Stop calling it a disease and smarten up
It bothers me when people call their short-comings "diseases" and throw their hands up in despair. I am thinking specifically of alcoholism, obesity, and eating disorders. It's difficult to feel sorry for people who know better.
One of the more memorable stories told in one of my first year classes was how cigarettes gained their popularity. The manufacturers sent packs of cigarettes to its soliders overseas with the promise that smoking them would calm their nerves. There were no warnings about possible short-term or long-term side effects. The soliders eventually became addicted to them. I feel sorry for this bunch because they did not know better. They were unaware of the potential damaging effects the cigarettes had on their health. And given the undoubtedly tense situations they faced in battle, I would have openly welcomed a gift that promises to calm me down and was sent from home - a country I love and one I was willing to fight for. As the side-effects of cigarettes became widely know, I don't understand why people still allow themselves to be addicted to them. Given that is is an addiction, it is interesting that no one feels sorry for smokers who die from cancer. In fact, some may think "well, they had that coming" or "they deserved it".
If we don't let smokers off the hook for knowingly damaging their bodies, why do we lament over alcoholics, obese people, anorexicss, etc.? Why are their afflictions "diseases"? Why allow them to use that label as a crutch to NOT get better? The term "disease", to me, implies that its cause was out of my control. It also makes the person a "victim" who needs someone (i.e. a doctor) to save them.
Am I being too harsh? The "diseases" I mention aren't caused by a single mistake at a moment of weakness. It is the culmination of repeated offenses. The decisions to drink/eat/throw up are made individually and repeatedly over a long period of time. They know that they are damaging their bodies and have deliberately chosen that route (unless the person did not have the capacity to understand the dangers of their decisions, i.e., a child). None of them have my sympathy.
posted by ehbaba @ 6:35 PM
4 Comments:
ummm....to a ceeeeertain extent i agree with you about alcoholics, overweight people, smokers. but not anorexics. they seriously have mental issues on par with OCD. that's like saying depressed people should suck it up.
I think most depressed people have something to be really sad about. And if they do, it's alright to be sad. However, after an appropriate amount of time, they do need to suck it up.
not entirely related, but i have absolutely no sympathy for people who commit suicide. like...at all. I think its the most selfish, wasteful and inconsiderate thing anyone could ever do. if you are unhappy with your life, fine, deal with it, change it. if you feel there's no point in living for yourself, there is so much a person can do with their life for others, and think of the scar you'd leave on the people around you. the WORST is people who decide to kill themselves in public places like jumping in front of a subway or off a bridge into oncoming traffic, cause then you essentially have forced someone else to kill you and they'll be traumatised for life. AND you cause a huge traffic jam and hundreds of people are affected....haha, now i'm the one that sounds harsh.
omg guys. we are so discussing this the next time we meet. i can't believe you said this. (both of you)
Post a Comment
<< Home