[Quintus Curtius]

I read an article in the New York Times today that shows just how important it is now, more than ever, for young guys to keep their morale up and try to find meaning in their lives.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/17/scienc....html?_r=1

The gist of the article is that prescription drug related deaths for young whites in their 20s and 30s have increased by an incredible 5 times since 1999.

Quotes:

Drug overdoses are driving up the death rate of young white adults in the United States to levels not seen since the end of the AIDS epidemic more than two decades ago — a turn of fortune that stands in sharp contrast to falling death rates for young blacks, a New York Times analysis of death certificates has found.

The rising death rates for those young white adults, ages 25 to 34, make them the first generation since the Vietnam War years of the mid-1960s to experience higher death rates in early adulthood than the generation that preceded it.

The increases are clearly tied to the economic depression we're going through right now, as well as feelings of isolation, despair, and lack of community.

(This is not meant to be a race-related commentary, so please let's not turn it into one. According to the article, the only reason blacks have not died in similar numbers is because doctors have not been prescribing them to them).

More quotes:

“This is the smallest proportional and absolute gap in mortality between blacks and whites at these ages for more than a century,” Dr. Skinner said. If the past decade’s trends continue, even without any further progress in AIDS mortality, rates for blacks and whites will be equal in nine years, he said.

There is a reason that blacks appear to have been spared the worst of the narcotic epidemic, said Dr. Andrew Kolodny, a drug abuse expert. Studies have found that doctors are much more reluctant to prescribe painkillers to minority patients, worrying that they might sell them or become addicted.

“The answer is that racial stereotypes are protecting these patients from the addiction epidemic,” said Dr. Kolodny, a senior scientist at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University and chief medical officer for Phoenix House Foundation, a national drug and alcohol treatment company.

The same pattern has been seen in whites spanning their middle ages, between 45 and 55.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/03/health...finds.html

Bottom line:

Be aware of these trends. Avoid prescription drugs used to "treat" depression unless you have a damn good reason.

Get in shape.

Reach out to other people and build tribes and networks with them.

Do not isolate yourself.

Do not give in to despair.

The system wants to crush us, to make us feel weak and defeated. They want to marginalize us, heap abuse on us, and shame us.

They will fail.

The cucks who betrayed us and sold us out are in for a rude awakening.

Because we're coming for them, eventually.

You just wait.

Break out of the confines they want you in, that they want to stuff you in.

[philosophical_recovery]

Interesting.

Although, I like how the article states how hard women are hit, but when you look at the numbers the men are ODing at almost twice the rate of women.

It's also nice to see how low the death rate of AIDs is.

[Fast Eddie]

I really can't sympathize much with these people. The first 21 years of my life were complete, total, multifactorial shit, and I'm not talking about "existential angst" but enduring objectively harsh conditions in relation to everything from family life to economic hardship.

With all that, I never felt more than the slightest bit of negative thinking let alone the siren song of sinking into depression. Why would I? I always knew what I can do. I'm now in my mid 20's, banging my dream girls in Asia and the hardest decision I have to make is whether or not to come back to the US and embark on a guaranteed 1% career or stay and do more banging. It wasn't easy and if I had started from a higher level I'd be doing even better, but that's life. Anyway, coming up from rock bottom is that much more satisfying.

No man enjoying youth and good health should ever feel despair or hopelessness. I could understand it if you are old or sick, but not otherwise.

[godfather dust]

I used to be addicted to painkillers, I'm now using Kratom instead so I don't get sick. I was using the medically accepted treatment for pill heads, suboxone, but that shit fucked me up after a while.

These drugs are no joke, I had a cheap hookup and said "fuck it its feels good, cheaper way to end the day than smoking a fat bag of weed" next thing I know I'm popping pills to feel normal. If I didn't I'd be sweating bullets, ice cold, stomach all fucked up etc.

Anyways I'm hoping to continue taking less Kratom until I can stop opiates completely.

Any younger dudes reading this: I know it's cool right now, rappers talking about leanin codeine etc but it's not worth it.

