thog don’t caare

And he raised his eyebrow at me. We'd been discussing addictive medications a few minutes before, like the Tramadol I finally got from the pain specialist to take once a week or so to give me a break from my chronic pain, so I reassured him that methylpenidate (Ritalin/Concerta) is not addictive (at least not in people with ADHD).

His response? To raise his eyebrow even harder and say "Well it sure SOUNDS like it's addictive!"

And I had to explain to this man - who works in a healthcare related job by the way - that just because medication makes you feel good and helps you, just because you look forward to taking it, that doesn't make it addictive or dangerous. And he wasn't convinced.

The simple fact that I was excited to take a daily pill that has literally changed my life, after decades of fighting to get that medication, made him think I shouldn't be taking it so often. That it must inherently be dangerous.

I'm not even in America, but I'm pretty sure this attitude began there and then spread over here to Europe. This Puritan idea of "if something feels good, you must beware of it. Pleasure is dangerous, it is sinful, it is addiction, it is evil."

I know too many people who subconsciously believe that pleasure = addictive = dangerous = bad. Joy is a slippery slope to hell.

So here is your reminder for today that you don't need to be afraid of feeling good. If something improves your life, use it. Even if it is addictive - learn what that addiction means, whether the addiction is inherently dangerous or not, and whether the benefits outweigh the drawbacks and risks.

My ADHD meds are, in fact, not addictive. But I will take them every day because they make my life orders of magnitude easier. I will enjoy them every time I take them.

My tramadol is addictive. I will still take it. I will keep it on a schedule to avoid becoming addicted, primarily because addiction in this case would mean reduced effectiveness. But I am not afraid of my painkillers. They are life changing.

The entire medical industry is unhappy with the notion that some people need lifelong medications.

Note: Of course, they aren't at all worried that you need lifelong food, and lifelong vitamins, and that you have to drink water every. damn. day. That's normal, after all.

And they aren't dismayed that some people put their shoes on EVERY SINGLE DAY of their lives, and even look forward to having these little contraptions on their feet that protect them from cold and getting their feet cut by rocks and glass and stuff. None of them say, "shoes, well, I guess if you have to, BUT you really should try to break the habit, at least a little bit, spend a few days with your feet in their natural condition, stop forcing them into a particular shape. Are you really planning on wearing those things every day? You could move somewhere warm, with lots of open fields, where you don't have to! Toughen your feet naturally and only wear them sometimes, when you really need to, and then maybe stick to sandals? Maybe you should switch to sandals now and work towards not wearing shoes at all on some days, mmkay?"

None of them will question you about the Assistive Devices strapped to your feet and ask when you plan to stop relying on them so much.

But pills? OMG, you have pills that make your life better, and you want to take them - and you don't plan to stop?

assume people are trying their best, want to be good and treat others well, and that when their behavior doesn’t align with those goals, it’s because of outside factors that are pushing them to their limit

i have a patron who is mean as a snake. won’t respond when you greet her, barks orders at you, and is generally nasty

i couldn’t stand her & dreaded the moment she walked in the door, until i stopped one day & went “wow, to walk around feeling unhappy enough to treat people so horribly every day. what a difficult way to live.”

and so my tactics changed. i made a point to be extra kind & friendly to her. she changed her hair color one day & when i complimented her on it, she was very caught off guard & said “oh, thank you. my whole life i’ve thought i was ugly.”

now we’re at the point where she shows me pictures of watercolor paintings she made & says hi when she walks in the door. she’s not my favorite patron, but she’s perfectly okay. most unpleasant people aren’t inherently rotten, they’re just unhappy & coping with it poorly