Pills, Prisons and..

Pills make us dependent on others. Prisons impose control over choice and reinforce power-over and coercion. Both have far more “triggers” or “switches” that other people and institutions control. We have far fewer choices in both, and by virtue of our position in the power structure, we are at the mercy of others. Folks say that this is colonization and oppression.

Often times we need pills (or prison) because of things that have happened in life, whether they are so big we thought we might die or maybe thought we’d lose our minds.

One impact is that our personal development stalls. And it doesn’t pick up until we somehow make peace with whatever happened. It’s like “Swiss cheese.” The holes need filling in.

More evidence is found in the impact on our ability to feel and manage feelings. Sometimes they’re too big, sometimes they are way too small. Sometimes the control gets stuck.

Many times, we use people we pay (paid relationships) to help us sort things out. An additional option is learning. Some of the scaffolding we miss is what we are likely to have learned if we hadn’t been busy trying to survive.