Queen of Swords

Mental ailments caused by imbalances in biologically produced chemicals and physical ailments caused by imbalances in biologically produced chemicals really are "one in the same". I was only taking your "as humans" statement one step further, to point out its flaws.

No, no, you are living in a fantasy world where we don't need drugs to correct imbalances in neurotransmitters, but where it appears to be acceptable to take drugs to correct imbalances in other biochemicals.

For some reason, the one is acceptable and the other isn't, but since it's a fantasy world, that's okay.

Whether you hate it or not, the fact remains that many people with significant mental disorders improve when placed on those drugs. And given the choice between relying on a drug to get out of bed and being so delusional that I put lives at risk, I know which one I'll pick.

christ-on-a-stick

Y'know, it's really irritating when I have a reply all thought out and QoS has to pop in and phrase it, oh, I don't know, 832 times better than I could.

Argh!!!!

But anyway, what she said <img src="graemlins/notworthy.gif" border="0" alt="[Not Worthy]" />

Megatron

Well said... very well said. <img src="graemlins/notworthy.gif" border="0" alt="[Not Worthy]" />

lynx

**sure beats not wanting to.

Koyaanisqatsi

I did? Cool...

He.

Not just "suggested," outright demanded it! Poeple of the World, light up!

Not quite, but true. What I was talking about is the only way you can spout off against them is to know what you're talking about; i.e., informed communication rather than indoctrinated spewing out your ass.

I'm sorry if that wasn't painfully clear.

Well, perhaps if you had read my post correctly instead of misconstruing it all so badly, you too might see that my intention was to dispell childish propaganda and open up the possibility that "drugs" have positive benefits when used not abused, as the elegant [b]LadyShea[/i] and mysterious QueenofSwords have so aptly demonstrated.

It seems clear to me that Siren far too easily spews propaganda rather than informed analysis and this has adversly affected her judgment regarding "drugs" and what they can or cannot do.

For example, she is under the misguided impression that she "survived" her depression without the use of drugs, simply because she didn't take prescription drugs, which is a misnomer. Her depression--indeed her entire existence--is dependent upon drugs of all kinds that are right now coursing through her gray matter. The fact that she didn't take any external drugs does not alter the fact that her depression was still "drug related" (i.e., the serotonin levels already within her system) and that her "recovery" from this depression was also a "drug related" matter (i.e., her body was able to repair itself--this time--without additional help, though chances are exceedingly good she got that help indirectly, from bananas or some other dietary supplement she wasn't aware contained the necessary drugs).

The point is, every single thing you ingest is, technically, a drug, so the important distinction is use vs. abuse.

I thank you.

Pseudonymph

Koy...thanks again for your comments.
A few points:

I "spew" my opinion. I am not regurgitating some crap I learned in 5th grade.
This is how I feel...nothing more!

dont make me out to be a robot, simply on the basis that I dont do drugs, and refuse to do them for personal reasons. This makes me an individual, and I am proud of that, regardless of your or anyone elses opinion of me.

I thank you all for your feedback, and again, I aplogize for coming off the wrong way

three4jump

Koy, I would agree with you that people should be educated about drugs, rather than being fed propaganda. However, your initial post to this thread was long on propaganda and short on facts. Can you point me to any scientific research that demonstrates how recreational drugs help people, make them healthier, or make their lives easier? You might come up with a paper on marijuana aleviating nausea associated with chemotherapy, but other than that I'll bet you have nothing but anecdotal information.

Here's an anecdote for you. My brother was a straight A student, and he set the record for the mile at our high school, a record which still stands twenty five years later. In his senior year of high school he began using a wider array of drugs including LSD and mushrooms. He "borrowed" my savings and spent them on drugs. He spent the money my parents gave him for college tuition on drugs, and subsequently had to drop out after several occurances of this. Through the years, as he was unable to hold a job, my parents let him live in a house that they owned. He was developing symptoms of schizophrenia, which may have been triggered by LSD. He tried to kill my mom twice by attempting to run over her with a car. My parents had to have the sherrif evict him from the house. He won't speak to me because I am a member of the family and in his paranoid delusions I am "the enemy" somehow. He is semi-homeless, probably living out of his '67 station wagon. He works at odd jobs and landscaping in order to buy drugs, but I've never seen him with an article of clothing less than ten years old. I always know where to find him because he has a ritual of smoking a bong while watching the sunset at the beach, but I can't speak to him without sending him into a rage, and I have no way of getting him the mental health help he needs. When I last spoke to him twenty years ago, he was fighting as hard as he could to get off drugs, but he was unable to.

So, tell me again about use vs. abuse.

christ-on-a-stick

Ok, I'll tell you again.

Your brother's situation = drug ABUSE.

Me, for instance - works full-time (investment banking) and going back to school for MFA, married, favorite aunt to 2 nephews, voracious reader/writer and volunteer who occasionally goes to after-hours clubs and takes Ecstasy and dances her ass off until 8 am... = drug USE.

See, that wasn't so hard, was it???

Use is use. Abuse is abuse. Even the most horrific anecdote doesn't change the FACT that not everyone who USES drugs ABUSES drugs. If I might say so... it sounds like your PERSONAL experience (through a family member) is affecting your objectivity on this one.

three4jump

And so, COAS, you're saying that my brother set out with the intention of abusing drugs and he planned on destroying his life and disrupting his family, right? If he had just been smart and learned how to USE drugs instead of abuse them, then his unknown genetic predisposition to schizophrenia would have somehow recognized his intent and not initiated a chemical cascade that left him with a hole in his brain? I see.

Once again I fail to see anyone explaining how to properly use drugs as opposed to abusing them. On the LSD thread I've read the instructions that I should not stare into a mirror under any circumstances, and I've also been advised that I should stare into a mirror for a really good trip. What would your advice be to a seventy-year-old man who is dying from complications related to smoking and drinking? That he should have been smart and only smoked one cigarette a day along with only one beer?

Good luck with your use of drugs, and I hope it never turns into abuse without your intention. I will continue to point out the potential pitfalls of drug use as I see them, and I'm sure my words will fall on many deaf ears.

Queen of Swords

I wish there was a way to identify which people would be able to use drugs in moderation, perhaps for the rest of their lives, and which people might start out the same way, with good intentions, and yet end up addicted or exacerbating latent mental disorders.