One of the biggest post-collapse threats to your safety could come from the millions of Americans dealing with addictions and withdrawals to both legal and illegal drugs.
We live in a nation of chemically medicated zombies!
According to new research, almost 60% of Americans are now taking at least one prescription drug, and the number of Americans who are taking more than five drugs has doubled in the last decade.
The Journal of the American Medical Association just released research that shows over the last decade the number of Americans who are taking more than five prescription medications has doubled, now accounting for 15% of the adult population.
The JAMA paper also found that in addition to the growing number of people taking multiple medications, the number of adults taking at least one prescription drug grew from 51% of the population in 2000 to 59% in 2011, the most recent year data was available.
But even scarier, because of the threat these people will present during a long-term disaster situation, is the large number of people taking mind altering medications. According to the New York Times, 1 in 5 Americans is now on at least one psychiatric drug.
With so many people on Prescription Medications, will this be one of the biggest threats you face post-collapse?
When I talk about preparedness related threats, I often talk about how people will be one of the biggest threats to your safety and security during a long-term crisis. But an even more significant threat might come from zombies.
Now I’m not talking about the Walking Dead; those kind of zombies would be less of a threat because at least they’re slow and somewhat predictable. I’m talking about the medically induced zombies who will be roaming the streets looking for a fix. The ones who can no longer get their hands on the medications that they have become so dependent on.
- What happens when the supply lines are cut?
- What happens when these people who have become dependent on these drugs can no longer get them?
- How long will it take before they become desperate or mentally unstable?
A shocking number of people have become completely dependent on pain killers, mood altering medications and anti-anxiety pills. Should this country face a long-term disaster situation, where infrastructure breakdowns cause these medication supply lines to run dry, we are going to see a whole lot of people losing it on the streets.
ANTIDEPRESSANT DISCONTINUATION SYNDROMES
Abruptly stopping common psychotropic medications —particularly antidepressants, SSRIs, benzodiazepines, or atypical antipsychotics—can trigger something known as discontinuation syndrome. The syndrome can produce a wide array of dangerous side effects, including suicidal thoughts, violence and mania.
Mental illness and drug addictions in a post-collapse world.
This is a threat at cannot be taken lightly. Even today we see how dangerous these drugs are; their effects are felt on a daily basis.
I believe much of the violence we are seeing can be tied back to these medications, and the massive increase in people doing both legal and illegal drugs. In fact, according to WND study from 2012, most of the recent school shootings can be directly tied to these dangerous medications. The study found that almost 90 percent of school shootings over more than a decade have been linked to a widely prescribed type of antidepressant called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs.
How will this threat affect you in a post-collapse world?
When millions of Americans are abruptly cut off, we are going to see trouble. Even during optimal conditions, those who stop taking these medications can feel withdrawal effects for months, sometimes even years.
Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics Journal published a study back in October 2012, showing persistent withdrawal effects six weeks after patients stopped taking SSRI antidepressants. Researchers found post-withdrawal symptoms “may last several months to years.”
Symptoms ranged from poor stress tolerance and disturbed moods to emotional liability and bipolar disorders. But even more worrisome is what happens when people are forced to abruptly stop taking these medications without being weaned off of them.
People will start turning to even more dangerous drugs.
Another thing we will likely see is a huge increase in those taking illegal street drugs and bizarre chemical concoctions. Once the prescription drug supply lines run dry, you are going to see millions of people desperate to get their fix.
Many of these prescription drugs have awful side effects and withdrawal symptoms, and once those kick in people are going to turn to anything they can get their hands on to dull the pain. Drugs like Molly, Bath salts, Meth and other chemical blends will be in high demand because of how easy they are to make. This is going to make the problem a thousand times worse. Anyone who hasn’t gone off the deep end will be pushed over when they start taking these designer street drugs.
Want to see a glimpse of what’s coming?
Check out these videos of people who are already losing it because of taking these new synthetic drug blends. Keep in mind these are people in today’s world, now add in the millions of people who are on dangerous pharmaceuticals, and you will get a good picture of what the threat looks like.
