We live in a medicated culture. Daydream? ADHD. Cry? Depression. Bad memories? Post-traumatic stress syndrome. Nervous? Anxiety disorder. Moody? Bipolar. Granted, I believe all of these conditions are real. Both children and adults have Attention deficit Hyperactive disorder. I know people who experience the loneliness, suicidal thoughts, and physical torment of clinical depression. I have known war veterans who live the reality of real Post-Traumatic Stress disorder. I know people who have become incapacitated by suffering the panic attacks of an Anxiety disorder. And I have witnessed the drastic mood swings of severe mania and hopeless depression caused by Bipolar Disorder. I don't have to be a doctor to know that the conditions are real. But I also don't have to be a sociologist to know that we live in a culture eager to label people and medicate them.
An article in Relevant Magazine ("Wonder Drug, September/October 2006) raises the question of the power of drugs in knowing God. I know it sounds ludicrous. But who hasn't heard of the drug-induced encounter with God? One of my friends describes an encounter with God after smoking too much weed. He heard God say, "It's over. You're done." It scared him so bad he hasn't smoked since. In college I knew a guy who found faith in Christ because of a really strange acid trip during which he met both Jesus and Satan. He made his choice while he was still on the trip. But not every drug-empowered encounters with God are so dramatic. As the Relevant article explored, people with ADHD find a new ability to concentrate in prayer through drugs like Adderall. They find a connection with God that they never knew was possible. People suffering from depression often live their lives in isolation, never knowing the God-mandated notion of community. For many of them, Wellbutrin or Cymbalta make community possible. And that doesn't say anything about a depressed person's capacity for hope!
Maybe some people really do experience a new spiritual freedom from psychiatric medicines. Maybe SOME people really do need this kind of help to know the abundant and eternal life Jesus teaches. But there's something about that kind of thinking that seems dangerous. Are we replacing the power of God with the power of the prescription? Are the real spiritual guides the doctors? Are the real servants the insurance companies? Are the real spiritual leaders the prescription drug companies? I know it might sound a little melodramatic, but how far away from this kind of thinking are we? How big of a jump is it to move from taking Adderall to work longer hours or Wellbutrin to have better self-esteem or Zoloft to like people more... How big of a jump is it to go from that kind of medicated self-help to taking Adderall for a more fulfilling prayer life or Cymbalta to have more fun at Bible study?
It seems we have already begun sinking deep into the pit by renaming "sin" as "sickness." Where will it end?
