Everyday stress More and more people are dope

Doping in everyday life is increasing: More and more people resort to sleeping pills or performance-enhancing drugs.

More and more people resort to sleeping pills, Viagra or supposedly performance-enhancing medicines. Due to the constantly growing stress and pressure of performance in our society, many people seek their salvation in over-the-counter medications. But the health and psychological consequences can be fatal for consumers.

Stress and pressure in everyday life
In professional life, but also in private life, more and more people are required more and more. Many people try to compensate for the increasing burden of medication. Such a kind of „doping“ has long since become a mass phenomenon in the US and is also gaining more and more in Germany. Remedies such as sleeping pills, tranquillizers, Ritalin or Viagra are being used by more and more people in Germany, according to the Baden-Württemberg State Medical Association. Except for Ritalin, such funds are freely available in pharmacies. Consumers want to increase their concentration, their memory or their physical and sexual performance. At a symposium in Stuttgart, Christoph von Ascheraden of the chamber committee for addiction medicine warned people that their own „Put identity on the line“, if you want to manage all the problems of everyday life with the help of medicines. Although the funds are over-the-counter, they still have many side effects. There is also a considerable potential for dependency, especially in sleeping pills.

Medicines on the internet
On the Internet, access to so-called „Soft drugs“ considerably simplified. In dubious online pharmacies, highly effective drugs such as Valium or Ritalin can be purchased. But doctors also repeatedly advise patients recklessly to take medication. A problem that the expert therefore also sees in the medical profession. For example, "escalating diagnoses" are mild depressive moods / episodes. In many cases psychotropic drugs are then prescribed, although already gentle natural remedies or relaxation exercises could help.

Ritalin is used to increase performance
A very serious problem is the frivolous intake of Ritalin (active substance methylphenidate). As such, the drug is prescribed for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). However, more and more children, adolescents and adults are taking the drugs lightly themselves, without them being prescribed medically. Many expect self-medication to increase their concentration and performance. But the health consequences can be fatal: sufferers can suffer a personality change, listlessness, depression or dependency. Also physical complaints are not excluded. (sb, 18.11.2010)

Also read:
Stress: trigger and impact
More and more students are reaching for Ritalin
Makes Viagra hard of hearing?