Human Diagnostics Issues - Essay Example

Human Diagnosis Ted Gup talks about overmedication and the fact that it has become a cultural norm amongst kids and doctors. Currently, media and technology has influenced our lives in all aspects. It is interesting that being human is more of a condition that tends to be like containing grief and absolute pain of a loss. The world has significantly distant themselves from the normal outline of life and death by embracing the new technology that is rather unhealthful to mankind. I tend to agree with the fact that medication is used to treat some fictional conditions such as attention defi9cit and hyperactivity disorder. The medication of 11 percent of school age children including Ted’s own son is fascinating especially considering that the psychiatrists prescribe such kind of medication even before examining the patients. Human problems and sufferings have become part of pathology and monetized in pursuit of shortcuts to the solution instead of advancing our survival ability. As far as I am concerned, medication is only meant to ill some conditions that may need repair and this does not apply to broken heart. Indeed, enduring the intolerable is at times part of life hence should not be treated as an illness that require medication. It is impractical and irresponsible if medication is prescribed for patients who have not been physically examined. It is certainly unfortunate because every kind of medication under normal circumstances would require thorough examination of the patient. It makes it hard to find out the kind of problem a patient suffers from and this inflicts more pain to the patient. What if a wrong medication is done? Perhaps it will be blamed on whoever administered the drugs. There are numerous drugs that have been prescribed and recommended by psychiatrists but their effectiveness is questionable. The truth is whether attention deficit hyperactivity disorder has exact cure or it purely trial and error. It is actually advisable that before prescription is filled, the person with such responsibility should understand the need of taking the drug and its effectiveness. I suggest that the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a condition that needs to be addressed in a way that better skills are adopted in dealing with it. It is a problem within us which cannot be solved by overdosing but by understanding the challenge. Ted Gup posits that he had unintentionally conspired with a system that undervalues discussion remedy by believing in medication that unconsciously does not even offer the best therapy. He admits that self medication is vital and very much adequate in dealing with some disorders. It is actually important to address challenges as they come instead of assuming them because they may later affect our lives or one another’s life in a way that although we will regret, it will be too late. Ted admits that he did not tackle his son’s problems from the onset: No one made him take the heroin and alcohol, and yet I cannot help but hold myself and others to account. I had unknowingly colluded with a system that devalues talking therapy and rushes to medicate, inadvertently sending a message that self-medication, too, is perfectly acceptable (Ted Web). Parents and guardians should take absolute responsibility in taking care of their children as well as closely watching their steps and actions. Children are influenced by their peers’ behaviors. Closer look and advice of children should be properly addressed and dealt with by the society too. Earlier observation of children’s conditions may make the people responsible to understand the conditions. Understanding the culture in which young people grow is fundamental as far as children’s behaviors are concerned. Some of the conditions and challenges affecting children and even the grownups in the society is some of the old dangerous culture that promotes the use of unapproved drugs. The culture of using off label drugs which are not tested and approved should be left out. The environment in which a child grows plays a major role in the future behaviors and habits of children. For instance, Ted says that the society where professionals support use of medication may influence the children to use performance enhancers in classrooms (Web). It is therefore important for children to monitor their children right from home to school and back from school. Whatever a child is introduced to at a tender age is very crucial to the child’s future life. The societal norms and culture can be blamed on permissive drug use and over diagnosis. Some things that people love doing or embrace are regarded as mental illness. Depression and grieving often display similar symptoms such as loss of hope in life, appetite and low functionality that may not require medication. It would be hard to differentiate between depression and grieving and any medication to such kind of conditions may mean misuse of drugs. Media has increasingly misguided us in almost every aspect by making us believe that all our problems can be addressed through medication regardless of the condition. Ted argues that people have so much trusted information from the technology and media in providing every solution to human problem: Ours is an age in which the airwaves and media are one large drug emporium that claims to fix everything from sleep to sex. I fear that being human is itself fast becoming a condition. It’s as if we are trying to contain grief, and the absolute pain of a loss like mine. We have become increasingly disassociated and estranged from the patterns of life and death, uncomfortable with the messiness of our own humanity, aging and, ultimately, mortality (Ted Web). All the mental and other health challenges cannot just be solved medically and through the use of money. It is obvious that some of our challenges such as grieving require us to adjust our coping skills in order to overcome them. Ted disagrees with the fact that emotional challenges such as love can be solved monetarily and medically: Challenge and hardship have become pathologized and monetized. Instead of enhancing our coping skills, we undermine them and seek shortcuts where there are none, eroding the resilience upon which each of us, at some point in our lives, must rely. Diagnosing grief as a part of depression runs the very real risk of delegitimizing that which is most human — the bonds of our love and attachment to one another. The new entry in the D.S.M. cannot tame grief by giving it a name or a subsection, nor render it less frightening or more manageable (Ted Web). Our attractions or bond towards one another cannot merely be solved financially or medically. It is not easy to even minimize this kind of emotional attachment by the assumed remedies. It is therefore easy relieve oneself from emotional problems after some period of time without using pills or any form of drug. Works Cited Gup, Ted. “Diagnosis: Human.” New York Times 2 April 2013: Print. Read More