[Vaun]

For you guys stuck in barren, loser-ville towns in the midwest and southwest, where there are no jobs, no prospects, limited if any women to choose from, a low educated population, and lots of slime-ball white trash drug addicts surrounding you, I implore you to leave. Move to a large city like NYC or LA, or SF, or go overseas, or join the military, anything. If you are stuck there because of your family, that is not a good enough reason. Just because you are born somewhere doesn't mean you have to die there. Get out into the world and away from this death sentence of loser-dom.

[AntiTrace]

from a person who loves to party and chase the high feelings that come with it:

the happiest I have ever been, the hottest girls I have ever banged, and the most productive I have ever been, has always been the periods where I was 100% sober.

Maybe I'm getting old and wise, but drugs and booze treat the symptoms and not the cause. I'm not saying to be a hermit and never go out, but you can have an amazing time being sober.

I think back to the times of the club sluts I've banged within hours of meeting them. I don't remember their names and I barely remember their faces. I do remember the drama that came with it, and the hangover recovery days sitting in bed watching netflix all day.

Shit's not worth it boys.

[Windom Earle]

(01-30-2016 09:03 PM)Fast Eddie Wrote:  

No man enjoying youth and good health should ever feel despair or hopelessness. I could understand it if you are old or sick, but not otherwise.

It comes down to personality types coupled with their familial and social networks (or lack thereof), that predispose a person to becoming more and more disconnected from society. This is true for any generation, but even more apparent in our times due to the ease in which to fall down the rabbit hole.

An extrovert will power through it and make something out of nothing, since that is their natural mode of interacting with the world, their forte. Because introverts are comfortable with solitude (to a certain point), they can fool themselves into thinking that social ties are not overly important.

Problems occur when this mode of thinking carries on too long and they wind up being truly alone, with their social interactions being limited to work colleagues, and maybe a handful of close friends a few times a year that they went to University with. With no regular sounding board, over time it's easy to get lost inside your head which can lead to unhealthy thoughts that will inevitably manifest as depression.

With no map nor compass to navigate out of the emotional storm, dudes get lost and perceive there to be no way back. Combine that with poor emotional intelligence and a sudden dire change in circumstances, such as a job loss or other significant event, can lead to a psychotic break or worse.

Edit: not to say debilitating depression is specific to introverts only.

[The Lizard of Oz]

A few comments. This article is closely related to an earlier thread that was posted in the forum:

Death Rates Rising for Middle Aged White Americans

There was a discussion in that thread about the cause of this rise in mortality of white Americans aged 45-54. However, as I pointed out in that thread, the cause was completely clear. It was the result of an epidemic of addiction to prescription painkillers, and the resulting deaths from suicides and overdose. I noted this in that thread:

(11-03-2015 09:02 AM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  

I read this paper last night. It's an interesting one.

I believe that the authors have correctly identified the cause of this increase in mortality amount lower class uneducated American whites aged 45-54: it is the epidemic of painkiller pill addiction, all over the country but particularly in certain regions like Appalachia. The causes of death that are contributing to this increase in mortality are poisonings, overdoses and suicides, all the direct result of painkiller abuse. They don't break out the results by state, but I believe that if they looked at the Appalachian region (eastern Kentucky, eastern Tennessee, West Virginia and parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania) the results would be truly eye-popping.

In a later post in that thread I explained why the painkiller overprescription was the only possible explanation for this increase in mortality -- many posters were confused about this point and were arguing for other causes that had been ruled out by the evidence. I won't cite that post but here it is for reference:

thread-51427...pid1141845

This NYT article is a strong confirmation of what I claimed in that thread. The increase in mortality can also be seen in this younger age group (25-34, whereas the age group referenced in the previous report was 45-54), and it is again clearly attributable to this epidemic of painkiller overprescription and abuse.

