Chemical Straitjacket

rationed

pain is motivation

abandoned

rage is mitigated

commanded

ego is understanded

impassioned

life becomes enchanted

medicated

motivation gets castrated

inundated

chemicals become your new straitjacket

relegated

always passion becomes deflated

Author's Note

Reviews

[Saoirse K.]

what a great phrase
chemical straightjacket
f**k yes Dr. Phil
this piece felt tight and restrictive
appropriate considering the topic
it felt like a numbing of some repressed emotion
like the air was sucked out from behind the words
rendering them rigid and dry
i think you captured this especially with the one word lines
"rationed"
"abandoned"
"commanded"
etc...
well written

[Davidgeo]

Why thank you for that kind review. Chemicals should always be the last resort when dealing with depression and anxiety. Unless it's some kind of internal bio-chemical imbalance pills just mask the problem which can eventually lead to more, worse problems.

I wish I had a stronger ending for this poem.

[Margie F]

Having worked with people who become over-medicated, I can definitely see the progression in the end of this poem. Medicated castrates motivation, inundated with meds people because controlled by their substance instead of controlling their substance. Many times, the exact opposite of what the practitioner is attempting to do, and then passion becomes relegated when deflating because of he lack of motivation. Passion definitely takes a hit.

[Richard McLin]

Great title, and the flow and structure were perfect. A fantastic poem.
-Richard

[Davidgeo]

Thank you Richard. It's been a while since I've seen you around this place, hope you've been well.

[Shep]

very emotional and very true to form, and could fell the pain in the words.

[Chris Shaw]

Chemicals are certainly a straight jacket when it comes to depression in my opinion. An excellent way of putting it. You become reliant on them, they mask the problem and they have side effects. On the other hand, therapy which works can be hard to come by, well certainly in the UK with long waiting lists. Easier and quicker to prescribe a pill. Temporary fix, doesn't get to the root cause. That's where you took me David. I also know how my daughter who has a controlled medication for pain copes and feels on a day to day basis.

Chris

[Davidgeo]

There are some internal bio-chemical imbalances that medication can help with, I believe that most of these pills do have their benefits. But to use them as a first resort without truly finding out if someone's disorder is caused by internal factors or external factors is an alarming trend in psychotherapy these days.

Pills used to treat physical pain are a different thing entirely. When I'm injured, some kind of pain killer will definitely be used... only sometimes inappropriately, only sometimes.

But even that kind of thing is getting a little out of hand. I'm not sure if you guys have this problem in the UK but ovewr here in the states we are currently in the middle of an "opioid crisis". The number of drug overdose deaths from opioid has increased exponentially. To the point where opioid overdoses are now the leading cause of death in America for people under 50... and what's even more alarming is that the overall life expectancy in America has fallen for the third straight year from 78.7 to 78.6. I know .1 may not seem like a lot but it is when you're talking about just a single variable causing the change.

[Wild Rose]

This strikes home
Ma inlaw was in constant pain and taking extra strong medication
The hospital took the extra strong away replacing them with normal strength ;which at max dose the pain was un bearable
WHY
She may overdose on what she was taking and could become addicted


One tablet morning and night and the pain is bearable With yours the maximum dose is insufficient she is more likely to overdose with the weaker ones >> The doctor said change them


I reordered the extra strong


She was in her nineties

[Davidgeo]

Physical pain and internal bio-chemical imbalances are different than pain being caused by external factors, things you can truly change with behavioral modification. Pharmacological solutions to those problems are some of the greatest things medical science has to offer. Especially when someone's in their '90's... it's called palliative care and that doctor sucks at his job for increasing a very old women's discomfort like that.

By changing external factors, I mean if your life is out of whack you should be depressed... that's your brain telling you that things need to change because right now you're not happy. It's a normal response and taking pills to alleviate that kind of depression just masks the real problems that are causing the depression and nothing gets done. A fair analogy would be, imagine you're sitting to close to a flame and it's slightly burning your skin... now imagine to relieve the pain, instead of just physically moving away from the flame you decide to take pain killers to lesson the pain so the desire to move away from the flame becomes blunted and less urgent. Nothing is really solved and the only good feelings to come from that method are entirely artificial. Treating a mental disorder that is not being caused by internal bio-chemical imbalances with pills will only mask the negative effects of that external situation and probably lead to worse issues down the road.