Prescription pill addiction is an epidemic in America right now. People are losing sleep, destroying relationships, making bad decisions, selling their last possessions on Craigslist Tyrone Biggums Crack Party style – I can get some money for these! – among other repercussions. And if you keep going down that road, you’ll always end up in the same place: crying and curled up in the umbilical position on the bathroom floor, hopefully with a few sympathetic friends on speed dial and a good rehab.
But love can be just as dangerous. The natural chemical reactions that occur when you’re bonding with a mate can be compared to the strongest opiates mixed up by pharmaceutical companies. This is why many find themselves doing really stupid things when they are swept up in the euphoria of it. And the more you bond, the more neural nets are created in your brain, just like pills or alcohol, or other addictive substances.
In the beginning, it’s just a few drinks, maybe a Valium here and there for a long plane ride or when you can’t sleep. And for a relationship, you insist on keeping things casual and nothing serious because you don’t want the heartache you endured in your last break up. You tell all your friends how great things are and that everything is under control. You remind yourself how much the withdrawals suck and that you’ll be careful never to make the same mistakes again.
But then you start missing them more and more, especially since no one else makes you feel that certain way. And whatever your poison may be, you know the distinct effect each one has on you. Pretty soon you’re doing stupid things, like getting them a feral cat that destroys the apartment and flings itself against the door all night – all of which is normal cat behavior I’ve been told. Or maybe you start craving milkshakes and fast food. In fact, you might get so comfortable with the person that staying in every night eating Steak and Shake seems perfectly normal. And alcoholics and drug addicts are no different with their DUIs and verbal diarrhea, and that’s just warming up.
Then the problems start, the lying, miscommunication, confusion, the cheating. Dysfunction is running rampant so I am certain if you’re at least in your 20s I’m preaching to the choir. But who can blame us? The modern world is fueled by an insatiable desire for instant gratification, setting us up to ruin relationships, especially when there are so many choices in life. And with all the choices and beauty in the world, we have to realize that in the end we are just stupid animals constantly searching for a little slice of happiness. But on that road there can be many detours. If you get in too deep you could find yourself putting up with all kinds of ridiculous behavior, making you a slave to the drug – whether it’s pills and alcohol or a bad relationship, or both.
So forgive my idealistic indulgence, but I want a new drug. One that doesn’t keep me awake at night, no withdrawals and very little minus for the plus. One that does what it should and never leaves me huddled and crying on the bathroom floor.