This being settled, the more interesting question is: what is causing this painkiller abuse epidemic. In the thread referred to above I pointed to what I believe to be the most significant cause. Unlike others who believe the causes to be spiritual or psychological, I think they are mostly mechanical, and attributable to the proliferation of office and phone injuries associated with the increase of people working sedentary jobs in front of a computer and spending large parts of their day hunched over a smartphone. This is what I wrote in a third post in that thread:

(11-07-2015 06:05 PM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  

(11-06-2015 03:17 PM)Abelard Lindsey Wrote:  

I get the prescription pain-killers issue here and I think its correct. However, neither the NYT article nor non of you in here are saying anything about WHY more people in their 40's (and presumably their 30's) are on these meds.

There are a few things going on:

-- The reason that more people are being prescribed painkillers has to do with the proliferation of office injuries, essentially postural injuries that result from people (especially in a class that used to predominantly do manual labor) instead spending much of their day in front of a computer or otherwise in a seated position. These office injuries are exacerbated by obesity, and more recently by the added burden of phone injuries, postural problems caused by maintaining the forward and downward disposed postures that are required to use a smartphone.

These office and phone injuries are a frequent cause of chronic pain, especially hip, back, and neck pain. And more so in people who are otherwise overweight, in poor shape and do not move around a lot.

-- Further, there has been an explosion of surgeries for incorrectly attributed and misdiagnosed "disc" pain -- pain which is in reality caused by knotty connective tissue and soft tissue injury, primarily the postural and office injuries described above. People who complain of significant chronic pain from these postural problems get sent up for an MRI, and the MRI as often as not will show some disc artifacts that are completely unrelated to the pain (meaning, these artifacts are observed just as frequently in healthy patients who have no pain whatsoever). Moderate chronic pain maltreated and exacerbated by excessive and unnecessary surgeries will over time become severe enough that real drugs like Oxy are required to mitigate it.

-- In parts of the US, the overprescription of these painkillers has lead to an epidemic of addiction that has taken on a life of its own, as drug epidemics do. Meaning that even people that were not prescribed these pills in the first place are able to obtain them and start using them purely as a drug. In towns in Appalachia they can be bought cheaply or obtained from corrupt docs. In addition there has been explosion of "pain clinics" centered (of course) in Florida, which exist solely for the purpose of providing addicts unfettered access to these pills. Many a Kentuckian and West Virginian obese prole has made the proud journey to a Florida "pain clinic" to get their weekly or monthly supply of Oxy.

I believe that this proliferation of office and phone injuries and resulting pain syndromes that lead to painkiller prescriptions -- and sometimes, subsequent addiction -- is one of the most underestimated and misunderstood silent plagues of our time. Again, its causes are essentially mechanical: the positions associated with sitting in front of a computer all day, and hunching over to look at and type into a smartphone, are extremely negative for the human body, posture, flexibility etc and lead over time to injury and pain syndromes that can get out of hand. This is causing an untold number of problems.

In the longer run, the solutions to this will be technological -- different and radically new materials and implementations of these devices that will interact with the human body in far more favorable ways. But in the meantime, it is essential to adopt sound mechanical habits that will minimize the risks of postural stress and injury. I wrote about some of these in this thread (among other subjects):

The TLOZ Program for Better Sleep and Better Health

This is an important enough matter that I may also at some point post a new thread entirely devoted to it. There can never be too much information posted about the (relatively few and simple) habits that are needed to avoid these office and phone injuries and the problems that they cause.

[BlueOcean]

Hey, Lizard of Oz. Off topic, but thanks for that link to getting a better night's sleep.

thread-46677.html

[nomadbrah]

(01-30-2016 10:14 PM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  

I believe that this proliferation of office and phone injuries and resulting pain syndromes that lead to painkiller prescriptions -- and sometimes, subsequent addiction -- is one of the most underestimated and misunderstood silent plagues of our time.

I was on opiates last year from intense neck pain, shoulder pain, imflamed ribs, back pain, chronic headache. No doctor could contribue anything meaningful as to why. Not that I had worked 12 hour days for a couple of years being self employed in front of computer.

