Americans will spend half their lives taking prescription drugs
“What are you on?”
“QZ. For a cranial abnormality. How about you?”
“R and S.”
“Wow. You’re ahead of me.”
“Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll catch up soon. We’re all in this together.”
An American born in 2019 will spend a larger share of their lifetime taking prescription drugs than being married or receiving an education, according to new research by Jessica Ho, associate professor of sociology and demography at Penn State. She found that American males will spend approximately 48% of their lives taking prescription drugs. The number jumped to 60% for females.”
She found that the majority of American men are taking prescription drugs by age 40, while most American women are taking prescription drugs by age 15. On average, a newborn boy in 2019 could expect to take prescription drugs for approximately 37 years, or 48% of his life. A newborn girl in 2019 could expect to take them for approximately 47.5 years, or 60% of her life.
“We see that women start taking prescription drugs earlier than men do, and some of that is related to birth control and hormonal contraceptives,” Ho said. “But it is also related to greater use of psychotherapeutic drugs and painkillers among women. If we consider the difference between men and women, excluding contraceptives would only account for about a third of the difference. The remaining two-thirds is primarily driven by the use of other hormone-related drugs, painkillers and psychotherapeutic drugs used to treat conditions such as depression, anxiety and ADHD.”
I think those figures are low-ball, but even so we’re looking at Crazy.
And predatory.
It’s also operant conditioning. Feel discomfort, go to doctor, GET DIAGNOSIS, obtain prescription, take drugs.
Repeat all steps. Keep repeating.
Those drug ads on television are certainly working. They spray the viewer with every so-called medical condition under the sun.
“You might have this, you might have that, you might have moderate to severe…” “See your doctor.”
The list of adverse drug effects they intone is no deterrent. “One eye may fall out.” “You ass may collapse.”
No problem.
The public doesn’t realize these ads aren’t charity functions. They’re companies doing business. Therefore, the options are: buy, don’t buy.
The reading of the adverse drug effects takes place only because a law demands it.
Perhaps a new provision should be added. The drug company has to announce its position:
“Hello. We’re Pfizer. The ad you’re about to watch is us doing business. We’re selling. Selling you. Keep that in mind as you see children playing with dogs in a field of flowers and balloons floating in the air.”
—“Hello, Doc, I’m back again. I want to know whether BHITYU-234 is right for me.”
“Hi Jim. Do you have vaginal pain? Because that’s what the drug is for.”
“I’ve thought of getting a vagina, but no, I didn’t realize…”
“Are you having bad dreams?”
“Once in a while.”
“Let’s have the front desk make an appointment for you with one of our psychiatrists.”
“Sure. Do you think Paxil might be right for me?”
“Hard to say. Could be. Are you depressed?”
“I have my down moments. Our Christmas tree fell down in the living room this year. A few worms crawled out of the trunk.”
“Actual worms?”