Psychological Overshoot and Drugs

BigTex

Think about how human beings are designed to be able to handle a certain amount of stress, pressure and psychological distress. After the breaking point is reached, we typically remove ourselves from a situation or find another way of solving whatever problem is giving us so much trouble.

However, think about the drugs we take to help us endure higher levels of psychological stress than we could ordinarily endure.

Antidepressants
Sedatives
Sleeping Pills
Painkillers (makes the mind feel better too)
Alcohol
Nicotine
Pick your illegal drug of choice

Taking a step back, think about how much we have overshot our "sustainable" stress endurance capacity. Think about how most people don't say the world is screwed up, instead they struggle and suffer, never questioning whether maybe the problem is with the world, and not them (Thoreau had good things to say on this topic).

It occurred to me that antidepressants and the rest of the medicine cabinet are kind of like high oil prices, in that they are each a symptom of overshoot of sustainable carrying capacity--one within the human psyche and the other within the human habitat.

It seems to me that the only sustainable lifestyle for human beings is one that they can perform and experience day in and day out without having to take medication to be able to function or keep from freaking out.

What a screwed up world where these things even need to be said.

I guess it's not screwed up for the pharmaceutical companies, though.
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steam_cannon · Expert Joined: Dec 28, 2006 Posts: 2421 Location: MA

I heard there was an episode of "Connections" I think, that started off
with saying we can blame global warming on coffee drinking, because
with coffee workers weren't falling asleep over machinery and we had
the industrial revolution...

pedalling_faster · Intermediate Crude Joined: Dec 10, 2005 Posts: 727

in 20+ years working in Silicon Valley, i've met one
"lead techie" who was into Kundalini Yoga breathing
and started his programming day off with 2 hours of
breathing exercises.

for everbody else, it's C A F F E I N E.

i don't think it's a coincidence that Peet's Coffee started
out in Menlo Park. high quality caffeine.
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http://www.LASIK-FLAP.com/ ~ Health Warning about LASIK Eye Surgery

Ayame

I knew the way we live wasn't right. The stress, the greed, the lack of community, the competition of aquire 'things'.

I got depressed so they sent me to a psych and I was told I was the one with the problem, that the world was fine and I was the delusional one.

Then I found out about peak oil and I laughed; boy are they in for a surprise. Now that I know this state of things can't go on forever I feel ok.

MattSavinar · Elite Joined: May 09, 2004 Posts: 1990

I've been thinking about this a lot lately actually. I started using things like Gingo Bilboa, Kava-Kava, etc. in law school. Yes, the stuff is "all-natural" but I thought it odd that people did not need these things 50 years ago when 3 meals a day and a couple cups of coffee was enough to get you through the day. (3-martini lunches not withstanding.)

I've recently read that use of "smart drugs" ranging from stuff like Gingko to really exotic stuff and of course ADD meds is as rampant in academia as greenies and steroids are in professional baseball. I'm sure use is sky-high in corporate circles as well.

It's almost as though in order to get by or make ends meet out in the general economy a person needs a superhuman amount of mental and emotional stamina. Some people might opt for more natural methods like the Gingko or Kava-Kava but the motivation is the same as the people getting on pharmaceuticals.
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Ferretlover

BigTex

WildRose · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Jun 21, 2006 Posts: 1005

billp

Combat is stressful.

One of my phd students has been working on evaluating performance while under the influence of drugs - for about 37 years.

cheers

overlever

I see several colleagues who cannot function without boatloads of drugs. My current boss doesn't use coke, but one of his predecessors did. Our Global Director Relations (read: the stooge who has to do all the traveling) is on so many meds it's ridiculous. His blood pressure shot up from all the traveling he does, he has constant jet lag, he cannot concentrate, he forgets which country he is in, etc. And to counteract it all he gets his medication (really all sorts) in bulk when he visits Indonesia. This is not what life is supposed to be like.
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Nature shows that with the growth of intelligence comes increased capacity for pain, and it is only with the highest degree of intelligence that suffering reaches its supreme point.

Schopenhauer

Ludi

I have an extremely low-stress life and still have to take antidepressants (and sometimes antipsychotics). For some people (small percentage of population), it's just a genetic screw-up. Probably always been in the population to some extent. But most people should not have to take them to function, that to me indicates problems with society, not problems with the individuals.
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"...powerdown so soft and fluffy you'll think you're living in a pillow..." - jboogy

BigTex

Lumpy

I posted this to another thread, but I think it is relevant here, too. So I am reposting the following:

Since I practice rural medicine, I think a lot about what the changes there are going to look like. At present my speciality is psychiatry. However, as of today I initiated the paperwork to start the course work to become certified in family practice as well.

Psychiatry is important, but general practice will be mandatory.

I plan for a holistic general practice (which is my approach in psychiatry, too), incorporating the use of herbs, aromatherapy, etc.

All of this will become increasingly necessary, as medications become harder and harder to come by.

Eventually the "country medicine woman" that my family calls me half in jest will become what I am for real -- and I will need to pass a lot of my training, experience, and expertise on to younger generations to carry on.

It's coming full circle.

Lumpy

MY ADD ON TO THIS THREAD WOULD BE .... I agree that there are some people born with messed up wiring -- psychiatrically speaking. (Kind of like what Ludi said.) I would say that they comprise maybe 20% of my practice. I would say that the other 80% of my psychiatric practice would not need to be on medication if we lived as we did pre-electric, pre-oil days.

We screwed up our circadian rhythms with electricity ... leading to sleep deprivation ... leading to depression, increased heart disease, and a myriad other problems.

We screwed up our natural exercise quota when we stopped having to work the land using our bodies, because of the advent of oil-powered machines.

We screwed up our tendency toward self-worth and self-esteem when we stopped needing our children to perform chores beginning at a very early age (like the 4 year olds feeding the chickens and collecting the eggs, as an example.) The need to be productive in a REAL way (not a 'make work' way) is built in to us. A kid with chores that truly contribute to his/her family's survival is going to feel better about himself/herself.

We screwed up our support systems and sense of community when oil made it possible (mandatory in most cases) to move off the small farms where your neighbors/families lived close by, and into far off cities in order to be able to survive.

I could go on ... but I won't. You get the idea.

Lumpy
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"Run when you can, walk when you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up."

-- Dean Karnazes, runner and author of Ultramarathon Man

vision-master

BigTex