Developing a Preparedness Mindset
One of the most important things you can do to protect yourself from this threat is to develop a rock-solid preparedness mindset. The will to survive is probably the single most important aspect of surviving a traumatic event; not having the mental capacity to do so is a dangerous thing, and could land you in the same position as the millions of Americans who are already medicating themselves to escape reality.
Want to cut down the number of people on psychotropic meds AND practice a skill you’re going to need in a post-apocalyptic world??
Three words: Patience, Compassion, and Empathy.
This doesn’t mean you need to sell your guns, start listening to emo music, and get in touch with your feminine side.
It means that when someone you care about it crying, you need to take the time to listen and to empathize instead of laughing it off or telling them to shut up. It means that when someone you care about has a problem that can’t be solved easily and concretely, you still take the time to help them work through it and find a solution instead of shunning them or berating them if they don’t make it disappear. It means that when someone you care about is uncomfortable or inconvenient to be around, you don’t do a disappearing act.
LITERALLY EVERYONE I know who’s been on psych meds (including me– and I’m THE ONLY one I know to come off of them, or even attempt it) has done it because no one wanted to put up with them crying, or working through their fears, or deal with their (justified) anger. They, personally, oftentimes were not looking for a “magic fix” for their problems. They turned to everyone they knew and got shut down, shut out, and in some cases smacked around until they finally gave up and made it disappear.
If you love someone, take the time to listen, the time to help, the time to care.
As with the zombies from the walking dead these pill zombies will be stopped with a shot to the head.
Yep
Saw a lot of the discontinuation syndrome while working in New Orleans, post katrina. Can be some scary stuff
This is one reason why I believe the most valuable thing in a post-SHTF scenario will be my chemistry degree, textbooks, and fine chemistry glassware set. Right now, the four most valuable goods are (in order) (1) Antimatter (2) Radioactive isotopes (3) High end gems (4) Drugs. (1) and (2) become useless when fine industry breaks down. (3) requires ridiculous investments up front, and (4) can be made quickly, cheaply, and is only going to be more in demand when people want to check out of their crappy situation.
Making drugs like meth has a profit return of (conservatively) 10,000% using current prices. Other drugs that require more knowledge than two brain cells rubbed together can end up with profit margins well over one million percent.
Further, looking at drug use by industry, we see food service at the top, followed closely by construction, entertainment, sales, repair/installation, and then farm/fish/forestry services. Seeing as how the top three industries post SHTF are going to be construction, repair, and farm/fish/forestry, one can assume that a bottle of dizzy water or a funky rock that makes everything fun is gonna be a whole lot more valuable to the common man than the bag of rice.
I would also like to add that “bath salts”, which is a name encompassing several hundred very different chemical compounds, are generally very difficult to make. They usually fall into the category of psychedelic amphetamines and are made solely to get around DEA scheduling and Analog Acts. When there is no DEA anymore, the only drugs that are going to be around are the classics-coke, meth, heroin, opium, weed, mushrooms, alcohol, tobacco, and maybe some molly (which is a derivative of meth, made from a different starting material). This is according to Occam’s Razor. They are the classic drugs for the simple reason that they are easy to grow or purify from easily cultivated materials. They do not require the multi-day, roundabout, and very sensitive reactions that “bath salts” do.
YOU DON’T NEED TO POST THIS unless you want to- — I’M NOT GOING TO BABY SIT SOME DISENCHANTED MEDICATED WACKO THAT IS ON SOME WIERDO DRUG because they can’t handle it. THROW THE DAMN KLEENEX BOX AT THEM AND MOVE ON. I KNOW THERE ARE LIGITIMATE CASES WHERE CERTAIN DRIGS ARE NEEDED TO HELP PEOPLE – BUT NOT TO THE DEGREE THAT EXISTS TODAY. IF PEOPLE WERE BETTER PREPARED FOR TROUBLE OR DISASTERS AND READY- THEN MAYBE THE SHOCK WOULD NOT BE SO DEEP WHEN THERE IS A DISASTER- LOOK — NO-ONE IS GOING TO SAVE YOU OR BABY YOU IN A DISASTER MOST OF THE TIME IF ANYTIME EVER- how many times do we need to say it! SO WE NEED TO PREPARE MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY TO BE READY AT ALL TIMES!