#sacralchakra

The land of the free has become the land of the medicated. In North America, the numbers are staggering: millions, perhaps tens of millions, bound to the tiny capsules and tablets that promise freedom from despair and madness—antidepressants and antipsychotics, the ubiquitous gods of modernity. These substances, prescribed with reckless abandon, whisper the same illusion of safety that once plagued humanity’s greatest leaps of faith: "Take these and you shall be made whole." But at what cost? There is no freedom without sacrifice, and these drugs—modern panaceas for the soul's unrest—do not heal without inflicting wounds of their own. The libido, that primal force, that lust for life, is among the casualties. Ah, libido! That intoxicating flame, that force beneath our feet that drives us to the heights of pleasure, creation, and destruction! And yet, it is precisely this divine fire that these pills seek to smother.

Over the past few years, a dark cloud has settled over our so-called enlightened societies. In England, the number of prescribed antidepressant items surged by a staggering 34.8% between 2015 and 2022, reaching a total of 83.4 million prescriptions—each pill a testament to our increasing reliance on the chemical numbing of the human soul. Indeed, this alarming trend is but the latest in a broader rise that has swept across the Western world for over two decades, with antidepressant prescriptions more than tripling from 1998 to 2018. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have become the new panacea, dispensed as liberally as sweets to children, and yet, the sickness of the spirit deepens. In Scotland, one in five adults now receives at least one antidepressant prescription—a damning indictment of the human condition in a world that pretends to care for well-being but instead suffocates the will to live.

In recent years, a most troubling trend has emerged in the realm of antipsychotic prescriptions—a veritable tide of chemical confinement that swells and engulfs the youthful spirit. In England, the numbers speak of a crisis: prescriptions for children and teenagers have doubled between 2000 and 2019, a staggering revelation of society's desperation to tame the untamed minds of its future. Both new and repeat prescriptions flow forth with alarming ease, as if the very essence of youth is now deemed a malady to be medicated rather than celebrated. They call this progress—this dulling of the senses, this numbing of desire—but it is nothing more than a surrender to mediocrity, a rejection of the vital force that drives us toward greatness. They would have us believe that the rise in prescriptions is the fruit of improved diagnosis, of broader treatment applications, but what they fail to admit is that this surge represents our collective abandonment of the struggle, our capitulation to a life without risk, without pain—and, ultimately, without joy.

Libido: The Sacred and the Dangerous

Beware! Not all that throbs with life should be followed without question. The libido, when left unchecked, can become a dangerous master. The ancient Greeks knew this. They sang of Dionysus, the god of ecstasy and madness, whose unbridled desires led to ruin as often as revelation. Libido is life-giving, yes, but also destructive. It must be harnessed, lest it burn us alive in its uncontrolled fury. But what do the medics of the modern world do? Do they offer us the wisdom to channel this force, to tame the wild animal within? No. They extinguish it. They tell you to swallow your desire, to numb yourself for the sake of sanity.

Eros Unbound: The Vital Force of Desire and Creativity

Freud spoke of the libido as the life force, the *Eros* that drives us toward pleasure, connection, and self-preservation. Jung, in turn, understood this energy as more than mere sexual desire. He saw it as the very fuel for our creativity, our imagination, and our spiritual ascent. The sacral chakra, nestled just below the navel, holds the keys to both our basest instincts and our highest potential. It is here that the raw energy of desire bubbles forth, demanding expression, demanding transformation. Sublimation—Freud’s great insight—allows us to channel this primal energy not just into the pursuit of fleshly pleasures, but into the creation of art, ideas, and higher purpose. To stifle the sacral chakra is to cut off this powerful engine, to dam the river of life that could carry us toward greatness. When the sacral chakra is stifled, when libido runs low—ah, how the spirit suffers. One finds themselves trapped in the dull gray of existence, devoid of the fire that drives the will. Freud would call this repression, the great enemy of the psyche. The energy that should be flowing toward creation, toward transformation, instead festers within, poisoning the soul. Jung would tell us that a blocked sacral chakra hinders not only sexual satisfaction but our entire individuation process—the sacred journey toward the Self. Wilhelm Reich, that audacious herald of liberation, boldly unveiled the fetters that bind the human spirit to a stifling existence. He posited that libido is not merely a base desire but the very essence of life itself—an energetic force capable of immense transformation. In his fervent writings, he declared that the repression of this vital energy leads to neurosis, a disease of the spirit cultivated by a society intent on conformity and subjugation. The libido, when low, does not simply mean a loss of sexual desire—it is a loss of *vitality*, a creeping numbness that strips life of its color, its passion, its meaning. One becomes, as Nietzsche would say, a "last man," content with comfort but robbed of greatness. The low-libidoed soul does not burn with the desire to transcend; it merely survives. And what, I ask, is more tragic than mere survival?

