I know some incredible women who manage professional careers, family, and life in general like "superwomen" and guess what? They're doing it the old fashioned way - by working hard and doing what's BEST for their families. I think that women who put their families first, and work really hard to maintain the life they enjoy should be called superwomen. Not drug addicts. Because, let's face it, you can't have it all when your sole focus is to get high.

Agreed. Zero sympathy for those women who use a crutch so that they can think they are better than the rest.

When they crash and burn, who is hurt most by that? Their families.

No one ever said they had to enroll their kids in 50,000 school activities, unless they use the kid as a trophy/success indicator. I had activities, but usually one or two at a time. My mom was a successful career woman, but learned she never had to prove anything, esp through me!

This is nothing new. My mom and all her sisters and female friends were always popping pills when I was growing up. They were trading them back and forth like drug dealer's. I just think women pop pills for losing weight for NERVE's for pain whatever they can get them for. This isn't a new thing

You're right about that. In Victorian days, doctors prescribed opium and people just went to bed or went on vacations for rests. Drug addiction, no matter how you label it, has been around since the dawn of ages.

Amen to all of the above.

Blame what some are calling the superwoman syndrome.

Spare me. It's their choice to make. These superwomen should be smart enough to understand the consequences.

I'd also add that it's kinda stupid that so many prescription drugs are illegal. I can drink booze until I die and coffee until my heart explodes but possessing a tablet of hydrocodone or phentermine without express, written consent of my doctor is somehow illegal. This isn't PCP we're talking about here.

Frankly, I find it amazing that most men aren't in an insane asylum for having to deal with all the feminine neuroses that men are subjected to daily.

I can only imagine how much worse it would be for men if women were to go off all their meds they take just to keep them in equilibrium.

Having said that....commence the male bashing!

again another story showing the liberal viewpoint of being the victim and not stressing responsibility. It was their choice to choose a career they couldnt handle, their choice to have kids. All of the things in their life were choices made by them. Stop with this idiotic progressive mentalility always trying to skirt responsibility for our actions. Stop with these stories which show these people in a good light. What was inspirational at all about this story? People made wrong decisions then couldnt deal with their lives...starting doing drugs now they dont....who cares....a better story would be on someone who was doing the same things and not doing drugs......but that would be promoting responsibility wouldnt want that.

I've known a number of women who are on pain killers due to stress issues. Women advanced and moved into the outside realm, but too many men are unwilling to help with in house work. Even growing up my Mom and Dad would both work and yet when they came home Dad would open the paper and go into his "man cave" and Mom would trip over herself taking care of us, our homework, and getting dinner on the table - to say nothing of housework she did later.

We feel the stress to be "superwomen" because so many men won't do their fair share. Even my FI sees certain things as "woman's work". We all have things to work with in this area - blaming women who have too many responsibilities without helping her with them is cruel.

Craig- when my wife has her monthly psychosis I am subjected to being awakened and yelled at around 1:30am, just because she can!

Frankly, I find it amazing that most men aren't in an insane asylum for having to deal with all the feminine neuroses that men are subjected to daily.

omgsh where do I begin? Well Craig...do you know that most Womens problems begin with the word MEN? IE: MENstral, MENopause, Mental...and the definition of PMS is Putting up with Mens Sh*t. ie: pms..so anyway you have some nerve pointing fingers like that. I married my husband 2 years ago and now am in the process of divorce..as he expected me to be his Maid, His Secretary, His housekeeper, His Chef, His ho, just to name a few..and still work 2 jobs to keep up our bills...ITS NO WONDER WE take pills! Then throw in our everyday life..Groceries,kids, bills, apts, for the whole family,YOU CRAIG have no idea what WOMEN go thru in a day..and that goes for the rest of you bashers up there. Walk a day in our shoes with an open mind and see a whole different side of life..yeah it would be great to just go to work and bring home a paycheck but what you don't realize is the Woman is the grease that keeps the whole engine running smooth. Yeah I take a pill a day...so kill me. Pathetic. With a Mentality like yours we need all the help we can get.

and fyi GK vvvv my husband had the bipolar not me..

I agree with what many above posters have said regarding responsibility. I would add that any time articles like these pop up, and blame the drug, it becomes tougher and tougher for patients that DO need pain medications to get them.

As it is, many are looked at as 'addicts' and this mentality goes a long ways towards furthering that. Most pain doctors will give you X amount of pills to last for a month; they will randomly call for pill counts and urine tests to ensure that they AREN'T being over-taken and aren't being sold.

It would appear that there aren't enough reputable pain management doctors out there, and that's the problem... not the drugs.

Anomalee23, you just Hate men, dont you?