I had to force myself to not use the computer at all and in a week I felt hardly any pain. This is after physioteraphy, opiods, muscle relaxants, sleep medicine. The so called medicine did nothing except make me tired.

I can't stress how right you are, my pain was debilitating and didn't seem to budge, until I simply quit using the computer.

I believe you can keep some of it at bay by working out and lifting like I did, but not in the long run. The computer lifestyle is extremely unhealthy. If not because I still have to make money, I'd stop using it entirely or only use a tablet.

[CleanSlate]

The part about using a computer all the time leading to chronic pain and subsequently being on painkillers is certainly worrying.

My hope to combat this is to limit my computer time to 20 hours a week, and spend at least half the time standing while working on the computer (using a standing desk).

I will be using the computer for the foreseeable future whether it's for a job or my location independent business, but I really don't want that to lead down the painkiller rabbit hole. Is there a thread on preventative measures for this?

[The Lizard of Oz]

nomadbrah, I'm sorry to hear that. It's very true that all but the best docs will not look for the simple mechanical causes of a problem (or for mechanical solutions); it's just not how they are trained to think. And people take all these drugs as a result, never solving their original problem but acquiring new ones as they go along. It's terrible, and I'm glad you were able to figure out the mechanical solution on your own.

I believe that even intensive computer users can largely keep these problems at bay by adopting a few simple habits. I listed the main ones in that post I linked to above:

(04-12-2015 02:39 PM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  

-- Get up from the computer every 30 minutes. No matter what you are doing, get up, walk around and do a few basic stretches. This is key -- you have to give your eyes a rest, and you have to give your body a rest from the bad postures it adopts when sitting in front of the monitor. A LOT of eye strain can be ameliorated by taking breaks. Look up some simple postural stretches you can do in the office or in the bathroom and do just a few throughout the day.

-- You should do your main weightlifting workouts on the weekend when you are fresh. If you can work out hard and effectively with weights both Saturday and Sunday that goes a very long way towards increasing your test levels and keeping your body in good shape. However:

-- Do not overdo it in the gym after a week of mental work; work out hard but safely. I see a lot of weekend warriors and cube jockeys, pale and having a bad posture, come into the gym and immediately try to lift heavy weights (with bad form) on something like the deadlift. That is a recipe for significant injury and for fucking up your body. If you are doing mental work all week, your body is probably not very flexible, has postural problems, and is primed for injury. You have to work out intelligently and balance the need to lift hard with being aware of what you can do. Err on the side of lighter weights and higher rep sets done with perfect form.

-- To counteract the postural problems that are likely to accompany this kind of mental work, use modalities like stretching, yoga, and massage. Do some basic stretches every day; take a hot shower or a hot bath when you get home, then get on the mat and do some stretches afterwards; sign up for a yoga class if you can fit it in your week; get deep tissue massage from a good professional masseur once a week. All these things will help keep your body flexible and supple and reduce the risk of injury when you lift (and in general).

These are the main things but if I post a dedicated thread on this I will include a more comprehensive list of tips.

The real key is the first item on that list: get up frequently. You should not have bad posture in front of a computer but even bad posture is a lot less damaging if it's not maintained for hours and hours in a row. Make yourself get up every 30 minutes, walk around, do some basic stretches. Get into the habit of doing that no matter how concentrated you are. That alone, all by itself, will prevent the worst of these chronic injuries.

[MrLemon]

After losing a loved one to opiate addiction, I have this to say...

HUMAN BEINGS ARE NOT DESIGNED TO BE SITTING FOR LONG TIMES.

I don't believe computers are exactly the problem. It's the sedentary physical life of a computer user.

Stress chemicals cause by intense mental and emotional effort (playing computer games, for example) are NOT released or burned up by your muscles if you are sitting.

The more that we use computers, the more we must BURN OFF STRESS. That means WORK OUT or SWIM or whatever. Once you stop exercising, you are screwed.

