In the 1970’s there was a very sappy song entitled “Feelings” sung by some sappy guy who moaned his way through his song while he was trying to forget his feelings of love. Our society has become almost completely feeling oriented and I think this is very bad. Many of you who read this blog with any regularity have heard me say that it seems that we have lost the ability to think, and reason. I find it so rare when someone is willing to risk sticking their neck out for a belief or a thought. Feelings are sacred ground, especially for women. I can say that, I am one of you.
The number one reason people take medication of any kind is to feel better. Whether it be an aspirin for a headache or Neurontin for nerve pain, the goal is to eliminate the pain and suffering they are dealing with. Every day on your tv box you are presented with at least a dozen different kinds of commercials showing you hurting people.
Each of these ads contribute to the daily mantra of you must feel good, you must not be unhappy. It is known as better living through chemistry. Most of the medication peddlers tell you that you have a disorder or an emotional illness. I hear the announcer saying things like, "Depression is a serious medical condition." While feelings of depression can certainly lead to physical problems due to how a person deals with their feelings, there is currently no research to objectively prove their claim. I think the classifications of some of those “disorders” and “mental illnesses” may be a little iffy because there is really no organ to define as being “sick.” There is no virus, or bacteria, there is no genetic history, there are no disease qualifiers.
How do we know? Well, here is the definition of a disease. “A pathological condition of a part, organ, or system of an organism resulting from various causes, such as infection, genetic defect, or environmental stress, and characterized by an identifiable group of signs or symptoms.”
A disease is pathological and affects organs and or systems. Disorders and problems with various behaviors are not on the same medical platform as true diseases. Yet, many of these disorders are being elevated to that very state without any proof of organic decomposition. A person simply feels bad and sometimes taking these pills make a person feel better for a while. Have you ever asked if they know how these meds actually work?
In addition to knowing how these meds work, we also have to think about how do you know you need them? If you are treating a medical problem, you have to know what the problem is you are treating, right? What proof or organic decomposition is there? In a clear majority of cases there is no organic disorder, nothing to prove that the feelings a person is having are the result of a physical problem.
And here is another good question: since most of the things being treated are not physical, they are mental which is not a brain disorder, nor are they a disease, exactly what are we doing with these pills? I would contend that we are medicating emotions.
What is the reasoning behind medicating emotions? There are a few good reasons to do so on a short term basis, but these are rare and extreme. Such as when a person is so crippled by their emotions that they appear to be non-functional. They are not sleeping or eating or practicing any kind of hygiene. We have to help this person to a place of at least being functional so we can deal with the underlying issues.
A person so severely depressed that they are catatonic is not going to communicate with a therapist or a counselor of any kind. Medication is helpful in the short term in such a case.
If a person has a terminal illness, or a chronic illness, medication for no other reason than to make their last days more bearable may be beneficial to enable them to enjoy what is left of their life. Their time here on earth is short and perhaps taking these medications will enable them to conclude the last business of life in a controlled manner.
However, most times these medications are prescribed to otherwise healthy people because they are feeling bad, or sad, or because of a traumatic event in life that they felt they could not cope with alone.
People do many things to medicate their emotions. The person who drinks or uses drugs for the purposes of escape, the teen that cuts or self-mutilates in other ways does it as a way to medicate emotions. They are trying to create a temporary relief of stress and create happy or euphoric feelings they lack. There may be a desire to relieve guilt or shame from activities that violate the conscience.
The biblical solution to these kinds of issues is to deal with the real problem, such as unconfessed sin, dealing with guilt and shame, clearing the conscience, learning to trust God, to turn away from sin and unrighteousness and to begin to live in a way that brings God glory.
It has been my experience that when people learn how to deal with the issues of the heart that the feelings that follow are vastly different than the ones that lead a person to feel depressed or guilty or fearful. It is when we begin to fulfill our God-given purpose on this earth that we find peace and contentment in our souls. None of this comes from a bottle or pharmacy, it comes straight from the Word of God.