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How to not feel acutely guilty for using drugs tested on animals?

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Berdo tm1

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Feb 10, 2014
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I think that unless it was life threatening like cancer then it doesnt justify using drugs tested on animals.

My depression is now getting to vice like crippling proportions and I require some kind of relief asap, but have avoided taking medications feeling even worse that some animal was tortured indefinitely to produce it. I have many other pessimistic reasons for not trying but that has been high on my list.

You could say depression is life threatening but I don't really 'buy it' not like some real physical malady. Yes yes Ive read all about the 'it's a physcial chemical imbalance in the brain blah blah'. Doesnt make me feel less guilty. Yes I also know depression causes guilt read every single piece of the old rhetoric ad infinitum.

The only small excuse I could think of is the buddhist one of how they give themselves a pass for eating meat they say 'if it wasnt killed directly for you then its ok to eat it'.

I want to try modafinil but feel bad that it's been tested on animals and is only used as a life enhancer rather than an abdsolute necessity.
 
I think the (buddhist) approach you mention is a good one.

While I agree that issues of animal welfare are important and worth individuals considering wherever possible - try to consider it this way; no more animals will be tested upon whether you choose to take this medication or not.
Your decision - at this point - has no bearing on the animal testing that has already taken place in order for modafinil to be available for human medications.
The industry's approach is far beyond your control, so it is more pragmatic to focus on what you can change.
My 2 cents anyway.
 
Animal testing is completely natural. Case in point: I have a big mushroom on my yard and I was wondering if it's poisonous. A couple of days ago I noticed it had been nibbled on and there was a dead mouse next to it. Problem solved! Well two, no need to set a mouse trap either.

That said, I don't know about all this chemical imbalance bs. Drugs do absolutely nothing to fix the root cause of the depression. No idea about modafinil but SSRI's (what the chemical imbalance theory was invented to sell) certainly don't help. Placebo pills have better efficacy in clinical tests. But they do cause a lot of new problems.
 
I dont want to get into that debate on whether they work or not. They clearly work for some ppl and they are probably the only thing i havent tried properly of the common methods for depression- i tried all the non drug related methods first due to my generally being against using medicaiton unless its really necessary.

One of the most frustrating things aobut depression is apparently everyone is an expert since they might have felt a tiny bit blue and felt better the next day and suddenly have their 'foolproof method' for how to solve it.

Suffice to say ive tried all the other 'funky self help steps to beat depression' to no avail. Read mountains of books, so it bugs me when ppl try and 'school me' saying 'why not try excercising'.
 
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Exercising, reading self-help books and all that funk are also just ways to avoid dealing with the root causes. But if you've tried all the others you might as well try this one too then, just don't expect a miracle.
 
Maybe read a bit of medical literature so you understand why animal testing began. Today thats a subject of controversy but there are new methods of investigation that don't require direct animal experimentation, but as everything else, it comes slowly.
 
^ye I was thinking of doing that actually to at least get a more even headed view of it.
 
It's good to have an ethical perspective on the world around you, but not to the point that it is detrimental to your ability to lead a fulfilling life.
A healthy balance is possible - without having to contradict your beliefs - but sometimes I think that means accepting that some things are beyond your control, and not to feel guilty about them.

To me, your concern shows you have a lot of empathy, which is a really positive thing.
 
Are you a vegetarian? Do you have any close friends that love their meat? How's about you make a deal with them. For every modafinil you need to take, they will sacrifice 1 portion of meat. You could try and work it out so the net animal death of you taking your meds is counterbalanced by your considerate friends :). I normally eat meat twice a day. I am willing to go a day without to start you off. True story. :)
 
Why would it be any better if countless humans suffered during its testing?

New medicines need to be tested to be safe before unleashing on the general population. We don't currently have enough knowledge of how the human body works nor the technology to avoid some animals lives being taken. Rather than feel guilty I prefer to take a pragmatic approach and make sure I appreciate and give thanks to those creatures who were sacrificed for our benefit.
 
The same way you give thanks to soldiers who fought in wars long ago. I celebrate thanksgiving once a year by not eating meat and observing a moments appreciation for the living things that are sacrificed. I see trees as mighty sentinel beings too. If you then decide that vegetation should be given the right to survive it won't take long before you starve to death.

If you are going to get funny about medicines why stop there? Look around at the majority of today's technology from microwaves to computers, much of it was tested on animals and humans to determine safety too. Even prisoners and handicap humans were tested with radiation and other physical and chemical experiments so we now know the limits of the human body. If you have an ethical stand against all medical testing then throw out your computers, phones and televisions and go live in a cave. Even then I wouldn't start a camp fire because that fire wood is likely to be part of a home for some other living creature.
 
This brings up another question I was going to ask. What other things were tested on animals I may not have been aware of? other than mediciine, that I probalby use in my day to day.

If for instance its pretty much everything then I think my beliefs will have to buckle and it sort of gives me carte blanche to take drugs tested on animals along with the other stuff i guess :P.

It would put it in perspective more.

That or it will seriously depress me :D.

Maybe we should think of it like how many of the cities in UK were built on the slave trade and slave labour but I dont worry about that. I feel that is differnt though cos that is an extinct practice at least for those buildings in question. Largely so. I know there is still slavery in some places such as africa etc.

Though perhaps everything is interconnected- (i dont want to get into all the hippy acid burnout esoteric metaphysical bullshit, just speaking econmically here in concrete terms :))? Ie the capitalism of the west fuels the jobs that the slave masters give those in the 3rd world countries. Still I dont know why but I dont 'care' so much about humams as I do for animals or more that the situation seems worse for those animals bieng tested on. I dunno really. Im sure you could also tell me tales of equal human misery and suffering, but ID prefer not ehar them 'lest I not sleep tongiht' as Darwin said when speaking of vivesection :)

So is it just a case of 'hey I didnt make this shitty world I just live in it'.
 
One Thousand Words said:
The same way you give thanks to soldiers who fought in wars long ago. I celebrate thanksgiving once a year by not eating meat and observing a moments appreciation for the living things that are sacrificed. I see trees as mighty sentinel* beings too. If you then decide that vegetation should be given the right to survive it won't take long before you starve to death.
Click to expand...
* Sentient?
I think you're pushing the question into unworkably reductionist, abstract ethics for a human in the modern (or any) world.

As I have suggested, balance is possible (not only "crippled by guilt" or "all or nothing" - but a healthy, well informed balance) - but it can take some time and a lot of research to understand where your own ethics lie.
I have my own, and stand by them - but I don't really bother discussing it on bluelight as it tends to draw a certain type of flaming (judging from past experiences - nothing particularly in this thread).
We all have to find our own path - choose yours as you wish, Berdo tm1.

Treading gently is highly commendable, to my mind anyway. Good luck with whatever treatment options you pursue :)
 
This has never even crossed my mind and I care about animals there's only so much you can do man pick your battles.

Nobody has control over what others do
 
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