Article by Madeline Kohlberg.
It was interesting to hear all of the responses to this question, and I am inclined to agree with the answer of the majority. It seems that a lot of the time, whenever someone feels a headache coming on, they pop a pill. A great many of us like to start our day with a cup of coffee or some other caffeinated drink. We may not think about it like that, but drugs creep into our daily lives more often than it seems.
That’s not to say that drugs are necessarily a bad thing in and of themselves. There are times when they are very useful and necessary. That being said, I can’t help but wonder how the majority of us would react if these drugs suddenly became unavailable.
Personally, I prefer to turn to alternative methods before I go for the drugs. If I can fit it into my schedule, I’d rather take a short nap to relieve a headache than take a pill, or try to go to bed earlier so that I don’t need the caffeine. It does take some planning before the ailment strikes you, but I do strongly believe that it’s worth it to put that time into coming up with strategies. Your health really will be better, and you won’t have to deal with the side effects.
What are some ways that you can think of to find an alternative method to something you’d normally rely on a drug for?
Places to check out:
www.crchealth.com – Offers drug abuse/ dependence help, signs, and treatments.
www.bemedwise.org – A fact sheet giving various statistics on America’s OTC drug use.
www.nlm.nig.gov – Gives a good overview about what OTC’s actually are.
www.plosmedicine.org – A fantastic study on doctors’ prescriptions based from any amount to no exposure to a drug company’s marketing.
