Why Are So Many People On Medication?

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According to official data, around 70 percent of people are on some sort of prescription medication, with 30 percent on drugs that alter the way their minds work. In the past, generations of people lived and died without any intervention of this sort, so why are we all so hooked? 

The statistics themselves are shocking. What’s more, with all these drugs in circulation, why don't people get healthier? Why is society sicker than ever before? More people have diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and cancer than ever before? 

We Want A Quick Fix

Health isn’t something you can fix quickly. It requires changing your life from the ground up, prioritizing the body and mind at every stage. Holistic interventions such as diet, exercise, mindfulness, reduced workloads and so on require enormous time and energy to get right. Usually, they pay off, but it can take years. 

Society, though, wants a quick fix. We don’t want to worry about these factors when we can just pop a pill that will make the problems go away. However, unfortunately, they don’t disappear as easily as many people imagine, and most of the time, they don’t work at all. 

We’re Hooked

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As Sunshine Behavioral Health points out, the opioid epidemic is reaching epic proportions. Physicians have been prescribing people medications that create dependencies, preventing them from living their lives in a healthy manner. All that matters is getting the next bottle of medication. 

The problem with brain-altering drugs is that they set up reward loops. Once you have an opioid containing medicine once, it increases your desire to have it again. 

Benzodiazepines are even worse. These drugs essentially eliminate all unpleasant feelings for a while, allowing the user to overcome practically any psychological obstacle that they face. Unfortunately, they can also damage the brain over time. 

We’re Not Moving Enough

Most people are entirely sedentary. They don’t get the minimum recommended amount of exercise – not even close. 

Because of this, problems begin to enter the physical body. Joints become stiff, arteries stop working properly and the mind begins to slow. What’s more, the longer a person remains sedentary, the more likely they are to struggle with movement in the future. Even something as simple as bending down can result in injury. 

We Don’t Accept Our Nature

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The modern world makes us believe that humans are supposed to live as people in big cities. But that’s not how nature formed us. Instead, we spent the majority of our time walking through woodland and interacting with wildlife. We were once wild animals. 

Our biology hasn’t forgotten this fact. In many ways, we still are wild. However, we’ve lost conscious connection with that aspect of ourselves. Because of this, all sorts of dysfunction is coming in. 

We Are Eating Dangerous Food

Lastly, we’re eating dangerous food – substances that actively harm us. 

Food should be whole and natural. That’s how we evolved to eat. But industrial processing is changing that. We’re eating substances nature did not design our bodies to handle, and so that’s leading to disease and premature aging. 

*Collaborative Post