Fatigued? Stressed? Mentally exhausted? Just pop a pill and keep going. (From Bucks Free Press)

Fatigued? Stressed? Mentally exhausted? Just pop a pill and keep going.

8:00am Thursday 27th October 2011

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I was going to write about Kelloggs Breakfast Club – for children whose parents don’t have time to give them breakfast. Another time maybe. Something else has stunned me even more.

I’ve been hearing ads for Pharmaton and am alarmed.

The radio ad uses phrases like, ‘sustainable energy’. Like nuclear power? Have we now become just energy sources to the employment/consumer dictators?

Their site states that these capsules will, ‘relieve a period of daily fatigue’; that they , ‘exert a stimulant effect at physical and psychological levels through the combined action of its ingredients on the metabolic processes.’ (Sic.) They can ‘help combat the worn out/run down feeling.’ They also ‘improve the mood’ and astoundingly, ‘help to improve quality of life.’ As for appetite, does it suppress it? Fool it? Apparently Pharmaton ‘regulates’ it. What about sleep? Will you be able to sleep while taking it? Or is that the purpose? Work all day and night?

I like this less and less. When should we stop going? Should we stop at all?

At this stage I should point out that, ‘cases of headache, dizziness, insomnia, gastrointestinal reactions (such as nausea, stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhoea) and hypersensitivity reactions (such as rash, pruritus) have been observed’ in those taking this – supplement? Elixir? Drug?

Why should we take something and keep going? When we stop taking it, then what? Will we all go back to booze, Strictly and casual sex?

The last thing overworked people here need is some form of suppressant to their real causes of stress. How do you make someone who’s unstable become mentally ill? Tell them not to talk about their difficulties and keep going.

I am unreserved in stating in the strongest terms the danger of taking a capsule (sounds so harmless) when I’m almost at the end of my tether psychologically and physically. I won’t do it. You can’t make me.

For your information when I’m stretched to the outer limits of my abilities and don’t see a way to improve my lot I’ll cry, shout, swear, break things in the home, walk out and then go home and think/talk things through.

In whose interests is it that we take this wonder capsule?

The most worrying thing here is that no one’s mentioned that we might have too much to do. No, whatever you have to do, get through it. With the aid of pricey drugs if need be.

We are a nation of workaholics with statistics showing our children are among the most miserable and anxious in Europe. Are we to brush our struggles under the carpet for another generation? Teach our children to put a brave face on things by snapping a capsule?

Pharmaton is a way of maintaining that brave face. Keep going. Don’t collapse. Don’t show anyone you need help. Susie Orbach talks about the stiff upper lip and calls the ‘stiff heart’ – immovable and rigid. Keep stumm, don’t show feelings and squash so much inside ourselves that we kill off our feelings. Our hearts end up unused, dead.

That sounds like madwoman’s talk: it’s not.

Pills do not solve depression and anxiety. They do not soothe a troubled mind or help with burgeoning mental health issues.

After you’ve taken them for 12 weeks and have fulfilled your pressing work requirements, then what? How are you going to feel when you aren’t buoyed up by some dubious pill?

I’ll stick to my grapefruit and dose of caffeine in the morning thanks.

I know if I ever consider taking a capsule to get me through my workload/improve my wellbeing I need professional help and a change in my life.

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