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The prescription painkiller and heroin epidemic, explained

Oh yeah. Honestly, being a pacifist, I hate to think / say things like these but this guy should face jail time. They are psychopathic capitalists driving the world into apocalypse.

You are absolutely right. I just posted in another thread about how life has become incredibly depressing, and anxiety ridden due to these types of situations. It all boils down to this "If one person is riding in the cart, then someone else must always be pulling it"
 
Do people with ADHD complain of pain more than the general population?

NFI, but I have fibromyalgia (which causes chronic widespread pain) and there's a correlation between that and certain mental illnesses. I don't think ADHD is among them, though.
 
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you are absolutely right. I just posted in another thread about how life has become incredibly depressing, and anxiety ridden due to these types of situations. It all boils down to this "if one person is riding in the cart, then someone else must always be pulling it"
or a horse
 
^^^Unfortunately due to it being an employer's market, and job creators (even if said jobs are minimum wage and part time) are getting their brown eyes licked by the government even more. This makes most employees pull the cart. For example over half of all walmart employees are on government assistance (which is basically subsidizing walmarts low pay, and tomfoolery when it comes to hours. Our government gives walmart breaks on taxes as well for being a job creator.) In fact many corporations barely pay any taxes and are given increasingly longer allotments of time to pay their lower tax rate. Most folks that get addicted to pain meds and heroin are self medicating. If you look at your life and realize that you are just getting by, and that no matter how hard you work your idea of retirement is just going to be to work one job then I can see why addiction rates are up.

When I work, I take home very little money after taxes and child support. Even if the childsupport wasn't taken out I would still be hardpressed to save any money for the future...especially if I were to get sick and need to go to the hospital. This led me into deep depression which in turn led to me self medicating with opiates.
 
Actually, I think the rise in mental health problems is because we live in a system that is draining the life out of us. Think about the difference from the fifties till today. Mom could afford to take care of the kids without working, dad could afford a couple cars and a house without a college education. Now, even with a college education and constant hard work its a gamble at best if you can keep your head above water, let alone save for the future or plan a retirement. We live in an employer's market and because of deregulation and the fall of the union vacations and sick days are slowly vanishing as well.

These are anxiety causing situations that also contribute to depression.

Life wasnt easy bake then, too. The culture has changed. Psychological and medical problems are know more accepted then before and people are therefore more open about it. Nowadays nobody is labeled as weak, because of some medical issues. In my granddads generation, one had to swallow pain and not complain, to be a "man". My granddad, as ww2 vet, couldn't/wouldn't go to an therapist because of war traumas. He had to be "strong" and try to live with the horror. Nowadays its fully accepted that war vets can get psychological support because of PTBS.

Culture has changed, not the diseases. As mentioned above, doctors agreed in the 1990 that too much people are in pain and there is need for therapy. People had pain before, but the doctors didn't prescribe opiates en masse. Its the attitude that has changed. People now don't accept suffering as part of life, as the generations did before. Today's attitude is that any form of suffering needs to be immediately diminished.

I guess another point is the war on drugs: Most heroine is coming from Columbia/Mexico. The war on drug forced the producers/smugglers/dealers to professionalize their business. And as good business men, they used the opportunity very well.
 
I completely agree with the above statement rujex. I grew up in a very traditional old school irish household in upstate newyork. Men didn't cry you lived by the motto that men kept their feelings to themselves, and if you get angry just let that beast out. Also, any weakness was met with punishment. I remember my school suggested I see a therapist because I was fighting..a lot. My dad just looked at her and said "therapist? this boy just needs some labor to set him straight"
 
Life wasnt easy bake then, too. The culture has changed. Psychological and medical problems are know more accepted then before and people are therefore more open about it. Nowadays nobody is labeled as weak, because of some medical issues. In my granddads generation, one had to swallow pain and not complain, to be a "man". My granddad, as ww2 vet, couldn't/wouldn't go to an therapist because of war traumas. He had to be "strong" and try to live with the horror. Nowadays its fully accepted that war vets can get psychological support because of PTBS.

Culture has changed, not the diseases. As mentioned above, doctors agreed in the 1990 that too much people are in pain and there is need for therapy. People had pain before, but the doctors didn't prescribe opiates en masse. Its the attitude that has changed. People now don't accept suffering as part of life, as the generations did before. Today's attitude is that any form of suffering needs to be immediately diminished.

I guess another point is the war on drugs: Most heroine is coming from Columbia/Mexico. The war on drug forced the producers/smugglers/dealers to professionalize their business. And as good business men, they used the opportunity very well.

