A character-driven, long format online comic that updates three times a week. Comedy! Drama! Revolutionary Communists, runaways, creative taxidermy and more.
02.0×040
11 thoughts on “02.0×040”
No one is fundamentally incapable. Get out of your house, get off of those uppers and DO SOMETHING.
Yeah, no. This “DURGS IS BAD MMMK” bullshit in our culture needs to end. Some people have legitimate mental illnesses stemming from chemical imbalances that need to be treated with medicine. You don’t tell a cancer patient to suck it up and get off their chemo, do you?
That doesn’t mean that they’re incapable, of course, just that they need a bit of help. And honestly, just about everyone needs help from somewhere.
I don’t know what your backgrounds are, but as someone who may or may not have a serious mental illness I can say from experience that you two are both oversimplifying in the extreme.
yeah, not everyone needs drugs, but there are people who do. not every person is on lithium because they feel like it without actual disorder, but there are some who overreact when they hear about the symptoms. can we just assume that people are rational, but some over rationalize?
As far as chemical imbalances, yes drugs can help the symptoms of the problem. However, people who are all like “I have a chemical imbalance” like “that’s final and there’s nothing that can change that” have not looked at all the options. Cognitive therapy is a very real solution. In that field, it has been proven that one’s core thoughts actually CHANGE the balance of chemicals in the brain. You can make yourself have a chemical imbalance by the way you think. It doesn’t have to be purposeful. It can be caused by abuse or even a generally bad situation. You can also correct a chemical imbalance by thinking differently, changing the negative or destructive thoughts. Some chemical imbalances do occur naturally, but it doesn’t mean they can’t be changed with the proper cognitive therapy. A lot of Bipolar patients can be completely drug-free if they truthfully and wholely stick to cognitive therapy and sucessfully work at it. The same goes with other mood/behavior disorders which are caused by “chemical imbalances”. I, for one, find it fascinating that you can actually CHANGE your brain chemistry by changing your thoughts. And yes, I know it works. It worked for me.
I’m not saying drugs are never necessary. They can be a help, or they could be wholely necessary as far as treatment for more severe illnesses such as schizophrenia and the like. However, drugs are not always the only option. Too many people seem to think they are. It is a case by case thing, as “clevertricks” put it, but I still stick with “drugs aren’t always the only option”.
I’ve been medicated for half my life. Been going to cog therapists for about 2/3 of it. It is a highly complex issue. Not all drugs work on all people. Hell, just diagnosing mental illnesses is fraught with enough peril, without even discussing treatment. If I go to 5 different doctors, I’ll probably get at least 3 different diagnoses. Then it’s the fun business of trying different meds to see which ones work, and each one can take 3-10 weeks (or even more!) to start working. Right now I’m on a regimen of 5 different meds. It’s a good combination, I’ve been stable on it for a little over 4 years now. None of them are ‘uppers’ or ‘downers’, they can’t be taken and enjoyed by people without issues. In fact, if a couple of them ARE taken by someone without problems, they could actually CAUSE them.
It sure beats being in a mental hospital. (Although, I did spend 3 weeks in MICU that was like a damned carnival. Very generous with the benzos and tranqs, and lots and lots and lots of sex. That was fun. For the most part, though, those places are hell.)
It’s important to keep in mind, however, that meds don’t make all the problems go away. If bad things are going on in my life, despite swallowing almost a dozen pills a day I’m still gonna be affected by it. The meds don’t numb me to all emotions, they regulate them, keep them from swinging too much in either direction, and also keep me connected to the reality that is commonly observed by most other people.
I do believe there is a problem with overmedicating and improperly diagnosing people these days. I also believe it’s only a pendulum swing that will correct itself, and is only happening because for so long mental illnesses were hushed up, hidden and not discussed.
As for the “No one is fundamentally incapable. Get out of your house, get off of those uppers and DO SOMETHING.” statement, well, that’s incredibly naive and ignorant.
1) I’m thinking that – judging by the reaction of Ben’s doctor – Ben either has serious anxiety issues or some form of schizophrenia, so the LAST thing he’d be on would be uppers.
2) As someone who’s worked with people with traumatic brain injuries and severe psychological issues, yes, some people ARE fundamentally incapable.
3) For most of these people – including me – we are fundamentally incapable when we’re NOT medicated. It’s the meds that allow us to leave the house and be productive.
So maybe next time, instead of a “knee-jerk rant,” you can engage that sodden grey mass betwixt thine ears. Unless, of course, you’re fundamentally incapable of doing so.
I just realized that this is the statue of Custer in the last panel from very early on. Stomping headless indians. And it’s like a million times worse. Beautiful.
No one is fundamentally incapable. Get out of your house, get off of those uppers and DO SOMETHING.
