Surely the pharmaceutical industry as a whole wouldn't sell drugs that didn't work, would they? Let's have think about this.
All right, suppose I have some condition with my heart.
I go to the doctor and he writes out a prescription to take once a day.
Now, my condition is by no means life threatening.
Let's say a heart valve needs slowing down a bit.
I'm no doctor, so I can't come out with medical terms, but it's certainly not serious.
Let's say I'm suffering from condition 'A'.
I go along to my pharmacy and have my prescription filled.
I go home, dig out the bottle, along with the usual book-length explanation of the drug, for which I need a magnifying glass.
Oh, well, since I have about three hours to spare, I'll read all it says.
Yes, I note, it's most beneficial for my condition, but -- hang on -- it can also give you dry mouth, diarrhoea in some people, in others it can bind them as tight as a drum, (that isn't a medical term!), hives, in rare cases shingles, and in one or two circumstances, death has been reported.
I only went in for a slightly dicey heart valve.
Now I know I've made all that sound a bit flip, but you know I'm really not exaggerating.
Listen to some of these commercials on TV, and you'll most certainly hear the same type of information.
Now my question is; if I have a certain condition, why in the world can't I find a drug that treats that condition A) without all the side effects and B) just that condition and that condition only? Are the pharmaceutical companies corrupt? Then of course we come onto medications for depression and anxiety.
Oh boy, the field's wide open here.
Wide open, because the majority of drug companies don't have a clue what causes depression.
They go on about chemical imbalances, which to a small extent are true, but the main reason is excessive dreaming, for which there's no need for drugs at all.
However, this is another subject entirely.
But supposing you wake up every morning feeling anxious.
Butterflies in the tummy, that awful feeling of doom hanging over you, but you have no idea why.
You think and puzzle away at this, but nothing seems to be worrying you, so why do you feel this way? Again, the reasons, why's and wherefore's are something for another time, but you trot off to your doctor and he gives you pills which he says will 'lighten your mood'.
Oh, they'll lighten your mood, all right.
They're happy pills which will make you feel wonderful for a few days, and then the effects begin to wear off.
So you take two instead of one, and again everything's fine -- for a few days.
But it isn't curing your anxiety.
Indeed, it's plunging you deeper into it.