A tranquil suffering
“ It is society which, fashioning us in its image, fills us with religious, political and moral beliefs that control our actions.”
― Émile Durkheim, Suicide: A Study in Sociology
In the United States, since 1999, nearly 841,000 people have died from a drug overdose, and over 70% of drug overdose deaths in 2019 involved an opioid1. Because of competing circumstances, the normalization of painkillers does not receive much attention despite its worrisome proliferation. Behind the men in suits, women in high heels, and the bleached smiles in kitsch ads, hide thousands of dehydrated nomads, who vehemently wait every day for the twilight to shut down their unbearable nervous system.
It is a strenuous exercise to question the motives of thirsty masses who call for the use, for absolutely no medical reasons, of a magical pill that would appease them at night. How to say no to them? Can anyone ever say no to them? The reckless consumption of opioids and other painkillers is a different type of sociological pattern, far more frightening and complex compared to Durkheim’s analysis of suicides. Paralyzing and debilitating pills reflect an underlying issue, a taboo without totems. The focus on economic and social conditions conceals the anti-pain cultural cockroaches, cheerleaders of lethargic lives.
Since our era is governed by indifference, denial and gaslighting, the idea that our culture probably encourages the destruction of bodies with toxic particles is swiftly dismissed by the guardians of 'real expertise'. Sweeping under the rug can only work for so long. Given the trend in opioids consumption, one can easily conclude that our society is sick. In this case, somatization takes the form of a regular hammering of neurons and the throwing up of well-functioning brains.
Bad vibes make good addictions
“Pain reconciles one to existence.”
― Soren Kierkegaard
It is time to admit it: our relationship and tolerance to pain have changed. Our era perverted the whole comprehension of 'living'. Vulnerability is only accepted if it has some glamorous political use. Therapy is for those who need a fake friend to listen to their narcissistic speeches. Suffering is for losers who have real problems. Anyone who complains should calmly take a pill and give everyone else a break. Our era, in which 'lack of empathy' is the emblematic motto, created the myth of 'positive vibes only'. Living should not involve suffering and discomfort; one should be shamed publicly for having 'bad vibes'.
The haughtiness of our Icarusian society resides in the belief that any inconvenience can be eliminated, and if we cannot do so, eradicating ourselves is always an option. The current generation is incapable of grasping what 'living' involves. It is handicapped to the point where quietude cannot be appreciated. It is this very truth that Big Pharma exploited; it found a void to fill, a self-hating attitude to rely on, a hatred of life to get prosperous. Big Pharma is the idol of an impotent youth uprooted from any physical existence.
It will be impossible to find a pragmatic policy to end the normalization of painkillers without questioning the spiritual state of our society. Tranquilizers are being sold like candies. Evil temptations to gradually upgrade the doses of painkillers are being stimulated. Those without medical precedents, psychological problems, or bad social and economic conditions, are attracted to painkillers because they suffer and do not know it. They suffer from not knowing how to live, fully. It would not be an overstatement to declare that if we continue on this path, we will commit a genocide of neurons, a mass murder of brains.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, March 25). Data Overview. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/opioids/data/index.html