Comments on: Are We Over-Medicating Ourselves? http://counsellingresource.com/features/2009/07/13/are-we-over-medicating-ourselves/ Looking at life through the prism of psychology, philosophy, mental health and more. Originally created by counsellor, psychotherapist and philosopher Dr Greg Mulhauser, this blog is now the work of an international team of contributors. Mon, 22 Mar 2010 05:31:56 +0000 hourly 1 By: Dr George Simon, PhD http://counsellingresource.com/features/2009/07/13/are-we-over-medicating-ourselves/#comment-50652 Dr George Simon, PhD Tue, 14 Jul 2009 18:01:34 +0000 http://counsellingresource.com/features/?p=1796#comment-50652 Hi, Heather. An excellent point. There are many ways in which being medicated can "cloud" judgment and make it harder to successfully work through issues. The most frequent problem I've encountered over the years is the quieting of potentially "constructive" emotional pain. Sometimes bad feelings, including anxiety and even sadness are nature's "signals" to us that something is wrong and needs to change. If we simply try to rid ourselves of the anxiety and unhappiness through chemistry, we sometimes end up losing the natural motivation we might have had to make some very constructive changes in our circumstances. For example, I've known individuals who were in fairly destructive, abusive relationships who got enough relief from their emotional pain that they stayed in bad circumstances longer than they might have otherwise. Not all pain is useless or destructive. Some pain is potentially very constructive. Personal growth is sometimes a lot like a physical fitness program. "No pain, no gain!" Hi, Heather. An excellent point. There are many ways in which being medicated can “cloud” judgment and make it harder to successfully work through issues. The most frequent problem I’ve encountered over the years is the quieting of potentially “constructive” emotional pain. Sometimes bad feelings, including anxiety and even sadness are nature’s “signals” to us that something is wrong and needs to change. If we simply try to rid ourselves of the anxiety and unhappiness through chemistry, we sometimes end up losing the natural motivation we might have had to make some very constructive changes in our circumstances. For example, I’ve known individuals who were in fairly destructive, abusive relationships who got enough relief from their emotional pain that they stayed in bad circumstances longer than they might have otherwise.

Not all pain is useless or destructive. Some pain is potentially very constructive. Personal growth is sometimes a lot like a physical fitness program. “No pain, no gain!”

]]> By: Heather http://counsellingresource.com/features/2009/07/13/are-we-over-medicating-ourselves/#comment-50650 Heather Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:43:31 +0000 http://counsellingresource.com/features/?p=1796#comment-50650 The question that has been lingering on my mind is this ... if a person does want to work on character development, can being medicated make this process more difficult? It seems as though the medication can cloud what needs to be worked through, making it just plain harder to make progress in this area. The question that has been lingering on my mind is this … if a person does want to work on character development, can being medicated make this process more difficult? It seems as though the medication can cloud what needs to be worked through, making it just plain harder to make progress in this area.

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