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> We used to think of medication as something you took occasionally during a crisis. Now we take it as a given that a large percentage of the population will be

> We used to think of medication as something you took occasionally during a crisis. Now we take it as a given that a large percentage of the population will be on maintenance drugs for life. Not disputing this, and it certainly supports your point about the pharmaceutical industry making money. But is there evidence that we are actually worse off for it? Did previous generations benefit from better mental and physical health than we do now. My instinct is that we're healthier than ever before. We're treating conditions that weren't even identified a generation ago. Now that might not be due to our pharmaceutical intake, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't partially responsible. Of course it's possible we've gone farther towards drugs than needed, which perhaps was your original point.

DoreenMichele 6y ago
Did previous generations benefit from better mental and physical health than we do now. There are a large number of differences between the past and the present. It's really hard to talk about comparisons between the past and present and try to boil it down to a single metric. Many years ago, a friend and I were talking and I was making sort of the same argument you are making -- that things are better than they used to be. And she stopped and said something like "I'm not comparing it to the past. I'm comparing it to what I think is possible given present day knowledge and technology." And she also said something about "low standards" or "low expectations" -- like "Why should we settle for this crap just because the past was worse?" And that really stuck with me. I have gotten off all drugs for a condition where that isn't supposed to be possible and that strongly shapes my views and opinions in ways that I can't back up with studies or the like to the satisfaction of other people. But I'm convinced we can raise the bar and do better than this and one path forward is to begin thinking more broadly about the fact that "life is chemistry" and stop acting like a pill is the most important and powerful means to interact with human biochemistry when it's really just one of the most convenient ways to manipulate biochemistry that is profitable in our current economic arrangements.

DoreenMichele 6y ago

Did previous generations benefit from better mental and physical health than we do now. There are a large number of differences between the past and the present. It's really hard to talk about comparisons between the past and present and try to boil it down to a single metric. Many years ago, a friend and I were talking and I was making sort of the same argument you are making -- that things are better than they used to be. And she stopped and said something like "I'm not comparing it to the past. I'm comparing it to what I think is possible given present day knowledge and technology." And she also said something about "low standards" or "low expectations" -- like "Why should we settle for this crap just because the past was worse?" And that really stuck with me. I have gotten off all drugs for a condition where that isn't supposed to be possible and that strongly shapes my views and opinions in ways that I can't back up with studies or the like to the satisfaction of other people. But I'm convinced we can raise the bar and do better than this and one path forward is to begin thinking more broadly about the fact that "life is chemistry" and stop acting like a pill is the most important and powerful means to interact with human biochemistry when it's really just one of the most convenient ways to manipulate biochemistry that is profitable in our current economic arrangements.