Yes, I do know that Ritalin is not an antidepressant, and that I was, in my letter, classing different categories of drugs together. It is fine for others to point out that out, but that is why I begged readers to remember that I was making only some nonspecific comments about taking meds in general. That's all anyone can do on a thread like this and as a layman, of course.

Drug use (and abuse) is pretty much a constant in human society; I am not against it per se--I am in favor of drug legalization and especially would let all of the pot smokers out of jail tomorrow.

All I am saying is that I have a concern that we have created an enormous number of people who are substance dependent but we refuse to say so (and that's the only problem is the lying); also we seek to normalize substance dependency but only for certain drugs (Prozac) that make money and not for others (pot) that don't.

Many people have lived long, productive lives while at the same time altering their mood through different chemical means. Let them. I prefer not to, but that's just me. Even alcohol can be wonderful, used the right way, as can pot and opiates.

And for saying this I get attacked from all quarters, am told that I cannot hold an opinion unless I present a list of qualifications, and so on and so forth. Lillianjane, because of my opinion on this issue you have decided you can't agree with me about anything? Isn't that a bit extreme?

Why the vitriol?

I sense the stigma is still playing a role here. People want to hear the following--You must be sick! You NEED to be sick, goddammit, because that justifies your need. It's out of your control! It must be!

After all, the issue of choice is the difference between you and a junkie, right? You have no choice.

You don't want to hear what the drugs do or don't do; you don't want to hear that they are close chemical relatives of illegal street drugs; you don't want to hear that they are used as street drugs; you don't want to hear anything besides that you are helpless and therefore are above reproach in your need for meds.

Hmmmm.

You know, what comes to mind is the vehement insistence of American homosexuals that homosexuality is biologically hardwired (by the way I have no doubt that this is usually true). It MUST be this way, 100%, no shades of gray ever, and gays themselves will try to crucify you if you suggest homosexuality can be a choice.

That is because there is still a great deal of stigma attached to homosexuality, so homosexuals have to insist that they have no choice in the matter; everything has happened at the DNA level and this absolves them of "responsibility".

In Europe, nobody cares at all why you become a homosexual. If you were straight as an arrow until the age of 40 and woke up one morning and just decided you wanted to be gay for a change THAT WOULD BE FINE with almost everybody. And that is as it should be!

But in America, you MUST have a scientifically shaky theory that ALL homosexuality--not some or even most but all--is biological in origin. That is because here, homosexuals are still considered "messed up" and people are not really sexually free.

Similarly drug use carries an enormous stigma and people absolve themselves of this by divorcing themselves of any responsibility for their drug use/abuse; they assert they must be on "medication" or they'd be out killing people and jumping off of bridges. Their defensiveness is huge, because the issue is still a cause for shame. They feel mollified that their fix comes legally from a doctor; the fix is legitimatized; there is no need to discuss the relative merits of dosing yourself with a mind drug each day because you are SICK--sick, goddamit, sick...why it's just like any other disease.......except that it is never cured....

how neat. how pat. but how untrue.

and I think we all know that.

End the phony "War on Drugs" and end the stigma associated with drug usage, and you will see this whole discourse miraculously change overnight. That would be very healthy (pun intended), but I fear it won't happen anytime soon.

I think there are perfectly healthy people who benefit from prudent drug use of different kinds. You don't have to prove to me that you are sick.

That's all I am trying to say. "Take a chill pill", okay?

Speeder writes: Why is it important that everyone have complete control of their own psyche? Does it scare you that you may not have control over your own {emotions or} body?

Like, DUH!

Every word written here proves my point.

Look, I don't feel that most of the people posting here really *like* taking a pill every day; most of them would rather do without, but feel they *need* it in some way--in some cases they come to this conclusion after much struggle.

My question is, why do we pathologize this? Why do we insist that the "cure" (another loaded word) is something that needs to be called "medicine"?

Why not just call the resulting substance dependency an informed decision and leave it at that?

I feel a lot fewer people would use drugs for life if that were the case, because they wouldn't be lied to by doctors and told they were "sick". Paradoxical but true....

Speeder is right language is important; we're burying the truth under a lot of false medicalized languange to prop up our prejudices. Maybe we shouldn't?