Suppression

Suppression and So-Called Side Effects

People in this culture tend to think of health as an absence of cellulite, a nose that never runs, and a great sex life. This is terribly and dangerously misleading. As the current protocol stands, symptoms are to be eradicated as soon as they appear.

Recently, I'd taken a bad fall and went to a doctor for an exam to make sure nothing was broken. Without taking an x-ray or an MRI he offered three forms of potent pain killers. I said "no, thank you" to each offer. He raised his eyebrows in both surprise and disapproval. I added, "I need to know what's happening. Pain is communication. If I'm feeling pain in more than a week, something is still wrong. Don't you want to know that?" He was quiet and handed me 800mg Motrin. "You'll need this."

Unfortunately, the standard of care is suppression. Got a pimple? There's a cream and a pill for that. Got a cold? There's a tonic to wring out that nose and squash that cough.

This does not heal or cure, though. As homeopathy has been teaching us for hundreds of years, all this does is drive the disease up and inward. So, while the nose may not run, an infection ensues. Or while the cough disappears, asthma may develop. Or worse, an emotional downturn may take hold.

A teacher of mine once told me, "There are no side effects to drugs. There are only effects."

I heard a commercial the other day for an anti-arthritis drug. I don't remember the name of it, but it listed its "effects", I was stunned. I could not believe the drug had been released onto the market. Among the dangers: lymphoma, increased infection, tuberculosis, pneumonia. And that's just what I remembered. Half the commercial was dedicated to warnings.

Thus, in exchange for arthritis, we are given the serious risk of cancer.

What are we thinking? Particularly when there is such an elegant alternative in homeopathy?