It's no secret that a significant percentage of Americans rely heavily on daily medications in order to live “functional” lives and manage mental health. In fact, if you were to look at the stats, as published by Scientific American back in 2016, you would see that one in six Americans was taking psychiatric medication. Antidepressants are the most common, followed by anti-anxiety meds, then antipsychotics. That's nearly 55 million people in this country alone, and these numbers have likely increased over the years. With such a heavy reliance on these medications, it makes us wonder who is truly benefiting from this trend. If you look at the treatment model, it's interesting to note that taking medication is not a cure, rather, temporary relief masking an underlying issue. Why, then, is it that this is the go-to line of defense being promoted by the psychiatric and medical communities? Big Pharma. Pharmaceutical companies and the doctors prescribing these meds (after seeing a patient for 15 minutes and giving them a lifelong diagnosis, mind you) are experiencing huge financial gains, and this business model has no plans of changing in favor of what is ethical and just.
According to the values and mores that first were set in place in the medical community, the goal of medicine was to find cures and help heal others. Now that being sick has become such a big, multi-billion dollar per year business, this standard appears to have changed within the medical community. If a person goes to an MD or psychiatrist today, even though studies show a medication is not a cure, and that the best way to treat someone involves combining this with therapy, the medications are the only things being prescribed, and therapy is rarely the go-to solution in this community. There must be some consequences to this greed-driven madness, but they aren't being presented at the forefront of treatment options. That's what we're here for today—to go over the various consequences of relying solely on psychotropic meds for good mental health and provide you with some alternative solutions for treatment.
Consequences
One of the most shocking pieces of evidence surrounding drug use in America (other than the opioid overdose epidemic we're in) surrounds the heavy reliance on medications long-term. 80% of Americans taking psychiatric drugs have reported using them long-term, and Xanax is the top third drug of choice. This is incredibly dangerous, and we're going to tell you why. Benzodiazepines such as Xanax and Valium are incredibly addictive, and withdrawals can be fatal. These medications were intended only for use as a PRN (as needed) in cases of panic attacks or engaging in anxiety causing activities such as flying in an airplane.
When a person becomes reliant on such medications, not only does their body become physically addicted, but their tolerance rises; causing the dosage needs to increase over time as the normal dosage becomes less and less effective. Many people have experienced personality changes when taking these medications, and once the first initial dose wears off, the anxiety they were initially trying to treat becomes exacerbated without external triggers—causing a person to become more anxious and feel the need to take more medication.
Other risks involved in relying on psychotropic medications surround a general lack of therapy being required at the time the medications are prescribed. This ensures that a person will live with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or psychosis for the rest of their lives if they stay on the medication and do not seek other forms of treatment. Is this really a way to live, and are these medications making people feel as well as they would be feeling if they treated their symptoms at the root of the problem by dealing with their psychological issues head-on with a trained therapist? We think... actually, we know not. These medications may be temporarily taking away the negative symptoms of a mental disorder, but they're also taking away the potential to feel other extreme emotions such as joy.
Essentially these medications are numbing people, and it can be difficult for those taking them to feel any emotion at all. Psychotropic meds, for example, can have such a numbing effect on a person that their personality changes into something resembling a robot. The inability to feel emotions tends to be present even in the face of extreme pain, such as a death in the family. This may sound appealing for someone experiencing excruciating pain, but what is it doing to the person in the long run if these feelings are masked forever?
Another issue with taking these medications long-term is the fact that they all have laundry lists of side-effects that oftentimes outweigh any benefit the medication may bring. Some of the side-effects are irreversible and can affect a person's bodily functions for the rest of their life, causing them to rely on even more medications to alleviate the side-effects.
Solutions
While we're very much sounding like “Debbie Downers” in reference to pharmaceutical meds, it's not without reason. And while it may seem hopeless for someone out there reading this who is desperate for true healing and relief from their symptoms, we have some good news for you. There are better solutions and treatment options available that have been proven highly effective. In addition to therapy, which we've already touched on briefly, there are a variety of natural supplements that help treat the symptoms of anxiety, depression, bipolar II, and ADHD. The most researched and cutting edge supplement to hit the market today is a unique, natural formula developed using micronutrients. Micronutrients have been found to be powerful healing tools against mental disorders in a variety of peer-reviewed research studies, and are now available on the market. If you'd like some relief from your anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder or ADHD, you owe it to yourself to give Focus Essentials a try. If you'd like to learn more, or have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. We'd love to help you on your journey toward true healing and recovery.