Not A Day Promised

Battling mental illness through education and resources. "Let the wise hear and
increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance." Proverbs 1:5

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Self-Medicating is Socially Acceptable

by Todd Brooks

Now that I have your attention, if you check Wikipedia, you will find, among other points, that the term “self-medication” is often seen as "gaining personal independence from established medicine."

The Lord gave me a unique perspective on this today.  It’s really a pretty obvious hypothesis when you think about it.

People suffering with mental illness will often self-medicate using alcohol and/or non-prescribed drugs (legal/illegal) because the practice of doing so is more “SOCIALLY ACCEPTED” than taking prescribed anti-depressant, mood stabilizer and/or other “MEDICALLY ACCEPTED” treatment options.

It’s obviously more complicated than this, but for me, it just further emphasizes that until the stigma of the condition “mental” illness is removed, many of those who suffer will continue to seek "escape" rather than risk recovery that identifies them with ever-improving prescribed medicine and holistic treatment.

The next time someone shouts, “Let’s party,” they may actually be crying out for help.  Something to think about.  

Hey.  Get educated!  A good place to start is here. (our Resources page)

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