[Fortis]

(01-30-2016 09:03 PM)Fast Eddie Wrote:  

I really can't sympathize much with these people. The first 21 years of my life were complete, total, multifactorial shit, and I'm not talking about "existential angst" but enduring objectively harsh conditions in relation to everything from family life to economic hardship.

With all that, I never felt more than the slightest bit of negative thinking let alone the siren song of sinking into depression. Why would I? I always knew what I can do. I'm now in my mid 20's, banging my dream girls in Asia and the hardest decision I have to make is whether or not to come back to the US and embark on a guaranteed 1% career or stay and do more banging. It wasn't easy and if I had started from a higher level I'd be doing even better, but that's life. Anyway, coming up from rock bottom is that much more satisfying.

No man enjoying youth and good health should ever feel despair or hopelessness. I could understand it if you are old or sick, but not otherwise.

Agreed. But I do think a lot of depression and depression symptoms are biological in nature and not just psychological. So you'll meet rich guys, jacked guys, or guys who genuinely have their shit together who, for no apparently reason, fall into a depressive slump. That's why "don't think about sad stuff" sometimes doesn't work as a depression cure. I'm not saying you were saying that, but in nearly every depression thread on RVF people essentially throw out advice that amounts to "don't think about it and it'll go away."

[Beyond Borders]

(01-30-2016 11:28 PM)Fortis Wrote:  

(01-30-2016 09:03 PM)Fast Eddie Wrote:  

I really can't sympathize much with these people. The first 21 years of my life were complete, total, multifactorial shit, and I'm not talking about "existential angst" but enduring objectively harsh conditions in relation to everything from family life to economic hardship.

With all that, I never felt more than the slightest bit of negative thinking let alone the siren song of sinking into depression. Why would I? I always knew what I can do. I'm now in my mid 20's, banging my dream girls in Asia and the hardest decision I have to make is whether or not to come back to the US and embark on a guaranteed 1% career or stay and do more banging. It wasn't easy and if I had started from a higher level I'd be doing even better, but that's life. Anyway, coming up from rock bottom is that much more satisfying.

No man enjoying youth and good health should ever feel despair or hopelessness. I could understand it if you are old or sick, but not otherwise.

Agreed. But I do think a lot of depression and depression symptoms are biological in nature and not just psychological. So you'll meet rich guys, jacked guys, or guys who genuinely have their shit together who, for no apparently reason, fall into a depressive slump. That's why "don't think about sad stuff" sometimes doesn't work as a depression cure. I'm not saying you were saying that, but in nearly every depression thread on RVF people essentially throw out advice that amounts to "don't think about it and it'll go away."

I think it is a lot less biological than you think. According to Albert Ellis, whose strategies are heavily backed by science and a long history of successes, "don't think about bad stuff" is the best advice you could get and one of the most successful cures "on the market."

Unfortunately, that advice is a bit useless without strategies to back it. "Just don't think about it" is lifeless and flat, without substance. It's like telling a guy to "just be himself" to succeed with women; there's actually some truth to that advice, but it's pretty complicated to do it effectively. Likewise, actually changing your thought patterns takes deliberate, conscious, practical, and organized effort. You have to learn how to not think about it - or to be more accurate, how to think other things instead.

I also do agree that the poster you quoted is wrong in refusing to sympathize with people who get stuck in the black hole of their own thoughts. It's a very understandable place to get caught up. We ought not coddle or enable each other, but we should sympathize enough to show our peers the way out and to a healthier way of living.

[Lucky]

I remember reading a provocative theory that the elite white males opened the immigration floodgates, pushed women's liberation, and equality laws on purpose.

This was because they knew that the main threat to their power were upwardly mobile white males.

So they pushed these other groups in so they would compete and be distracted by one another, all so that the elite whites at the top could maintain their power.

Maybe this is part of that trend-- pushing medication on working class and affluent people, so the elites can pacify them.

