“Pill for Every Ill” Syndrome

By Ng Wee Loon

Introduction
The “pill for every ill” syndrome is described as “the chemical illusion” and “for many years we have been exposed to the idea that drugs are man’s companions and are capable of producing miracles”. (Lennard, 1971)

“Too often when people talk about ‘the drug problem’, they have in mind only the illicit use of drugs such as heroin.” (Edwards 1983) While academics gave due attention of the use of drugs and the problem of the “pill of the ill” syndrome, the use of quick-fixes for solution to problems and illnesses, much of the research placed emphasis on problems such as the “increased use of non-prescribed or over-the-counter medications” and prescribed drugs such as Benzodiazepines. (Cooperstock, 1983)

I feel that there is also a need to study the application of this syndrome to the use of non-medication psychoactive drugs by individuals to treat their ills, and in this paper, specifically nicotine in the form of cigarette smoking to combat stress. This study will first take into account the definition of “ill” in our society, and subsequently explain why drugs are used to increasingly applied in place of other forms of treatments in the alleviation of this “ill”. The last part of the paper will discuss the reasons for the rise of this drug-consuming culture.

Definition of the “ill”
Society is “enmeshed in an orgy of self-medication” and in a “hedonistic society, pain or discomfort are to be avoided at all cost, and this in part explains the overwhelming urge to inhale, gargle, swallow, apply or inject some medication at the slightest discomfort.” (Louria 1971) This discomfort is no longer restricted physical but also psychological manifestation, especially stress. There has been increasing emphasis on stress management because stress affects people from all walks of life regardless of age, gender or occupation and “traumatic stressful events may trigger either behavioural or biological processes that contribute to the onset of disease.” (Despues 1999)


“Pill” for the ill of Stress
As reported by the Telegraph, a British newspaper, “people are increasingly relying on medicinal cures rather than preventive methods or cheaper therapies”. (Telegraph 2005) The same can be said for stress. There are various ways of coping with stress, such as “feeling in control, approach and avoidant, appraisal and reappraisal”, (Despues 1999) yet some people choose to smoke in response to coping with stress.

According to the National Cancer Institute of the United States, one of the reasons for cited by smokers for their habit is to relieve stress. This is temporarily achieved because nicotine, the active ingredient in cigarettes causes the release of neurotransmitter in the brain such as Beta-Endorphin and Dopamine, which results in the reduction of pain and enhanced pleasure, thereby alleviating stress.

Thus, nicotine consumption is can be considered as a quick-fix “pill” for the “ill” of stress. It is chosen by the smokers over other non-drug treatment in combating stress.

The cause of this syndrome
The reason for the rise of this syndrome is as stated in the introduction, that we have “for many year been exposed to the idea that drugs are man’s companions are capable of producing miracles” and this idea was propagated “for their own reasons by the drug industry, media and self-appointed of youth spokesmen of the youth culture”. (Lennard 1971)

This is especially true in the United States where the government allows “Direct to Consumer Advertising”, a multi-billion industry that “cultivate the belief among the public that there is a pill for every ill and contribute to medicalisation of trivial ailments, leading to an even more ‘overmedicated’ society.” (Baumbach 2001) That is because these advertisements portraits drugs as miracles cures and project a false image of drug-taking models as “smiling, happy people” (Baumbach 2001) leaving out other “lifestyle changes or other nonpharmacologic interventions” (Baumbach 2001) which are just as important, if not more, for a healthy and happy lifestyle.

In the case of cigarettes smoking, advertisement plays a major role as well. “The tobacco industry spends 5 billion dollars a year on advertising and promotion.” (Kline 2000) Since the beginning of tobacco and cigarettes advertising, the industry has attempted to project smoking as healthy, for example with the introduction of the menthol cigarettes in the 1950s (Pollay et al 2001), or downplaying the harmful effects of smoking. These advertisements add on to the effects already advocated by the drug and pharmaceutical industry and influence the public into believing the therapeutic effects of cigarettes in relieving stress.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the “pill for every ill” syndrome is all but a man-made phenomenon created by the “medical profession and pharmaceutical industry” as “it is in the interest of both groups to define more and more problems as medical in order to justify both the medical model and the intervention of drugs”. (Lennard 1971)

Furthermore the advertising industry has been employed effectively to reach this end as the “industry with practically unlimited access to the mass media has been confusing the people, young and old alike, that drugs effect instant and significant changes” (Lennard 1971) and the tobacco industry jumped onto the bandwagon and ride on its wave.

With the cigarette example, this paper has illustrated how the drug industry, “in its attempt to increase the market for its products”, “is redefining and relabelling as medical problems calling for drug intervention wide range of human behaviours which, in the past, have been viewed as falling within the bounds of normal trials and tribulations of human existence”. (Lennard 1971)

Stress, which was a natural “process in which environmental demands strain an organisms adaptive capacity” (Despues 1999) now becomes pathological, an “ill” and demands a cure, using drugs. Cigarettes is the “pill” that provides for that hedonistic relief, much like many of the over drugs on the market.

Bibliography
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Cooperstock, Ruth. “A Pill For Every Nervous Ill: Psychotropics As World Concern”. In Drug Use And Misuse, edited by Griffith Edwards, Awni Arif and Jerome Jaffe. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1983

Despues, Desiree. “Stress And Illness”, California State University, Northridge, <>, (Accessed 1 April 2007)

Edwards, Griffith. “Drugs And Drug Abuse”. In Drug Use And Misuse, edited by Griffith Edwards, Awni Arif and Jerome Jaffe. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1983

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“Britons believe in a pill for every ill”, The Telegraph, 8 April 2005