Eons ago, when my 31-year-old was in 4th grade I spent some time with the class. I was helping them plan and build (very 4th grade level and low cost with cardboard and paper and markers) an amusement park. It gave them some skills to think about the services that are needed to make a fun place like that work as well as some spatial awareness and map skills.
Anyway, one day I got there a few minutes early and one of the town’s police officers was presenting the DARE lecture why drugs were bad. (This was during the “Just Say No” era.) After I heard his talk I went out to the hallway with him and told him there was one thing he had not mentioned.
“What’s that?” he challenged.
I was ready for him. “You forgot to tell them that whatever problem they have that the high or the mellowness helps them forget does not take the problem away. It just adds to it.”
He told me he could not change the script, but I made sure my own kids got that message.
No question about it, drugs are around us. Parents who swear their kids will never mess with drugs may be right, but most likely they are wearing blinders. Think back to your own teenage years and your 20s: what your friends were doing became more and more “normal” and it would be a very strong willed young person with an amazing personality that can keep away from things that might not be wise choices.
I heard today that someone I got to know had been arrested for drug issues and his business is closed. While that is pretty awful, it is minor compared to the fact that he CHOSE to do that to himself, denying there was a downside. What could his life could have been without those drugs? The potential of what people can do is amazing, but the reality of their perception on drugs is not true and not honest
On the other hand, I know a lot of people who take medicine, myself included. Without my migraine meds at times in my past I would have had a lot of dysfunctional days. Without my blood pressure meds my body would be a ticking time bomb waiting for a stroke. Medicine, when issued by a medical practitioner (western or eastern) can make a huge difference in how you feel and function.
But I have also known a number of people who, after a time on a prescribed med, felt “better” and took themselves off that medication without talking to their doctor. Their perception of reality, like the drug addict, was also not true. People around them can see the difference but usually can’t explain their concern in a way that the person involved cares to hear.
So, I am NOT saying all prescribed medicine is good. But if you have a problem with it, talk to your doctor. Get it changed to diminish or eliminate uncomfortable side effects. And then stay the course to function better and healthier, even if it means a lifetime. The people around you love you.
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