faded into oblivion.
Yes, I understand why we demand to escape. And the pharmaceutical world is providing more and more means to do so. But surely, there is a better way to deal with our mental and emotional pain than this route.
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