affliction

[Take one tablet twice daily with food.]

Delusion: Take a pill.  It seems, more and more, that we assign to the category of “disease” a number of conditions which seem to me to exist not so much as illnesses, but instead are misconstrued as such.  This sort of misguided perception threatens to slow, or even completely halt, our progress as a species.

How long can we get away with inventing mental conditions in order to excuse our dumb behavior patterns?

Seclusion: I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.  If one were to search diligently enough, one might find entire towns full of children who have been diagnosed with a condition which is aptly named “attention deficit disorder.”  While I do not deny the existence of this condition, I do highly doubt that the sheer number of cases diagnosed are, in fact, justifiable. 

Many of the examples I’ve witnessed come from a rich background, or, at the very least, middle class.  Those who are more or less spoiled throughout childhood will undoubtedly grow up with the mentality that they can do what they want when they want and so on.  There is no end to the list of negative attributes this kind of upbringing can produce.  From what I can tell, there are a plethora of parental units who suddenly realized their kids were assholes and could not come to terms with the simple fact that it was due to their upbringing.  No, they think, there must be some kind of mental condition at fault.  Conveniently enough, hyperactivity and poor attention span are two symptoms of ADD(or ADHD, etc), easily “treated” with drugs (of the ampthetamine variety), which these kids then turn around and sell to their friends at five bucks a pop.

Many of these parents need the following reality check:  guess what, your kids are just assholes (of some kind of variety), and the odds are, it’s your fault.

Needless to say, hyperactivity and poor attention span are also two symptoms of a far simpler condition:  being young.

Seclusion: Another slice of pie, please.  That the overweight now outnumber the fit in the country cannot be denied.  Everywhere you look, the evidence of this “epidemic” can be found.  Members of my own family are stricken, but to call this a disease is irresponsible and ridiculous.  Obesity, food addiction and the other labels this demographic has invented only serve to shift the blame for what is simply a lack of self control.

Once again, I do not deny the existence of legitimate medical conditions which may actually produce these kinds of effects, but to imagine that roughly sixty percent of the American population is afflicted is preposterous.  If this was the case, how come a national emergency hasn’t been declared?

No, this comes down to discipline and self control, which seems to be collectively lacking in this country on all fronts, and not simply with how many portions of food we can scarf in one sitting.

Seclusion: One for the road.  I will say this once, and only once:  alcoholism is not a disease.  Cancer is a disease.  Tuberculosis is a disease.  And have you ever seen somebody with a bad case of oral herpes?  Alcoholism is more a choice than anything.  One can choose to exercise self control or not.  To be a slave to an addiction is one thing, but to call it an illness is almost an affront to those who are infected with a real disease that had no choice in the matter.

Referring to alcoholism as a disease only panders to the lack of personal responsibility these people already have in abundance.  So, they can’t control themselves in a bar, as some of us are able.  The solution, it seems, is not to go to the bar in the first place.  Don’t call it a disease.  It’s a form of stupidity and absence of discipline, not an illness.

Conclusion: What next?  I have no delusions about the future of my own health as it relates to my tobacco addiction, and I never have.  But my addiction is not a disease, and may whatever god you believe in have mercy on the first person who deems it as such.

Anything in excess is bad for you, plain and simple, whether it be food, drugs, alcohol, or even water.  Did you know that if you drink enough water, it can kill you?  Perhaps the battle is being fought on the wrong front by outlawing substances, inventing new “easy” diets to take the place of proper eating and exercise habits, and the development of organizations which shifts the blame for addiction to some fantasy disease which its “sufferers” are helpless to have power over.  Maybe, just maybe, the problem is with excess, itself.  Lessons have more clarity when they share a common factor.

Other parts of the world have decriminalized and regulated certain substances which are deemed “evil” and illegal here in the United States.  As a result, not only did they see related death rates fall, but addiction rates with them.

Don’t get me wrong.  I have little care whether or not people choose to eat, drink or smoke themselves to death.  It is in the course of these pursuits, however, that these people tend to negatively affect the lives of those around them.  Not only should this not be tolerated, but it shouldn’t be diluted by putting the blame on some make-believe, bullshit disease, either.