Modern Medical Reform

When you're in college, you tend to describe yourself as your major, subsequent careers that will come with it, and the class level you are in. That is the most important thing going on in your life, so it's always the forefront of your personality. Me? I'm a Psych major, like thousands and thousands of other people. And, of course, when I do tell people this, I get a common theme among their responses.
"Oh, a Psychology major?! You should talk to my cousin Larry! Oh boy, you'd have a good time analyzing him... Wait... Are you analyzing me now?"
I once had someone talk to me at the coffeehouse for a half hour about how they were contemplating breaking up with their girlfriend, and they requested my advice. As though I would have some secret tome of knowledge about relationships and the brain functions of those in relationships.

Not to say I don't like helping people. That's why I declared this major in the first place. But my specialty lies in a more specified category: addiction. I want to counsel addicts in treatment, help kids who had addicts as caregivers or loved ones, and repair families that were hurt by addiction. I want to find new ways of doing so; and improve the system as it is now, to make addiction treatment available to everyone, all over the country. I want to support the use of less prescription medications to treat things that aren't necessary to be treated that way.

There are still many doctors that don't see the gravity in over-prescribing. Prescription drugs are the leader in terms of abused substances. The 60s had acid, the 80s had cocaine, we have pills. A pill for everything, right? It's quicker than exhausting all possible treatments for an ailment, and conforms to the Western ideal, "one disease, one cure". There are no individual differences. This is, of course, highly contradictory to that of medical care in the East, who do focus on one cure for one person, though in a significantly more spiritual manner, which is its ultimate downfall in terms of being taken seriously in the American medical world. Alternative medicine, though, has been sneaking it's way into our culture for some time now. The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine (SRAM: http://www.sram.org/) devotes its time to analyzing alternative medicine's efficacy. I think it's high time the two fields begin to merge. further

If a teenager enters treatment, and they are diagnosed as depressed, should antidepressants be prescribed as soon as the diagnosis is made? Despite the fact that suicide rates increase for young teenagers who are put onto them? Or should there be a series of more minor treatments before hand? Having the teenager pick up journaling, to collect all their thoughts of the day in order, to look at objectively. Get on a healthier regimen of diet and exercise. Learn self calming techniques like yoga, meditation, or aromatherapy. Counseling the relationship between them and their parents so compromises can be made between them. Establishing a schedule for them to maintain that gets them enough sleep and do all of their homework. Also allowing them to vent and seek advice from an unbiased third party when they need it.

Needless to say, if that wouldn't work, biological causes would be the next culprit to investigate. We would, however, be more conclusive in determining that chemical imbalances are the cause, rather than injecting kids with hormones that they don't need, that could potentially harm them. That is not to say, though, that more serious ailments, like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder will not need medication; but alternative methods should join that treatment to make it more manageable for the sufferer.

Similarly, pain management should be closely monitored and treated differently than it is. Pain medications are the most common to become addicted to, due to their high risk of dependency and quickly-acting tolerance. One moment, you're taking two Vicodin a day to aid in recovering from surgery, but over the next three weeks, you end up taking fourteen a day just to get through the pain. That is not an exaggeration. That is personal witness. Treatment of opioid misuse has exceeded that of marijuana treatment since the start of the 21st century, and is second only to alcohol treatment (Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS), 1994-2004: http://wwwdasis.samhsa.gov/teds04/tedsad2k4web.pdf).

Pain management must also be reformed. There should be strict time schedules for the use and prescription of analgesics; and other methods, such as active physical rehabilitation, self-meditation and hypnosis, and healthy diets should be added on to the regimen. A family history should be inquired to conclude if the person has a likelihood of becoming an addict, since according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, forty to sixty percent of one's likelihood to be an addict comes from genetic makeup (http://www.drugabuse.gov/scienceofaddiction/sciofaddiction.pdf). If abuse can be prevented, then the effort must be made to do so.

I am not saying we must completely forgo the current medical industry. There are many people who are helped by medications and can live their lives thanks to it. We are blessed with such an advanced medical field, and should be thankful we are not in some jungle somewhere, rubbing leaves on our sores. But addiction is a serious problem among our culture, and it is glamorized to something it isn't. We must take the necessary measures to prevent chemical dependence where it is not needed. We must grit our teeth and make reforms to better the lives of our patients. It is the duty among any of us who make it our life to help others, not to find a quick fix, but the right one.