Anxious Companion

Follow the script

"... by 2011, the total number of annual prescriptions written for the group of drugs known as atypical antipsychotics (which includes Abilify and Seroquel) rose to 54 million from 28 million in 2001, almost doubling in the space of a decade, meaning that psychiatrists and psychopharmacologists are likely prescribing the new antipsychotics for off-label conditions not approved by the FDA. The astounding rise in the number of prescriptions for newer antipsychotic drugs may be due to psychopharmacologists' belief that, when added to a depressive's diet, so to speak, an antipsychotic boosts the action of the antidepressant and more effectively irradiates the iron grip of despair than does an antidepressant alone." Blue Dreams, The Science and the Story of the Drugs That Changed Our Minds, by Lauren Slater

Culprit

I have my finger and thumb gun out again. This time I take aim and shoot at a hidden from sight culprit that many know about, but have yet to take their fair share of the blame in the killing game. I speak of psychiatrists, those dodgy docs that are trigger happy with their pens, scribbling scripts for anxious pill poppers that want their minds soothed and settled without dealing with root causes. Look at the quote above again, dear reader. Antipsychotic drugs were prescribed for people without psychosis because combined with antidepressants, despair would be "irradiated." Imagine being prescribed chemotherapy for a wart, a cold sore, a stubbed toe. Before you accuse me of being insensitive to sorrow, I tell you I know the ache of a grieving soul; I understand a world being drained of colour to a dreary grey during periods of anguish; I comprehend being face down on the floor weeping in despair... but I also know the power of the living God to redeem, renew, refresh, even when it seems nothing will change circumstances, all is doomed, and hope feels like a cheap moving shell game played one too many times, with no winning in sight. To prescribe antipsychotic drugs to someone that is emotionally suffering, is overkill, and has assisted in the demise of western society. 

Disabled

Just so that we are clear with one another: people have been medicated right out of their sensitivities & sensibilities. They are numb, dumb (as in disabled from expressing their inner workings), and susceptible to suggestion. Enter stage left, the villain that would have their heads, their minds, their souls held in captivity. Drugged and drained of any sense of self, "we" the people went along with Tom, Dick, and Harry, to the insane asylum, sans visible straightjackets, or someone dragging them there against their will. Willing participants in their own somatization, "patients" paid for the drugs their psychiatrists prescribed out of hand, right from their own pockets. Fast forward from the 2011 date mentioned in the quote, and we have us a crisis of drug addiction on a global scale in the years 2021 to the present, with the masses doing doctor someone or others bidding, minus a physical examination, a conversation about symptoms, or a personal and private relationship built on confidentially and trust. A one size fits all prescription was purchase ordered for everyone with a pulse, and the bill was sent to the citizens that didn't even know they were "sick".

Casual conversation

Years ago, in casual conversation, I learned a couple of my friends were on low dose anxiety medications, a married couple from church was similarly medicated, and many young people I know, are also drugged to smooth the rough edges of emotions that apparently, they aren't capable of handling. According to what I have read in Blue Dreams, this drugging has been happening for a very long time, and we have decades worth of dysfunctional humans to prove it. 

Social anxiety is a term coined to label people that are seemingly, afraid of other people. I find it disturbing that while eyes are glued to phone screens, toddlers babble and coo, tug at pant legs and sometimes drop on the spot, to get the attention of the adults that supposedly love them. Children learn empathy from eye contact, watching and listening to tone, and from the behaviours of ethically sound parental units: is it any wonder kids are anxious, nervous about being with other people, and inclined to be weak in the area of dealing with big emotions, when their parents, teachers, coaches, are probably numbed out of feeling anything at all because of their "low dose" antidepressants and perhaps, antipsychotic meds?

❓Are you on a low dose antidepressant and or antipsychotic?

❓Do you have social anxiety?

❓Do you know anyone that takes pills to even out emotions?