*end of knee-jerk rant*
*goes back to reading*
Yeah, no. This “DURGS IS BAD MMMK” bullshit in our culture needs to end. Some people have legitimate mental illnesses stemming from chemical imbalances that need to be treated with medicine. You don’t tell a cancer patient to suck it up and get off their chemo, do you?
That doesn’t mean that they’re incapable, of course, just that they need a bit of help. And honestly, just about everyone needs help from somewhere.
I don’t know what your backgrounds are, but as someone who may or may not have a serious mental illness I can say from experience that you two are both oversimplifying in the extreme.
yeah, not everyone needs drugs, but there are people who do. not every person is on lithium because they feel like it without actual disorder, but there are some who overreact when they hear about the symptoms. can we just assume that people are rational, but some over rationalize?
As far as chemical imbalances, yes drugs can help the symptoms of the problem. However, people who are all like “I have a chemical imbalance” like “that’s final and there’s nothing that can change that” have not looked at all the options. Cognitive therapy is a very real solution. In that field, it has been proven that one’s core thoughts actually CHANGE the balance of chemicals in the brain. You can make yourself have a chemical imbalance by the way you think. It doesn’t have to be purposeful. It can be caused by abuse or even a generally bad situation. You can also correct a chemical imbalance by thinking differently, changing the negative or destructive thoughts. Some chemical imbalances do occur naturally, but it doesn’t mean they can’t be changed with the proper cognitive therapy. A lot of Bipolar patients can be completely drug-free if they truthfully and wholely stick to cognitive therapy and sucessfully work at it. The same goes with other mood/behavior disorders which are caused by “chemical imbalances”. I, for one, find it fascinating that you can actually CHANGE your brain chemistry by changing your thoughts. And yes, I know it works. It worked for me.
I’m not saying drugs are never necessary. They can be a help, or they could be wholely necessary as far as treatment for more severe illnesses such as schizophrenia and the like. However, drugs are not always the only option. Too many people seem to think they are. It is a case by case thing, as “clevertricks” put it, but I still stick with “drugs aren’t always the only option”.
I’ve been medicated for half my life. Been going to cog therapists for about 2/3 of it. It is a highly complex issue. Not all drugs work on all people. Hell, just diagnosing mental illnesses is fraught with enough peril, without even discussing treatment. If I go to 5 different doctors, I’ll probably get at least 3 different diagnoses. Then it’s the fun business of trying different meds to see which ones work, and each one can take 3-10 weeks (or even more!) to start working. Right now I’m on a regimen of 5 different meds. It’s a good combination, I’ve been stable on it for a little over 4 years now. None of them are ‘uppers’ or ‘downers’, they can’t be taken and enjoyed by people without issues. In fact, if a couple of them ARE taken by someone without problems, they could actually CAUSE them.
It sure beats being in a mental hospital. (Although, I did spend 3 weeks in MICU that was like a damned carnival. Very generous with the benzos and tranqs, and lots and lots and lots of sex. That was fun. For the most part, though, those places are hell.)
It’s important to keep in mind, however, that meds don’t make all the problems go away. If bad things are going on in my life, despite swallowing almost a dozen pills a day I’m still gonna be affected by it. The meds don’t numb me to all emotions, they regulate them, keep them from swinging too much in either direction, and also keep me connected to the reality that is commonly observed by most other people.
I do believe there is a problem with overmedicating and improperly diagnosing people these days. I also believe it’s only a pendulum swing that will correct itself, and is only happening because for so long mental illnesses were hushed up, hidden and not discussed.
As for the “No one is fundamentally incapable. Get out of your house, get off of those uppers and DO SOMETHING.” statement, well, that’s incredibly naive and ignorant.
1) I’m thinking that – judging by the reaction of Ben’s doctor – Ben either has serious anxiety issues or some form of schizophrenia, so the LAST thing he’d be on would be uppers.
2) As someone who’s worked with people with traumatic brain injuries and severe psychological issues, yes, some people ARE fundamentally incapable.
3) For most of these people – including me – we are fundamentally incapable when we’re NOT medicated. It’s the meds that allow us to leave the house and be productive.
So maybe next time, instead of a “knee-jerk rant,” you can engage that sodden grey mass betwixt thine ears. Unless, of course, you’re fundamentally incapable of doing so.
I just realized that this is the statue of Custer in the last panel from very early on. Stomping headless indians. And it’s like a million times worse. Beautiful.
Jackson, not Custer.
I’ve been waiting all comic to see this statue.
Maybe Gen. George Armstrong Custer won in this universe. But enough people have defaced it to show it isn’t popular among some of the population.
Seems to me this is the Andrew Jackson statue Reagan mentioned in chapter 1 (Feb 15 ’06).