Before Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin’s bacteria-killing properties, it was the norm for people to die from something as simple as an infected cut.
And then one day, our parents (or for you younger folks, grandparents) took their dying child to the doctor and he gave them a pill that cured them. They’d seen other people they knew and loved die from this same issue, maybe even one of their older children. Instead of death, they got magic. It was a new day.
You don’t forget that, not as an individual or a culture.
And that’s what we want. A magic pill. It’s what the docs want too. They feel that pressure and they want to fix you. Who doesn’t want to be the hero?
So, they pull out their prescription pad and get ready. If all the lab tests came back “fine” and there’s no diagnosis to plug into the algorithm to produce a drug, all is not lost; they’ll offer you a quick fix for the pain. That way they are still the good guy. We’ve seen the results of this in the deadly opioid crisis and the scourge of antibiotic resistant bacteria due to the inappropriate and excessive prescribing of antibiotics.
Or they’ll go to their next talking point and ask about your mental health. “Do you have any stress in your life? Has anything ‘big’ happened in the last few weeks, months, years?” Because we are imperfect humans living with other imperfect humans, we will always have “yes” answers to those questions, some more than others.
Out comes the prescription pad again, this time for one of the well-advertised SSRIs or anti-anxiety meds. If not a pain killer or antibiotic, then how about a psychotropic? Again, they are still the good guy.
And just to be fair, this isn’t only the doctor’s fault. Pharmaceutical companies advertising directly to the public emboldens patients to ask doctors directly for the latest advertised fix-all. Patients come in demanding magic and docs feel pressured to oblige.
I expect you’re here because the magic failed. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, I tell my clients that I have no magic wand, and despite claims, no one else does either. Health, whether mental or physical, must be earned.
“I just want to be happy,” someone once told me.
“What are you willing to do to make that happen?” I asked. “How hard are you willing to work for it?”
“I’m not!” he said. “I work all day! I shouldn’t have to work for my happiness! That’s the whole point. It should just BE.”
He believed he was entitled to happiness and wellness because he existed. And he stayed miserable.
Another said, “I’m here for a good time, not a long time.”
This catchy saying seemed a brilliant philosophy to him at the time, but I watched his “good times” quickly give way to decreasing mobility and obesity-related illnesses. His mantra of eating, drinking, and smoking whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, as much as he wanted led to his diagnosis with Type II Diabetes, gout, and COPD. He couldn’t play with his kids or enjoy his wife. He eventually had to have a foot amputated, and then several fingers. His kidneys failed from years of a hostile diet. He ended up dependent on dialysis at age 42 and it was not a “good time” getting there. He died at age 45. Not only did he not get the “long time” he wasn’t concerned about, but he also missed out on the “good time” he lived for.
You can be happy and well, but it’s not free. You will have to work for it. You can start out with as much or as little work as you like; the results you get for even small changes will be what propels you toward greater changes.
If you’re here because your doctor wanted to make you “happy,” and it failed, welcome. It turns out you had the power all along and never needed the wizard’s magic after all.
Thank God for Alexander Fleming. But he didn’t just wave a magic wand. He found the source of the sickness and killed it. Let’s follow his lead. Let’s find the root of the problem and the wellness will follow.