It says one out of four depends on drugs to cope with life.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...828435461.html

How bad can the situation be until one depends on drug to continue to live?

Why does that surprise you - I would have thought it was higher - as in all these surveys many people do not tell the truth about how much they take as they feel it shows them in a bad light. Like people say "I only smoke 15 fags a day" for that read 20 a day, "I only drink 5 pints a day" for that read 7. Same goes for prescription drugs. If it's there people will use it.

E

it's the same all over the west

the so called 'war on drugs' is a way of avoiding the biggst drug problem namely-

'proscribed medication' -vallium prosac et al

cheers

richard

Seems to be a symptom of modern western life.

Our 'labour-saving' lifestyles give us a lot of time to think about ourselves and the media is constantly bombarding us (covertly and overtly) with images of what we should think/do/buy/look like.

Our predecessors were no doubt more concerned with staying warm in the winter and making sure that they didn't starve.

Traditional communities naturally meet many 'basic needs' for emotional support. In the traditional Amish society in the US major depression is almost unknown, as it is in the equally traditional Kaluli tribe of New Guinea.

In these societies individual concerns are group concerns and vise-versa. You know that if you have a problem other people will help you and you are expected to help out when others need support. We know we are meant to do these things but it's not a 'built in feature' of modern society in the same way.

These days we are much more 'self-focused'. The idea of considering the wider community to be more important than the self is difficult for a lot of people to understand.

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society". (Krishnamurti)