Feel-good pills, Magic pills, Happy pills
You spread your chemicals in our veins
Numbing, stealing our feelings and pains
You are false friends, seemingly helpful till
It is time to pay, and then – what a heavy bill

I haven’t been sleeping much. “Why don’t you take a Valium or something”? said someone. “Just for a couple of days, just to get back on track”.

Er, no, thanks. Some stuff has happened and I’m dealing with it. I don’t need to numb my feelings, what is that going to achieve?

Call me crazy but I don’t believe in “happy” pills. Like, you can’t magic away the pain, can you? Where does the pain go when you “take something”? Because I don’t believe it just disappears, it has to go somewhere. If you stop yourself from grieving or dealing with pain, it is only going to reappear at some point down the line – and it might very possibly hit you ten times harder then.

You go through tough times, you lose someone, whatever…….it’s up to your brain and body to cope with it. You go through the process – It’s normal and it’s natural. I’m going to be gross now but…..imagine having an abscess, you’d drain it and let the pus out, wouldn’t you? You wouldn’t just take painkillers to mask the pain of the infection because that wouldn’t make any sense, would it?

It’s not like I’m some crazy chick who believes that you should never ever take anything.
I recognise that sometimes there is a need for treatment and medication – but I don’t believe in popping stuff as soon as things get tough. You cannot and shouldn’t supress (mental) pain and anxiety – it’s just not healthy to do so.

Unless you’re clinically depressed, have a genetic and/or verified brain chemical imbalance or are diagnosed with a mental health illness – you should be able to deal with most of the shit life throws at you. It is such an obvious thing to say but: how can you really live and fully appreciate life if you don’t even try to fight through the hard times?

The pharmaceutical companies have been keen to push their products on us because they make a pretty mint out of making people soft. We are a generation who has been sold the idea that if we’re feeling sad, or worried or whatever…….well, we don’t have to and “there’s something we can take for that”.
As a result, addiction to prescription drugs has been the great problem of the last 20 years and a great many people are walking around disconnected from their feelings – and ultimately the world and their own lives.

I have an addictive personality so I know how easy it would be for me to fall into that trap with happy pills. I don’t want to go there and I don’t believe in easy solutions either. I’ve had a shitty few days, I’ll get over it: a good long walk on the beach, writing, a “therapeutic” chat with a friend, spending quality time with loved ones – those things require a little more effort but are ultimately much more effective than Valium.

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