For the most part, those with addiction issues or mental illness are still very much stigmatized, and labeled as weak. It's frustrating how wrong you are. It's not as bad as it used to be, but you literally said "nobody is labeled weak, for some medical issues".

Honestly you may have a decent point about the culture to eradicate pain, but I think that mostly applies to mental illness...you know you can't talk away physical pain, right? I can't tell when you're talking about physical pain versus when you're talking about mental pain.

Also it's not hard to poke holes in the idea that people don't accept suffering as part of life (again, not sure what kind of suffering you're speaking of). Jobs pay less, people work more, society favors the rich, college is more information-intense than ever, the poverty level hasn't been adjusted for inflation for many decades.

I realize recognize the context in which you used the phrase, but to be clear, there is nothing "good" about heroin dealers. Nor do I regard them as professional, but I'd say that's open to dispute. The point is that they take advantage of the disenfranchised and desperate by peddling an apparent solution that only ends up becoming an enormous problem, commonly the greatest struggle one faces in their lifetime.

manboychef,

Wouldn't simply being able to get into a fistfight without being expelled mean that suffering is more accepted?
 
A lot of people "back in the day" just self-medicated by getting drunk on a regular basis.

Also it probably could be argued that, in some ways, people were a lot less complacency to suffer in eras past. There was a time in the USA when the 5 hour workday was something that labor had as a real goal. Contrast that to today, when American workers will desperately scrounge up every last hour of overtime they can just to retain their shitty job.
 
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I did end up getting expelled :(. That led to some harsh punishment.

Traditional values have changed. We have the technology and the information to heal quite a few of societies ills. Why not use them? I worked two jobs in restaurants (sous chef, then bartender)and sometimes I picked up extra work landscaping in order to afford to live decently. Not even well. Just decently. I had to scrimp and save for a car that I could barely afford to keep on the road if I didn't work so much. I prayed everyday that I did not get sick or injured. In an employer's market you can be replaced so easily. I live in florida which is a right to work state...they can fire you for no reason.

What can make you work a serious amount of hours without getting tired and without an intense muscle fatigued? What can make you forego thinking about that you are walking on the razors edge and you could lose it all extremely quick? What can make you desire to get up and do it all again the next day, and the next and the next? It sure as hell wasn't the american dream because I never got to see any of that. It was opiates. They made me able to work and work and work without caring/eating. In every field of work involving any sort of labor you are going to see people taking opiates because it is hard on the body and in order to make a "living" you have to push it so much harder everyday.
 
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For the most part, those with addiction issues or mental illness are still very much stigmatized, and labeled as weak. It's frustrating how wrong you are. It's not as bad as it used to be, but you literally said "nobody is labeled weak, for some medical issues".

Honestly you may have a decent point about the culture to eradicate pain, but I think that mostly applies to mental illness...you know you can't talk away physical pain, right? I can't tell when you're talking about physical pain versus when you're talking about mental pain.

Also it's not hard to poke holes in the idea that people don't accept suffering as part of life (again, not sure what kind of suffering you're speaking of). Jobs pay less, people work more, society favors the rich, college is more information-intense than ever, the poverty level hasn't been adjusted for inflation for many decades.

I realize recognize the context in which you used the phrase, but to be clear, there is nothing "good" about heroin dealers. Nor do I regard them as professional, but I'd say that's open to dispute. The point is that they take advantage of the disenfranchised and desperate by peddling an apparent solution that only ends up becoming an enormous problem, commonly the greatest struggle one faces in their lifetime.

manboychef,

Wouldn't simply being able to get into a fistfight without being expelled mean that suffering is more accepted?

That people with addictions or mental illness are still stigmatized is true. But it is another problem: some people just don't accept addiction and mental illness as real diseases.

When i used suffering as a term, it was actually supposed to be very vague - and meant to include both, physical and mental pain. If a person suffers or not, is really subjective. Sure you cant talk away physical pain, but actually the border between mental and physical pains is hard to draw. You cant talk away a depression, too. And mental illnesses can have a lot of physical effects.
 
That people with addictions or mental illness are still stigmatized is true. But it is another problem: some people just don't accept addiction and mental illness as real diseases.

When i used suffering as a term, it was actually supposed to be very vague - and meant to include both, physical and mental pain. If a person suffers or not, is really subjective. Sure you cant talk away physical pain, but actually the border between mental and physical pains is hard to draw. You cant talk away a depression, too. And mental illnesses can have a lot of physical effects.

I second this. My major depressive disorder requires medication and talk therapy.
 
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