Altered by drugs

I know that when we eat, there is a chemical reaction in the body: I know that when we take drugs, there is a chemical reaction in the body... there is an alteration that happens, and if we eat what makes us ill for any length of time, we end up with disease, and conditions that cannot be easily reversed, if at all. The very same is true with a body chemistry altered by drugs, politely called medications or prescriptions. Psychiatrists are guilty of the sin of poisoning human minds, giving patients needing understanding, compassion, and guidance, the impression that what temporarily tames anxious thoughts and feelings is worthwhile, while NOT warning that the drug they take can become a tyrannical tiger, demanding a life time commitment to somatization. 

Psychic immunity

Somehow it became healthy to pop pills everyday, as though a dose from a plastic bottle with a difficult to remove push down hard and twist even harder lid, will be the anxiety companion to beat all others in the fight against emotions that threaten to kill the faint at heart. If what doesn't kill us makes us stronger emotionally, psychologically, physically and spiritually, than the pills, shots, and witch doctor brews do the opposite, weakening our psychic immunity to the point of capitulation to all things druggy. Psychiatrists legitimized their positions as physicians when they started prescribing medications: they looked out what would fix a malfunction, rather than treating humans as whole beings that deserved a chance to share their heaviness and be heard, rather than drugged to the point of being emotionally dulled. 

The Road Less Travelled

I think of Dr. Scott Peck, and my nose tingles with appreciation for the man he was, and what I learned on the Road Less Travelled. The good doctor was a balm for my troubled soul. He taught me how to chase down my wayward anxious thoughts, hold them captive until they explained themselves, and to be honest about what I was experiencing so that my feelings didn't rule the roost: rather, my conscience and aware mind helped me make my decisions. It is only when I don't take the time to think and feel that I become crazed, somehow discombobulated and disoriented: emotions can be like that, leading us by the proverbial nose. My exposure to Dr. Peck's writings and audio books gave me the idea that thought processes can be directed and focused so that choices are made with an individuals integrity intact. Group consensus is not a real thing, dear reader. When this concept is closely analyzed, you and I can chuckle and smirk, because we know that within our own families, within our own close circle of friends, within our own communities, there has never existed the wonderful animal called group consensus. To be more pointed and bring us back to why I am writing and you are reading this blog, if "no two snowflakes are alike", why in God's name, would we ever believe, that a one size fits all shot or two in the arm, would suit every human on the planet? Going back further, why would the same antidepressant drugs, or antipsychotic drugs, be prescribed to the tune of 54 million doses in the year 2011, to people of all shapes, sizes, ethnicities... 

The Bible instructs

I know God has a relationship with each human being He created. I know that each human being has one with Him too, whether or not they want to acknowledge this truth. The worldly would have us believe that God doesn't exist, and that if He does, He doesn't care. God would have us know Him, and the Bible instructs:

And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (Romans 12:2)

Dear reader, I am not a doctor, nor am I giving you medical advise. In fact, if I were a doctor, I would be very nervous giving medical advice, given what has transpired in the past couple of years and counting... What I am is a faith filled Christian, that wants the very best for you. I am not suggesting you stop taking whatever it is you take, I am suggesting you ask some questions, like:

❓Why am I taking these drugs?

❓How long have I been on them?

❓How long will I be on them?

❓Do I have to take them?

❓What does the research indicate about long term effects?

❓What can I do to take care of my emotional, psychological, physical and spiritual well-being, that does not involve popping a pill? 

❓Is anxiety my constant companion? If so;

❓Who can I talk to to help me work things out?

❓Who do I trust to direct me to help?

The questions above can be a starting point, after prayer of course! The Great Physician designed you little one: He knows you, sees you in your pain, anguish, loneliness and sorrow. If you know and love Him, you can hear His voice. He is the healing balm, the salve for injured souls, and He is waiting for you to call on Him for help. Go to Him before you consider going to the world for solutions. When you call on Him first, and listen closely to His prescription, you will discover resources that are available to you that you didn't even know existed! 

But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou are my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God (Psalm 40:17)

With God by your side, your anxious companion will have to skedaddle! Send that worthless clinger on packing, inviting peace into your soul.