My name is Jesicca, I write under the name "MR." because it commands respect that "MRS." does not. I love the fact that every day i wake up early, care for my husband and I's children. When "Mr. Huffman" gets out of bed i've got coffee made and the kids together. We BOTH go to work for the day, and when we come home I clean the house and make dinner. I would have it no other way.

I say this because it may look as though I am doing more throughout my day, but I have the security of a set daily routene. Mr. Huffman takes care off all of our business transactions, legal transactions, budgeting, and investing. He does this while still running his own business, and selflessly gives EVERYTHING to me and the kids. So if anybody should be on pills its him. He works hard all day, eveyday, and wants nothing in return but a family. So I take pride in working as a nurse and caring for our home and 3 kids. That is my share in labor that makes this family roll on every day.

In short, I have NO respect for women who abuse drugs, and say its because "we are just too stressed!" Suck it up, life is not easy.

yes MR Huffman from the beginning of your respond as in using your "husbands" name to the end you are clearly a Codependent subservient woman. ( I'm sorry for you). LOL "mr huffman" LOL the reason you don't get respect is probably because your so meek and subservient to a man you don't even have a clue what other women do. So what do you plan to do if your husband leaves you..or gets in an accident and is unable to care for you or even worse dies? You would not have a clue how to manage your "business". Oh and to answer your "statement" that I hate men..no Mr Huffman I don't hate men at all..I can't stand USERS. Kudos to you..for what you do, you remind me of the one housewife on Housewives of Orange County..where her husband rules her life. Her name is Tamra Lol that may work for you but not for me and a lot of other women. I would never call myself by my husbands title I have my own Identity thank you.

In closing we don't need your respect, You as a nurse should know the term "frequent flyer". How much do you enable in your career? Some women do take pills in an abusive manor and some take them for necessity is it your job to judge? I think not. No one said Life is easy. I didn't ask to be hit by a drunk and had 2 herniated disks in my neck nor did I ask to be injured on the job when a pt fell and we had to use 4 nurses to get him off the floor. Everyone has their vices...wether it be cigarrettes, alcohol, food, or pills, No One is perfect.. So Mrs. Huffman..You suck it up.

K444922, in past decades, many men didn't do housework or child care because they didn't know they could. Things just weren't presented that way.

That said, I have a friend whose dad was widowed a few years ago, and he was the type who, if someone didn't cook for him, he didn't eat, etc. He literally did not know how to select his own clothes, pay a bill, or heat up a can of soup on the stove!

Anomalee23 wrote "omgsh where do I begin? Well Craig...do you know that most Womens problems begin with the word MEN? IE: MENstral, MENopause, Mental...and the definition of PMS is Putting up with Mens Sh*t."

When a woman fails at anything, there is a man to blame. When a man fails, he is to blame.

JBird is right--lighten your load. I went through a divorce, worked full time and went to graduate school, all without the use of alcohol or drugs. Who needs that stuff? I don't have to keep up with anyone, just keep pace with myself.

This culture of ours has too many whiners and complainers. Get off your duff, find something interesting to do and then do it. You don't need a pill or a bottle to get there. If you can't do what you want without performance enhancers then you should not be doing it. Pure and simple. I have no sympathy for these women. I am female so I'm not speaking out of school.

Life is short. Do these people really want to spend it stoned or in prison? I know I don't. I am not a saint, but it is time for each one of us to grow up and get serious about having a real life and purpose while we are here.

craig,well said!

it's not easy being Cheesy, yuk, yuk..

I, for one, do not for one minute believe that Mr. Huffman is a Mrs.

spoken like someone who hasn't had it it the fan yet. Judgemental BS. Pills, alcohol, random shooting spree, it doesn't matter what; the pressures in our society are beyond what the human mind was designed to deal with.

Cavalier..I agree. Sometimes, it seems as if they don't see that their plate is overloaded. If they have to rely on pills in their middle age, they'll become walking, talking drug stores by the time menopause begins.

I was a superMOM. Not by choice. If there is one issue that has never been resolved it's the devastating pressures divorce puts on the custodial parent, in most cases, the Mom. I got through it. But, I wouldn't ever recommend it to any woman.

The reality that most men don't ever live through is the enormous parallel of responsibility women have that men don't. The amount of sacrifices men make for marriage is barely half that of most women.

Although, I do give a lot of credit to the younger husbands of today. At least they do try to be of help and at least they do acknowledge the load on their wife's shoulders.

I used to work for one of the overachieving types who is also a mother. The downside is you can get treated like a child, and let me tell you, that you might want to leave that job the instant that happens. Many times, they often aren't even aware they are doing it, which can allow some solace or make it all the worse, depending on how you look at it.

