Popular Medications Part 2

PART TWO


Dear Diary:
In my own experience, I'm only 22 and have experienced depression several times in my life. I had all the symptoms. Lack of interest in activities I usually enjoyed, fatigue, everything I tried to do seemed hopeless, trouble making decisions... when I was 12 I cried all the time. It was one of the hardest years in my life. when I was 18 I was bedridden because of it. When I went to my first therapist I was so depressed I could hardly get out a sentence. I badly wanted to jump off a bridge. He said I was socially inept and needed to get out more often. That screwed me up so bad. I thought he was a moron. My boyfriend went to see him before we met. He thought he was a moron too but that's a different story.I got over it for awhile but then again between 19 and 20 I slept all day and thought of suicide. I felt so worthless to people. I also developed an eating disorder. When I went to my doctor he said to get a therapist. I asked him about the drugs and he did for a while put off the suggestion. But I said I already ate healthy and exercised. So he offered the drugs. Going to therapy didn't help me at all. At times I felt my therapy was a freakin sales pitch from a drug dealer or something. Her first advice was "try the drugs. Allot of people take them. " "Buy this book it'll come in handy if you can afford it, it's $60. " I asked a psychologist about them and he didn't seem to know much about them. "Sometimes people get tics" he said. "Tics?" "Yes, small electric shocks that travel down to their hands. This is only after they've been on them for a while and stop taking them." He explained it was because of the brains reaction to having the electric impulses changed suddenly. It freaked me out. I didn't take them and went on with my depression. I slept for months.

Did any one ever think of WHY over 57.7 million Americans are suffering with mood disorders?
What was it like 220 years ago? Did they have children with such low self esteem issues?

What ever happened to the words...

*THEN/ NOW
sad /depressed
cloudy disposition/ clinically depressed
emotional/ bipolar
adventurous/ ADD
energetic/ ADHD
tired from work and life/ chronic fatigue
lively imagination/ delusional
temper tantrum/ mania
different/ disorder


TODAY
All too often people fight back tears when their going through allot of stress. People are often ashamed of their feelings and asked to put on a conservative smile for work because when you take time off when a family member dies you risk losing your job. In the past when children had to much energy they were told to go out and play. When you live in a city today it's to dangerous to go out alone and theirs nothing for kids to do but go to the mall. The mentality for children to be seen and not heard is still in play, and if kids have too much energy their dubbed hyper active and given Ritalin. This generation of youth has seen more violence and sex in the media then ever before in history. There is very little family time for these children anymore so they are left to process what it means alone. Adolescent violence and bullying is at a rise and schools have become dangerous. There is a lack of education about the real world we live in. People are misinformed. The environment is going extinct from pollution and urbanization. There are millions of homeless around the world and in our country and we're still told to buy SUVs and big screen LCD TVs with digital cable. There are There is allot of pressure on people to look perfect, have the perfect career of their choice, the big house, the nice car... America is a very competitive place where in the past neighbours and families helped out one another. Now it's every man for himself and if you aren't working on becoming something you're a loser.

And we wonder why we're so depressed?




But that is the American dream. Not the American reality. People don't question the media with critical thinking. You don't need to be a celebrity to be important. All of humanity is important and we all need to realize that.

Read to your kids and teach them about the world. Don't leave all the teaching up to the schools, day cares and television. Spend time with your family and get fresh air if you can. Go for a walk. Do activities together. Don't let technology be your only source of amusement. You'll get bored and depressed.