[doc holliday]

One huge problem here also is the fact that physicians are prescribing all these pain meds for many of these people instead of trying to discover the root causes of their pain and treating it. Modern medicine is such that if there's a problem, the doctors are just throwing meds to get rid of the patient and move on to the next one. Most of these maladies do not require narcotic pain medication but yet they get pushed like candy. I also happen to believe that on another level, these meds are being pushed as a way to pacify and control people who might otherwise rise up against the mess we currently have. I also think that addiction is prevalent because so many people have no deep connections with anyone and are isolated and this is another thing that no one in the medical community never addresses.

I'm with Quintus when he says to be strong and not to let anyone or anything get in your way of your peace and calm. Whatever bullshit you're going through will pass. It will pass faster if you actively fight through it. Having a strong network of friends is key as well. I know its helped me through some shit.

[El Chinito loco]

(01-30-2016 11:38 PM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  

(01-30-2016 11:28 PM)Fortis Wrote:  

(01-30-2016 09:03 PM)Fast Eddie Wrote:  

I really can't sympathize much with these people. The first 21 years of my life were complete, total, multifactorial shit, and I'm not talking about "existential angst" but enduring objectively harsh conditions in relation to everything from family life to economic hardship.

With all that, I never felt more than the slightest bit of negative thinking let alone the siren song of sinking into depression. Why would I? I always knew what I can do. I'm now in my mid 20's, banging my dream girls in Asia and the hardest decision I have to make is whether or not to come back to the US and embark on a guaranteed 1% career or stay and do more banging. It wasn't easy and if I had started from a higher level I'd be doing even better, but that's life. Anyway, coming up from rock bottom is that much more satisfying.

No man enjoying youth and good health should ever feel despair or hopelessness. I could understand it if you are old or sick, but not otherwise.

Agreed. But I do think a lot of depression and depression symptoms are biological in nature and not just psychological. So you'll meet rich guys, jacked guys, or guys who genuinely have their shit together who, for no apparently reason, fall into a depressive slump. That's why "don't think about sad stuff" sometimes doesn't work as a depression cure. I'm not saying you were saying that, but in nearly every depression thread on RVF people essentially throw out advice that amounts to "don't think about it and it'll go away."

I think it is a lot less biological than you think. According to Albert Ellis, whose strategies are heavily backed by science and a long history of successes, "don't think about bad stuff" is the best advice you could get and one of the most successful cures "on the market."

I bet real disorders happen around the same rates as glucose intolerance or other small percentage physical or mental disorders.

Which is to say it's actually pretty rare.

Most people have mental baggage of some sort but it's in the U.S. (with the most commercially profitable pharm industry) that people are overmedicated with what is basically "experimental" medication.

I recently watched Exorcist again and even in that movie they were talking about prescribing Ritalin like it was a common vitamin. That movie was released in 1973. Just think about that. We've had a few decades of unprecedented psychiatric doping and experimentation on the population of the U.S.

[Quintus Curtius]

^^^
Damn, hard to believe they were even using Ritalin in the early 70s.

[Libertas]

(01-30-2016 10:14 PM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  

This being settled, the more interesting question is: what is causing this painkiller abuse epidemic. In the thread referred to above I pointed to what I believe to be the most significant cause. Unlike others who believe the causes to be spiritual or psychological, I think they are mostly mechanical, and attributable to the proliferation of office and phone injuries associated with the increase of people working sedentary jobs in front of a computer and spending large parts of their day hunched over a smartphone. This is what I wrote in a third post in that thread

It would be interesting to compare different regions and see which is hit the worst, since Appalachia seems more a blue collar region than an office region, comparatively.

But during the warm months I always attempt to walk home from work, and I make sure to hit the gym, sometimes after work.

Humans were not meant to sit for long periods of time, as mentioned before.

[The Lizard of Oz]

(01-31-2016 08:51 AM)Libertas Wrote:  

(01-30-2016 10:14 PM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  

This being settled, the more interesting question is: what is causing this painkiller abuse epidemic. In the thread referred to above I pointed to what I believe to be the most significant cause. Unlike others who believe the causes to be spiritual or psychological, I think they are mostly mechanical, and attributable to the proliferation of office and phone injuries associated with the increase of people working sedentary jobs in front of a computer and spending large parts of their day hunched over a smartphone. This is what I wrote in a third post in that thread

It would be interesting to compare different regions and see which is hit the worst, since Appalachia seems more a blue collar region than an office region.