Antidepressants and Antipsychotics: The New Chains

These drugs—oh, how they soothe the mind, how they flatten the waves of discontent. Yes, they pull many from the abyss, from the nightmare of existence. But in the process, they rob us of our essential spark. Antidepressants, particularly the infamous SSRIs, dull the libido like rust upon the blade of the soul. Antipsychotics, those heavier shackles, suppress it almost entirely, as if the will to life itself were a threat to order. They undermine the sacred Svadhisthana, the sacral chakra, where the rivers of life flow most freely. The primal energies of creation, of eroticism, of passion—these are sacrificed for the hollow promise of balance. The libido, that inner fire, is reduced to mere embers, and with it, our connection to pleasure, our vitality, our very being.

How, then, do we restore this sacred force?

1. Break the Chains of Numbness: If it is within your power, if you have stabilized the storm within, work with your physician to safely reduce your dependency on these medications.

2. Return to the Body: The body is your temple, the gateway to the sacred realms of pleasure and power. Reconnect with it. Engage in practices that restore your sensuality—whether through dance, yoga, or any movement that stirs the blood. Remember that you are an animal, a being of flesh and sensation. To deny this is to deny life itself.

3. Stimulate the Sacral Chakra: The Svadhisthana, seat of creativity and sexual energy, must be awakened. Meditate upon it. Envision the warm, swirling orange energy that resides just below the navel. Let it grow and expand, infusing your entire being with the power of creation.

4. Seek Out Pleasure—Deliberately: In a world that numbs and pacifies, make pleasure a priority once more. Whether through art, music, touch, or simply enjoying the beauty of the world, actively engage with the sources of joy. Let the senses be your guide, for it is through them that the libido finds its way back to life.

5. Challenge Yourself to Create: Libido is not merely sexual—it is the drive to create, to give birth to new ideas, art, and beauty. Find a creative outlet, something that compels you to express your deepest desires. For in creation lies the key to the sacral chakra’s full power.

Embrace the Flame

And so, we find ourselves at a crossroads. To follow the path of numbness is to embrace mediocrity, to become a cog in the great wheel of the modern machine. But to embrace the flame of desire once more is to risk chaos, yes, but also to live fully, to engage with the world as a being of fire and passion. The choice, as always, is yours. But know this: the fire of the libido is not to be feared. It is to be harnessed, to be respected, but never extinguished. Let it burn brightly, for it is in the flames of desire that the soul finds its true power.

Antidepressants and antipsychotics—these chemical shackles—are offered to dampen the fires within, to numb the libido, to render us docile and manageable. Indeed, there are times when the storm within must be calmed, when the severity of one’s condition demands such intervention. Yet we must also ask: at what cost? When we silence the libido, do we not also silence the very force that drives us to transcend ourselves, to create, to conquer? For those seeking natural alternatives, there are ways to restore balance without sacrificing the vitality of the soul. Exercise, sunlight, and proper nutrition—these are the simplest remedies, and yet they are often overlooked. Practices such as meditation and yoga, particularly those focused on opening the sacral chakra, can help reawaken the dormant energy within. Herbal remedies—St. John’s Wort, ashwagandha, and Rhodiola—have been used for centuries to restore balance to the mind and body. But let us be clear: the seriousness of one’s condition must prevail. I am not here to offer medical advice, nor to suggest that one should shun the counsel of a physician. There are battles that require the sword, and there are battles that require the pen. So too, there are times when medication is necessary, but we must never forget the power of our own will to heal, to transform, and to rise above the circumstances of our condition.

Citations: [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8450889/ 

[2] https://pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/news/antidepressant-prescribing-increases-by-35-in-six-years 

[3] https://healthlibrary.telus.com/en/health-benefits-hub/get-your-copy-telus-healths-2024-drug-data-trends-national-benchmarks-report 

[4] https://www.gov.scot/publications/quality-prescribing-antidepressants-guide-improvement-2024-2027/pages/19/

[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10120815/

[6] https://pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/news/antidepressant-prescribing-increases-by-35-in-six-years