27 Cheshvan, 5776
It's been a while since I made remarks, here. Today I have quite a powerful statement to make regarding an article featured below: "Coping with Adversity Beats the Alternative."
I've spoken about that in public appearances. It means that people can choose to forthrightly admit their problems and practice sensible ways to minimize or to end them.
The alternative to doing so? Drowning your sorrows in counterproductive behaviors that bring on more problems: Gambling, substance abuse, wasting time and opportunities, etc. You and I could spend the day listing more alternatives to coping efforts. But let's do something sensible, instead: Think clearly about the issues involved.
Here's what prompted my blogpost today:
THERE has been an alarming and steady increase in the mortality rate of middle-aged white Americans since 1999, according to a study published last week. This increase — half a percent annually — contrasts starkly with decreasing death rates in all other age and ethnic groups and with middle-aged people in other developed countries.
So what is killing middle-aged white Americans? Much of the excess death is attributable to suicide and drug and alcohol poisonings. Opioid painkillers like OxyContin prescribed by physicians contribute significantly to these drug overdoses.
Thus, it seems that an opioid overdose epidemic is at the heart of this rise in white middle-age mortality. The rate of death from prescription opioids in the United States increased more than fourfold between 1999 and 2010, dwarfing the combined mortality from heroin and cocaine. In 2013 alone, opioids were involved in 37 percent of all fatal drug overdoses.
Driving this opioid epidemic, in large part, is...
I disagree with the writer's conclusion, "WHAT is really needed is a sea change within the medical profession itself. We should be educating and training our medical students and residents about the risks and limited benefits of opioids in treating pain. All medical professional organizations should back mandated education about safe opioid treatment as a prerequisite for licensure and prescribing."
Society at large ALSO needs to re-evaluate its ability to deal with discomfort, not only the medical establishment. Medicating your life away so that you need not confront your fears, limitations, aches and other disappointments is immature, a failure to use the executive thinking skills GOD gave you. Exercise your tolerance for inner and outer pain. Hiding it under an onslaught of drugs is not a problem-solver. And NO, I do not advocate letting people in astonishing physical or emotional anguish linger in it. I'm addressing the everyday issues of life, not the exceptional problems that indeed require pain-killers (e.g., post-surgical pain, clinical mental health issues).
Want some solutions to inner and outer pain?
Find several in the doctor-recommended E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge.
I have lived the tale and proven to many people that once a person decides to face their pain, they need not become addicted to anything.
Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism.
Fill your mind and heart with pro-health choices.
