I just finished reading the book All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner and try as I might I can't get the premise of this one to stop making the synapses fire. The basic jist of the book is a woman juggling a job, a sensitive, challenging child, a strained marriage and aging parents who need care (and in this case having to deal with a father with Alzheimer's and the struggle to put him in a care facility). Well if that isn't enough for you she discovers how the prescription meds that her doctor prescribed her for a back injury makes the stress of everyday living so much easier. Until it didn't. What started out as a one pill in the morning to get the day started, turned into online ordering, thousands of dollars spent and many, many pills a day. Rock bottom ensues.
There is a part in the book where the main character is in rehab and she says she understands why stressed out people turn to pills what she doesn't understand is why people don't. Why isn't everyone taking pills to get through the day? Heck, doctors prescribe the stuff. She equates her addiction to pills as similar to the person who puts the kids to bed and can't get to the bottle of wine in the fridge fast enough. It makes you wonder of course if we all have something in our lives that make that little voice in the back of your mind tell you that you absolutely need whatever it is (in my case definitely anything bad for me to eat.) It also makes you wonder if addiction is more prevalent than we all think. We have all heard the term "functional alcoholic" could there be "functional prescription medicationaholic"? I know from experience with sleep medication (bad, bad stuff) that the cycle is horrible. You take the pill to sleep one night and decide to not take it the next night because of the horrible way it made you feel in the morning only to spend hours stressing before bed and when you go to bed about not being able to sleep. It is hard to make it stop (especially when you find something else that doesn't make you feel like you went to a frat party the night before). All I could think about when I was reading this book is that it could happen to anyone and it might just be happening now to any number of the people I hold dear.
In todays world, with all the crap we pile on ourselves and our children, it's no wonder rehab is a booming, for profit business. On a lighter note I will be looking to see if there is stock I can buy in a rehab facility because hey, if you can't beat them, make money off them! (Totally just kidding. Just watched a ton of episodes of Shark Tank and I as well keep thinking about money. Oh, and food of course. Oh, and the very expensive bottle of wine I have stashed away for Christmas. Hmmmm)
There is a part in the book where the main character is in rehab and she says she understands why stressed out people turn to pills what she doesn't understand is why people don't. Why isn't everyone taking pills to get through the day? Heck, doctors prescribe the stuff. She equates her addiction to pills as similar to the person who puts the kids to bed and can't get to the bottle of wine in the fridge fast enough. It makes you wonder of course if we all have something in our lives that make that little voice in the back of your mind tell you that you absolutely need whatever it is (in my case definitely anything bad for me to eat.) It also makes you wonder if addiction is more prevalent than we all think. We have all heard the term "functional alcoholic" could there be "functional prescription medicationaholic"? I know from experience with sleep medication (bad, bad stuff) that the cycle is horrible. You take the pill to sleep one night and decide to not take it the next night because of the horrible way it made you feel in the morning only to spend hours stressing before bed and when you go to bed about not being able to sleep. It is hard to make it stop (especially when you find something else that doesn't make you feel like you went to a frat party the night before). All I could think about when I was reading this book is that it could happen to anyone and it might just be happening now to any number of the people I hold dear.
In todays world, with all the crap we pile on ourselves and our children, it's no wonder rehab is a booming, for profit business. On a lighter note I will be looking to see if there is stock I can buy in a rehab facility because hey, if you can't beat them, make money off them! (Totally just kidding. Just watched a ton of episodes of Shark Tank and I as well keep thinking about money. Oh, and food of course. Oh, and the very expensive bottle of wine I have stashed away for Christmas. Hmmmm)
