Letters to the Editor
Rowyna
Published Letters: 105 Editor's Choice: 36
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the simplicity of a pill
[Read the article: Don't be happy, worry]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Within the past week someone close to me has begun taking a low-dose of Zoloft due to stress from his job and hey, life in general.
He went to a GP after he had vomited that morning due to anxiety and stress about his job, and was hoping for a referral to a psychologist so he could work through some issues, and maybe come up with some strategies for tackling the stress in his life.
The GP was decidedly uncomfortable with the whole thing. He wrote off a perscription for Zoloft. I think that lots of GPs are more comfortable perscribing pills to treat your problems that to help you get to the root-cause of those problems to actually SOLVE them. Its the equivalent of looking at a person with a deep painful gash in their arm and perscribing pain-killers instead of stiches.
You see, its much more socially acceptable to be on 'happy pills' than to admit that you're seeing a shrink, especially if you're a guy. It also means you don't have a fear of judgement or rejection that comes with speaking about your problems to a stranger. And hey, who has time right? Taking pills means you don't have to make and keep regular appointments, which lots of us don't have time for (possibly why we're stressed and depressed in the first place).
Maybe if therapy was more acceptable, or if it was less costly and easier to get an appointment (when he called a therapist, there was a one-month wait) more people would turn to it. Maybe if primary care physicians had more contacts amongst quality psychologists to give referals to. Maybe if you're health insurance covered it. Then maybe fewer of us would be on Prozac or any of the other pills. Lots of maybes.
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how many men would answer with 'I'm a Dad'
[Read the article: I get grossed out when I hear, "I'm a mom!"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Seriously, when asked about themselves, how many men with children would list the FIRST and MOST IMPORTANT THING as 'I'm a Dad'.
Most would say something like 'I'm from Arizona these days, but grew up in Maine. I used to be an electrician, but right now I'm staying at home with the kids.' would be a much more likely answer than simply 'Well, *chuckle* I'm a Dad' as thought that one statement answers everything about you anyone could ever want to know.
I'm sure it's great to be a Mom or Dad, and I don't belittle those people who chose to have children at all. I think that having kids IS a life changing experience, and that the person you are on the otherside of baby-making is not the same person you were before. Its a life changing event, for sure. But, although it may alter your life, it need not become your entire life. You need not define your new, child-toting self totally in terms of 'being a Mom' and nothing else.
The LW is quite right to question this insistence among society to classify women with children as being 'first and foremost' a mom. Just look at whats happened to Nicole Kidman now that shes pregnant. Her Oscar nomination, her distinguished career, her upcoming movies and aspirations are all irrelevant in the face of the fact she. is. going. to. be. a. mom.
So be pissed off. I am. Someday when I have kids I'll love them. I'll spend an obscene amount of my time looking after them, cleaning up after them, driving them around and worrying about them. But you know what? I'll also do other stuff with my time. I'll work. I'll read. I'll enjoy walks and bike rides. I'll still be a crazy femmy liberal who reads the salon and responds to the letters column... being a mom won't change that. It will be one of many things I do. The same will be true for the LW.
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I say bring on the Lybrel!
[Read the article: The end of menstruation]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Last year for the first time in my life, I had an incredibly painful period. It lasted for over a month (I bled heavily during this time, had massive cramps, became slighly anemic, and was generally in pain and miserable). My doctor did several tests, but couldn't find anything concrete that was wrong. I was told that this is something that can strike many women in their mid-20s, as our bodies are designed by evolution to be pregnant, not menstruating for most of our reproductive life.
I was told to take my birth control pills continuously, and just ignore the placebos. Apparently they're unnecessary anyhow, and are only there from women's "psychological comfort".
Tell you what, I dont need to be "psychologically comforted" by my period, and am absolutely not sad to see it go.
Most of the women reading this article will be on birth control already, which means they already do not naturally menstrate (as defined as a normal process brought on by the natural cycle of hormones). Since all of us taking birth control don't menstrate naturally anyhow, what on earth is the hullabaloo about?
So a drug company decided to aim their marketing campaign at women who don't enjoy their periods, or frankly don't see the need to create artificial bleeding once a month by taking a week's worth of sugar-pills. Good for them! Not everyone thinks having their period is lots of fun, and most of you aren't really menstrating anyhow, you're just "breakthrough bleeding" in a controlled way once a month because someone at "big pharma" thinks you'll be pscyhologically scarred if you don't.