1514 Tales From Hell

Some of the stuff on those boards is so bad that you'd actually have to wonder if they are making it up. I mean, how could people actually have the view of the world that they have and let their lives get to be such a mess? Able bodied and minded people having kid after kid, not being able to take care of themselves, living in squalor, no jobs, substance abuse. Seriously, life is long, you're on a roll, you gotta travel light. Why let yourself get mired down in bullshit? Some people just seem to make one bad choice after another - and it's always someone else's responsibility to help them, support them, fix their life.

Reading those blogs is like a horrible, bloody accident on the side of the road. You don't want to look but you just HAVE to. Once you do look, it's worse than you'd expect and you now wish you hadn't!

I agree, KFLL. The shit I read and have read on such blogs sounds like something off The Onion sometimes, and I also wonder if the stories were just bullshit. Some of the crap people write about seems too unbelievable to be true or some kind of screwed-up soap opera. But when it's really true, it's just...wow.

I used to think some of the Rant's on Mr. Turtle's page were tall tales...especially moos at work...unil I had the misfortune to experience the same things...

They probaly aren't made up, I guess some people really do have that f*cked up of a life.

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lab mom

To play devil's advocate, some people really do have very fucked up lives through no, or little, fault of their own. Some folks not only have fucked up lives of their own, but are surrounded by people in a similar situation, with their only link to the "non fucked up" world being the teevee, which really doesn't accurately depict real life. Some people unknowingly fuck up their own lives through poor choices or stupid mistakes.

Also, many many people have no idea as to the true nature of substance abuse or addiction, and don't seem to realize that an addict isn't an addict because they willfully won't stop partying. A serious addict is doing whatever they can to stave off the horrors of withdrawl, because they've used whatever substance so long that they've actually changed their brain chemistry. Many people who do become addicted started using to self medicate themselves to feel 'normal', and probably could have avoided addiction if society had proper treatment for mental health issues. If you put the screwed up drug 'education' programs which focus on lies about marijuana as opposed to the truth of how addictive other drugs are, well that's a recipe for disaster when someone starts out experiementing, and ends up with a serious physical addiction because they were't taught actual facts about drugs.

Feh,

I agree with what you said about addiction, how it changes the chemistry in the brain, and that people have no idea about the nature of addiction. Medical professionals are NOT taught much about how to prevent addiction (when prescribing prescription pain relievers, for example) or how to talk to patients about potentially addictive medications. I had no idea why on earth people who are addicted to heroin didn't just stop taking it until I was hospitalized a few years ago and given intravenous opiate pain medication. The nurse asked me how I felt, and I said I felt so good I was glad to be in the hospital. Luckily, she explained to me, right then and there, how my body and brain would get "used to" the medicine if I took it for too long, how I would start to feel withdrawal from the medicine, how it would stop making me feel good, how I would end up feeling miserable, the whole story. I think this nurse must have had a lot of experience with addicted patients or maybe she had been addicted herself once. She really educated me about how dangerous prescription drugs can be, including the ones like Prozac that are handed out like candy. I'm sure that this woman saved me from from a lot of misery because my doctor didn't even mention these things. I think that a lot of drug addicts are people who just weren't so lucky to have someone really explain to them about the consequences of using drugs, street drugs or prescription drugs, and why addicts "can't just stop" and that your brain chemistry can be altered forever so that you never feel normal unless you keep using. Anyone can become addicted to drugs and wreck their lives.

sometimes i think the doctors do it on purpose, get you hooked and they keep you supplied, as its a steady revenue. and legal too thats my cynicism , look at all these doctors prescribing prozac, it doesnt solve the problem, it just covers over it, pills can be good, but over prescription will bring about the same problems as feh and grace mention.

luckily i dont have an addictive personality, my brain chemistry is already odd. had a fair few brain scans in my past,

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I just post the stories, for interest.. for everyone

Lord, what fools these mortals be!
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene ii

Voltaire said: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

H.L.Mencken wrote:"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein

Doctors in the U.S. as a whole are loathe to prescribe pain killers, there are exceptions, but for the most part you have to claim some serious, sleep-depriving pain to get even the most rudimentary pain killers. Alot of this is due to the fact that the U.S. government has decided they know better how many pain killers people need to manage their pain, and if they feel a doctor is prescribing too many they'll be put on a watch list of some sort. I know a woman who lives in serious daily pain as she has a disease which is causing her bones to fuse together. She now also has to fight to keep the high dose pain killer prescriptions she needs just to get through the day to try to help with the pain. Yes, she's addicted to the pain killers, but without them she wouldn't be able to function.

It's pretty frightening to think about, but lots of doctors prescribe things without informing their patients of the risks, without knowledge of the potential effects of the drugs, and without alot of knowledge of their patients. Alot of it has to do with how health care is, or more correctly isn't, delivered in this country. It's sad to have to say this, but if a doctor wants to prescribe something for you, more likely than not you should probably read up on it and make the decision for yourself whether or not that medication is right for you.

thats where it seems different, some doctors in the UK, just prescribe more and more of the things, my aunt for example, she is on over a dozen types of pills, and most of those are to counteract the side effects of the first one.. but she has a wonderful dr, any pill she wants she can get. slimming pills, prozac,sleeping pills etc etc etc.. i am not one for pills taken for every little ache and pain, if you need it good, but if you dont, then why should you take them.

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I just post the stories, for interest.. for everyone

Lord, what fools these mortals be!
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene ii

Voltaire said: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

H.L.Mencken wrote:"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein

In the US, doctors seem to either freely prescribe anything to anyone or just the opposite: they won't prescribe medicine for people who really need the medicine, like people with chronic pain. I agree 100% that before you take a prescription medication you should research its effects yourself and not just rely on your doctor knowing what's best for you. I try to avoid prescription medication and I always search the Internet for postings about other people's experience with any new medication before I take it. I am also wary of new drugs, recently approved by the FDA. I used to think, if the FDA approved it, it must be safe for me to take. Not anymore and y'all know why--Vioxx to name one.