Plato, not Prozac
Some time ago, in an airport terminal book store, I spotted the following title: "Plato, not Prozac!: Applying Philosophy to everyday problems." I have not read the book (rushing to catch a plane), but a quick scan of the back cover told me it was all about people taking control of emotional problems by thinking them through rather than popping a pill. I have quite a few close friends who are on Prozac and should be on Prozac. At the same time, I find that we have a tendency in the States to try and find a fix to personal problems outside of the person. Often the notion that one can help oneself through one's own determination rather than through medicine, counseling and self help books does not even cross people's minds. In a discussion on this topic, an Irish friend of mine made a comment something to the effect (imagine this being said with a brogue): "If in Ireland we decided to give ourselves the luxury of being depressed, half of the damn country would be on medication." By the same token, when Liam Neeson would get depressed as a teenager, his mother would tell him to go out and chop wood -- apparently this worked like a charm.
Not to denigrate modern medicine -- if I have a 102 fever I'm off to the emergency room rather than try to "refocus" the fever out of my body -- I think that we often abnegate responsibility for our own well being to others. The problem is that it's habit forming. If it's okay for someone else to solve my emotional/psychological problems, then it's okay for them to tell me what I should think about a slew of other topics. I may be paranoid here (should I be seeking counseling? ;-), but I have been hearing way too much lately about people deciding what type of movies I should or should not watch, what books are inappropriate and what art should or should not be shown in museums.
5:42:40 AM 
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