Thursday, June 3, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Addicted? Yeah right!
There is quite a stigma behind painkiller addiction. Most people think that is really no big deal and no where near as serious as, let's say, being addicted to Heroine or Meth. The fact is, it still an addiction. And it is serious. In my opinion, being dependant on anything - whether it be pills, booze, sex, people, food or even exercise - to get us through the day, it is serious. I think that, as humans, we are naturally addictive. However there are definitely those with far more addictive tendancies/personalities than others.
Addiction to painkillers is not something one should ever take lightly. Just because they don't give you the sort of high that other drugs might - like a full on trip - they still alter your mood. You stop feeling and thinking so much. You can concentrate on things that may seem more important because evertyhing else is dead. You feel no pain, be it emotional or physical. You sleep better, in fact better than you will even on sleeping pills. You don't dream, you sleep...like a frikken baby. You feel great actually.
As with any drug, there are downsides. Withdrawl is no joke. Your body starts to crave the numbness so it tells you that you have a headache, or that your back is sore. If you do experience any pain, let's say you stub your toe, it becomes so much more intense. Your body tries with all its might to convince you that you are in too much pain to cope without taking anything. And nothing, nothing makes it better except more pain meds.
It is not difficult to understand why people do become addicted to this drug. It numbs you completely without the negatives that other drugs have. And because society in general does not take this form of addiction seriously at all, there are often few remefications if you are found out. Also, the buying a few lines could cost you thousands, whereas buying a bottle of pills is cheap and, technically, your legal right. Which is why it is such a common pehnomenon. Murder is a common phenomenon, but we certainly don't take it lightly - that's for sure (and don't get me wrong, I'm not comparing killing someone to a painkiller addiction) so why do we do the same with pain medication addicts?
Addiction to painkillers is not something one should ever take lightly. Just because they don't give you the sort of high that other drugs might - like a full on trip - they still alter your mood. You stop feeling and thinking so much. You can concentrate on things that may seem more important because evertyhing else is dead. You feel no pain, be it emotional or physical. You sleep better, in fact better than you will even on sleeping pills. You don't dream, you sleep...like a frikken baby. You feel great actually.
As with any drug, there are downsides. Withdrawl is no joke. Your body starts to crave the numbness so it tells you that you have a headache, or that your back is sore. If you do experience any pain, let's say you stub your toe, it becomes so much more intense. Your body tries with all its might to convince you that you are in too much pain to cope without taking anything. And nothing, nothing makes it better except more pain meds.
It is not difficult to understand why people do become addicted to this drug. It numbs you completely without the negatives that other drugs have. And because society in general does not take this form of addiction seriously at all, there are often few remefications if you are found out. Also, the buying a few lines could cost you thousands, whereas buying a bottle of pills is cheap and, technically, your legal right. Which is why it is such a common pehnomenon. Murder is a common phenomenon, but we certainly don't take it lightly - that's for sure (and don't get me wrong, I'm not comparing killing someone to a painkiller addiction) so why do we do the same with pain medication addicts?
Hello. how are you?
Being at University, and especially living in residence/dorm, means that we encounter loads of people everyday. And although we may not know them very well, the fact that we know them at all sort of obligates us to greet them. So we do, we say "Hey, how are you?". Not because we really care how they are, in fact we hope that their response will be that they are either good, fine or alright. Because if they respond with anything less than that it means that our interaction with them has to go further than we can stand or that we care for. Think about it. Do you really care about how each and every person that you greet really is doing? Part of our socialisation means that we have been taught to be polite enough to greet a person if we see them and asking them how they are is part of this social norm. If we don't aknowledge them at all, and we do know them, we are perceived to be rude or even selfish. Although I walk past people that I know all the time, they often won't greet me. And then I begin to wonder what I have done wrong or what it is about me that makes them find it inappropriate to say hello to me. With this said, when we don't greet somebody they may be insulted, but if we do greet them and ask them how we are and we don't actually care...is that not even more insulting? I would rather you not greet me at all, pretend that I do not exist in any context whatsoever, than to ask me how I am and not really give a rat's ass.
Why do we do it though? Why do we ask people how they are and expect an answer when we aren't really interested as to what that answer may be at all? God forbid they say that they are not fine at all. Then we have to fake some kind of concern and follow up with questions as to what is wrong. It is just so much easier for someone to answer on a positive note, even if it is not the truth, then to get into the details.
Thereafter, the natural exchange seems to be: "I am good/fine/alright, and you?". I find it a bit rude if you ask someone how they are and they don't ask you back. Is it because they are not willing to lie and pretend that they have some sort of interest in your life and they just don't care? Is it laziness, selfishness? It might be less insulting then, if they do not exchange plesantries at all rather exchange ones that aren't in the least bit genuine. So why greet at all?
Why do we do it though? Why do we ask people how they are and expect an answer when we aren't really interested as to what that answer may be at all? God forbid they say that they are not fine at all. Then we have to fake some kind of concern and follow up with questions as to what is wrong. It is just so much easier for someone to answer on a positive note, even if it is not the truth, then to get into the details.
Thereafter, the natural exchange seems to be: "I am good/fine/alright, and you?". I find it a bit rude if you ask someone how they are and they don't ask you back. Is it because they are not willing to lie and pretend that they have some sort of interest in your life and they just don't care? Is it laziness, selfishness? It might be less insulting then, if they do not exchange plesantries at all rather exchange ones that aren't in the least bit genuine. So why greet at all?
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