Right now I am reading a book entitled "Angels and Demons" and it's written by the same author as The DaVinci Code, which I thoroughly enjoyed. In the book they mention how in the old days they would kill people who called themselves "scientists" and taught things that contradicted principles taught in church. These people were considered crazy. Just imagine for a second a world in which we still believed the world was flat, or one in which the sun was NOT the center of the universe, or perhaps that illnesses were a direct result of God's wrath. Those are things that used to be the "norm" in thinking. Of course, NOW we know all that is not true.
Reading the book made me think about all the changes and modern-day miracles that have been discovered and/or invented. It also made me feel sad about some of the changes that we are experiencing that aren't so good. There are so many things that are going through my mind right now. The first thing is the rise in mental illness in children. The other thing is the changing of medicine. Lastly, is the breaking down of the family unit as we know it today. I will first talk about the rise in mental illnesses in children. Why is it on the rise? That is definitely a good question we need to ask. All you have to do is turn on the t.v. and you will be bombarded by commercials for medications to treat depression, ADD/ADHD, anxiety, etc....the list is endless. It seems like every year we hear more and more of mental illness with children and that kind of scares me. What is going on? What's different about today that is making it harder for parents and kids? The obvious things to me are entertainment, food, and amount of exercise. The other things I thought about were morals taught at home, stable home environment, time spent with family and friends, school, and perhaps the music we listen to. All those things contribute to the type of person we become. It also can explain why there are so many problems with children today. Can that alone explain the rise? I don't think so. There are definitely environmental factors at play.
How is medicine changing? Well... instead of learning to cope with problems we are encouraged by the medical community to pop a pill instead. Instead of learning what the root of our symptoms are, we are given medicine. Instead of preventing illness we are sometimes causing it by the way we live. All these things are so frustrating to me. It seems logical to me that they should teach about alternative medicine in medical school, but they clearly don't. It's considered "quackery" and basically dismissed by doctors. I think if something works, then why not learn more about it? If I was a doctor and my patients were telling me that something was working for them I would totally encourage it and possibly suggest it to future patients as an alternative. However, it's been my experience that there are a lot of narrow-minded individuals in the medical community. As long as the pharmaceutical companies continue to brainwash the doctors and "buy" them with extravagant gifts this is not going to change anytime soon.
The last thing and most important change I have noticed is the breakdown of the family unit. Not only are people waiting longer to have kids, but it seems like a lot of parents don't take parenting very seriously. It's rare to see a family sitting together having a meal these days. That is so sad. I know a lot of mothers who choose to work just to maintain a lavish lifestyle. I think a child would much rather have a mother's time than the latest styles of clothing or electronic game that just came out. This year I am a Room Parent for my daughter's kindergarten class and it's so sad to see how many parents don't take their child's education seriously. It's almost like they expect others to raise their children and educate them as well. The schools are not a substitute for what should be taught in the home. As a matter of fact, I have learned the hard way that I have to work much harder these days to undo what they ARE taught in schools sometimes..... it's not always good.
Sometimes I feel like a pioneer in my own right as it pertains to the medical care of members of my family. There are a few people in my life that totally agree with my thought process and provide more insight. There are others that totally disagree and feel I am insane. At times I feel a bit like the scientists of old who tried to prove their theories and ideas but found a great deal of resistance. In my heart I am a scientist. Although I don't work full-time in a laboratory anymore, I still have it in my blood. I have a innate curiosity about how things work. My laboratory has morphed into my home office and the computer. It includes books, sessions with doctors, and the laboratory results I have organized into files. I also have witnesses and testimony of other parents. It has been a very positive experience for me. It will be my life-long journey and although I don't get a paycheck, I do get a much greater reward..... seeing my children happy, healthy, and strong.
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Sometimes truth is stranger
than fiction.
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