Self-Abuse
While there are many examples of individuals being their own worst enemy, let us look at a thing called anorexia. Anorexia is when a person looks at themselves and becomes convinced that they are overweight. They become so obsessed that they do everything they can to become thinner despite, by all accounts, they are anything but overweight. They overexercise and eat virtually nothing to the point they seriously jeopardize their well-being.
The flip side to anorexia is equally self-destructive. A large percentage of the US population consume on a daily basis far too much food that their own body cannot reasonably be expected to process. Every body processes food intake at variable levels. While some bodies can eat a certain amount of food and not gain weight, others can consume the same amount and pack on undesirable amounts of unhealthy pounds. Increasing exercise alone rarely works. Our insatiable appetite encourages us to eat what we want, not what we should. At the risk of being called out for fat shaming, The Tyber Lustig Foundation has no problem including overeating in our list of self-destructive behavior. While not having financial worries is nice, being healthy is far more important than being wealthy. Someone can have all the money in the world, but that does not mean they can consume more daily calories just because they can afford a bigger food bill. The human body (see our Content) does not care about the size of a person’s bank account. It does not care if you overconsume an $8 bottle of wine or an $800 bottle of wine.
Self-destructive behavior is also color blind. In fact the least racist thing in society is substance abuse. Substance abuse does not care how much money you have, your gender, your ethnicity or whatever. Whether it’s an addiction to alcohol, prescription pain meds, weed, or opiates of any kind, the end game is the same and it is not good. No one has ever uttered the words, “My life is so much better since I became an addict.”
So why is substance abuse so prevalent? It is not like people have been told and forewarned. Evidence overwhelmingly shows us it is not easy to “just say no.” For whatever reason, too many of us choose to tempt faith despite the horrific amounts of risk to our ability to live a happy life. Being reasonably intelligent or highly successful does not seem to matter either. So, what can it be?
The Tyber Lustig Foundation lays much of the blame on the US drug cartel (AKA Big Pharma). Their answer to anything that is negatively impacting our physical or emotional health is to “Take a pill.” We are inundated with nonstop sales pitches in the form of advertisements. With life being somewhat painful at times, is it any wonder why a person would opt to do anything they can do to eliminate that pain even though it’s only a temporary fix?
Even FDA approved drugs are highly questionable alternatives. Approvals as a result of a favorable drug trial are misguided at best. Why? They are not really comparable to a traditional court trial. Court trials have a judge, presenting counsel, and something no FDA drug trial has – an opposing counsel. It would be helpful if we had opposing counsel at these drug trials asking questions like, “Could merely touching Fentanyl kill a police officer?” Another line of questioning would maybe ask about the harmful addictive nature of the drug in question. “Is there an anecdote to get you off the drug as quickly as you can become addicted?” If not, “Why?” “What dangers are there when illegal counterfeiters choose to sell this drug for recreational use?”
Substance abuse usually starts out innocently enough. It could be a couple of drinks after a tough day at work, or a glass of wine to cap off a nice meal, or a few beers while watching a game. When a person is anxious or depressed taking something to numb the pain may seem harmless at the time. As is often the case, too much of anything can lead to unintended consequences particularly when it comes to substance abuse. Once addicted, few stand a fighting chance.
The Tyber Lustig Foundation will do everything it can to emphasize the concept of drug prehab. We feel not enough is being done to permanently engrain in our youth about just how devastating addiction of any kind can be and how self-destructive it is.
