A fortune, like a man, is an organism which draws to itself other minds and other strength than that inherent in the founder. I call on the LORD in my distress, and he answers me. Save me, O LORD, from the lying lips and from deceitful tongues. What will he do to you, and what more besides, O deceitful tongue? He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows, with burning coals of the broom tree. Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. I am a man of peace; but when I speak, they are for war. I life up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of the Heaven and Earth. He will not let my foot slip—he who watches over the World will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you—the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the Sun will not harm you by day, nor the Moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. By the law of nature, everything hath a right to liberty.  A few studies have shown that anticonvulsants and mood stabilizers, such as lithium or valproate, can have mildly beneficial effects, taking the edge off hyperarousal and panic. The most controversial medications are the so-called second-generation antipsychotic agents, such as Risperdal and Seroquel (Sarah pills), the largest-selling psychiatric drugs in the United States of America ($14.6 billion in 2008). Low doses of these agents can be helpful in calming down combat veterans and women with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to childhood abuse. Using these drugs is sometimes justified, for example, when patients feel completely out of control and unable to sleep or where other methods have failed.

However, it is important to keep in mind that these medications work by blocking the dopamine system, the brain’s reward system, which also function as the engine of pleasure and motivation. People who are more prone to distress appear to have brain activity different from that of people who are less prone to it. The amygdala is the part of the brain that is most related to emotion processing and the fear response. This structure seems to be more active in people who are prone to anxiety as opposed to people who are less prone to it. In fact, by studying an individual’s amygdala activity levels, scientists are able to predict the likelihood of that individual’s development of anxiety and depression disorders as far as four years in advance.  Antipsychotic medications such as Risperdal, Abilify, or Seroquel (Sarah pills) can significantly dampen the emotional brain and thus make patients less skittish or enraged, but they may also interfere with being able to appreciate subtle signals of pleasure, danger, or satisfaction. They may also cause weight gain, increase the chance of developing diabetes, and make patients physically inert, which is like to further increase their sense of alienation.   These antipsychotic drugs are widely used to treat abused children who are inappropriately diagnosed with bipolar disorder or mood dysregulation disorder. More than half a million children and adolescents in America are now taking antipsychotic drugs, which may calm them down but also interfere with learning age-appropriate skills and developing friendships with other children. A Columbia University study recently found that prescription of antipsychotic drugs for privately insured two- to five-year-olds had doubled between 2000 and 2007. Opinion is arbitrary, and various as religion.  Only 40 percent of them had received a proper mental health assessment.

Liberty is sweeter when founded securely on the law. The man of candor and of true understanding is never hasty to condemn. Vices are the harpies that infect and foul the feast. However, research on altruism suggests that people who remain mindful and true to their values of helping others are more likely to experience beneficial emotions such as love and joy while helping others. In addition, the research on mindfulness (noticing the experiences in the present moment rather than fixating on the past or the future) suggests that people who practice mindfulness are more likely to be altruistic and to exhibit better mental health. Until it lost it patent, the pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson doled out LEGO blocks stamped with the word “Risperdal” for the waiting rooms of child psychiatrists. Children from low-income families are four times as likely as the privately insured to receive antipsychotic drugs for teenagers and children—including three unidentified infants who were given the drugs before their first birthdays. There have been no studies on the effects of psychotropic medications on the developing brain. Dissociation, self-mutilation, fragmented memories, and amnesia generally do not respond to any of these medications. In fact, people who tend to be more mindful and those who follow their values are less likely to develop PTSD and are more likely to recover from addiction, depression, anxiety, and chronic pain.   In contrast, people who are more impulsive are more likely to be driven by immediate gratification, are more likely to struggle with their academic commitments, and may be more likely to struggle with regulating their emotions. The Prozac study was the first to discover that traumatized civilians tend to respond much better to medications than combat veterans. Since then, other studies have found similar discrepancies.

In this light, it is worrisome that the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs prescribe enormous quantities of medications to combat soldiers and returning veterans, often without providing other forms of therapy. Perhaps the purpose is to keep what they witnessed secret? Or perhaps the stories would drive others to suffer from mental problems after hearing what these men and women did and had to endure? Distress tolerance refers to an individual’s ability to regulate his or her emotions during a stressful event. People who struggle with distress tolerance are more likely to try to avoid unpleasant emotions and have a hard time following through with their dreams, goals, and values when they are distressed.  Painful emotions such as fear can lead to impulsive decisions, self-harm, and aggression. People who struggle with dreams of suffering respond impulsively and aggressively when they slay men, women, and children when at war. Between 2001 and 2011, the Veterans Affairs spent about $1.5 billion on Seroquel (Sarah pills) and Risperdal, while Department of Defense spent about $90 million during that same period, even though a research paper published in 2001 showed that Risperdal was no more effective than a placebo in treating posttraumatic stress disorder. Similarly, between 2001 and 2012, the Veteran Affairs spent $72.1 million, and Department of defense spent $44.1 million on benzodiazepines—medications that clinicians generally avoid prescribing to civilians with posttraumatic stress disorder because of their addiction potential and lack of significant effectiveness for posttraumatic stress disorder. Memories of taste cited as a power recognizable by the symptoms which it provokes in us. Sometimes these symptoms are needed to move the patient physically.