Couple of points about that. First, "blue collar" does not really mean "manual laborer" at this point in time; the service sector employs more people than any other, so think Walmart cashier or family doctor's receptionist rather than a factory worker. Plenty of these people work sedentary jobs, and the high obesity rates put them at a higher risk of injury. Second, Appalachia just happens to be a region where the painkiller addiction epidemic has taken on a life of its own. I noted that in the post quoted above:

(11-07-2015 06:05 PM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  

-- In parts of the US, the overprescription of these painkillers has lead to an epidemic of addiction that has taken on a life of its own, as drug epidemics do. Meaning that even people that were not prescribed these pills in the first place are able to obtain them and start using them purely as a drug. In towns in Appalachia they can be bought cheaply or obtained from corrupt docs. In addition there has been explosion of "pain clinics" centered (of course) in Florida, which exist solely for the purpose of providing addicts unfettered access to these pills. Many a Kentuckian and West Virginian obese prole has made the proud journey to a Florida "pain clinic" to get their weekly or monthly supply of Oxy.

[Libertas]

I was referring mostly to Appalachia's coal industry, but that is a good point.

In better news, we have begun to see more firms allowing for designated active times to get people up from their desks. Maybe slowly, but surely, this one side of the equation will be reduced in severity.

The other side is the overprescription of these drugs, but I've seen less activity on that front.

[kurti]

(01-30-2016 11:38 PM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  

Unfortunately, that advice is a bit useless without strategies to back it. "Just don't think about it" is lifeless and flat, without substance. It's like telling a guy to "just be himself" to succeed with women; there's actually some truth to that advice, but it's pretty complicated to do it effectively. Likewise, actually changing your thought patterns takes deliberate, conscious, practical, and organized effort. You have to learn how to not think about it - or to be more accurate, how to think other things instead.

I believe this is very true. Could you expand more on this or recommend a book?

[Barn25]

Im going to be honest sometimes it's really really hard to stay postive. As a 33 yr old black male who had always been more gifted with computers than people, i find it hard to network so i can sustain myself. It doesn't help when you try to apply at mom and pop computer repair places, they either think I'm pulling their leg or that i lied to the person who referred me. They never give me a chance.

[mpr]

As a white male in the target demographic this piece is talking about I can't help but feel that the NYT article is hopelessly out of touch. Doctors around here are scared shitless by the DEA and are refusing to write prescriptions for medically necessary reasons. I have a friend with insomnia that has a hard time getting a prescription for ambian from her own doctor. I know other people who were legitimately in pain from an injury and where unable to get pain meds; because of the hospitals fear of drug seekers. The writers excuse that the economy is the reason more people are popping pills is bullshit. Anyone who has bothered to look will see that the national unemployment rate is only 5.5%. Economists generally agree that we're at full employment when the unemployment rate is at around 5%. So if we're not at full employment we'll be there shortly.

The fact of the matter is there is no solution to this problem. People know that if they use drugs they can become addicted, as well as od and die. But they do it anyway. So I say let the addicts do what they want. If they're going to use drugs anyway they're better off if the drugs they are using are made in sterile labs, with FDA approved substances, and known ingredients. Rather then being produced in some 3rd world basement, and made with a mystery blend of chemicals. When doctors become scared to prescribe medication with the potential for abuse everyone suffers. The addicts suffer because they turn to cheaper, more easily available, deadlier street drugs [krokidile for instance]. People with legitimate medical needs also suffer because they are unable to get necessary medical treatment.

Drug users know the risks they take. Give them what they want, and if they die then that's on them. They're adults capable of making their own choices, and if they want help with their addiction there are plenty of resources available. We need to stop making responsible people suffer because of the choices made by irresponsible drug addicts.