The implication of this article is that we need to continue the drug war. What we need to do is get real about drug use and let addicts get what they choose. Then we need to focus on addiction treatment - just like we do with alcohol.

Doing otherwise puts our money into the pockets of terrorists and criminal gangs. The fact is, the only reason this woman had a problem is that what she did was illegal. It didn't harm her or her family until she had to go outside the law to get it.

Easy to say - just don't do it - if you don't. I don't. But I recognize that for many people being able to deal with the modern world requires medication to compete. This is becoming more true with each passing year. We are the last generation that will remember what life was like before almost everyone took performance enhancing medications.

Superwoman Syndrome is quite a misnomer. There's nothing "super" about these women. They may feel on top of the world, but others see them as abnormal. They have all the hallmarks of being "high," and come across as spastic, restless, and obnoxious. They miss social cues that indicate when others feel they are acting "wrong." But ignorance is bliss!

The arrogance that comes with trying to outdo everyone, even at the expense of one's health, is not very receptive to self-reflection in the first place. But drugs themselves also cloud a person's judgment, making them unaware of their real performance. Initially, drugs that enhance attention span can improve one's performance, but in the longer term, that person loses sight of what's going on, and is not actually performing well.

I knew a prescription drug addict that would work at a hundred-miles-a-minute pace, acted manic, and constantly did things that made no sense. (She would hit up co-workers for painkillers anytime they returned from a sick day, just in case she might score.) But she had no clue how she appeared to others. Eventually she had to be fired, because she was freaking out customers. Some "superwoman."

I think one thing that a lot of commenters are missing is that addiction is not something that someone chooses. The point of the article wasn't that these women were "whining" about trying to do it all. It was about addiction and how insidious it is, especially when egged on by a society (particularly American) which praises people who work more than 50 hours a week, as though this is some kind of badge of honor, and tells all of us, men and women alike, that medication can offer a "quick fix" for the tiredness this kind of life results in. Another thing overlooked by many commenters is the fact that prescription drug abuse is sanctioned by society. Look at the studies which have shown that these pharmaceutical ads have led directly to patients requesting medications by name. And shame on those of you who shamed the women in this article. How courageous of them to come forward in hopes of helping other people also struggling with addiction. Addiction is a disease not a choice. Lastly, 12 step programs encourage both change and accountability. It's a shame some "normal" people don't have programs.

Even for those who have jobs (and most do - lots of attorneys are addicts to alcohol and god knows what else) AA is their life. It is bigger and lasts longer than their marriages do.

I've known a few hitting AA several times a week due to alcohol or drug addiction. AA from the outside observer seems to help but the 12-step program is a bit strange to me. I know there is a lot of praying going on, cookies, coffee and tobacco use. I got a kick out of substituting sugar for alcohol as sugar ferments and turns to alcohol in your system. I would think that it would be wiser to ditch sugar with the alcohol. I have met some people ruined by alcohol and drug abuse. I have observed them coming out of rehab and cursing everyone trying to help them and blaming others for all their woes. A dependency or addiction is a tough road but I guess if you want off the path you have to trudge through the blackberry vine jungle to get there.

Lee...I was a superMom...Don't tell me there is no such thing or that it's an excuse. When you are abandoned by your husband with two kids, who else is going to do it all? Hold down a full-time and part-time job, take care of the kids and the household, pay all the bills and make sure the kids get to Little League, religion classes, music lessons and have a least a semblance of a family life. Who else but SuperMom?

Many young women of today have daycare for their infants, birth control that didn't exist until the late 1950's, and much more that's been long forgotten that made the lives of many women excruciating.

Lee - this abuse of drugs is older even than that. My great grandmother abused prescription and non-prescription medication her entire adult life (she did not cheat or steal, but she was remarkably unpleasant). My grandmother did the same. I'm blessed that the chain is broken for me. I have cousins that were not as fortunate.

The reality is this problem has been around forever. Only difference is that the drug being abused changes over the centuries.

joe - It causes me such distress to know you are absolutely right. I don't want to disclose what state I live in - but for anyone who does NOT think there's already socialized medicine, sit back and let me tell you a story.

I know of a woman who is on the state's dole. She has better insurance than my private insurance. In addition to her primary care physician, she is a patient at a "pain management" center and has her own psychologist!! In addition to all of these fun freebies, she gets soooooo many free drugs (well, free for her because I pay the very high taxes in this state) that she's now a prescription drug addict. Her family has tried to get her intervention, worried she was going to die from an overdose. They even reported her to the state and called each of her doctors. (How cool is that??? EACH of her doctors!! She has multiple!! And they're all free for her!!) And what's been accomplished by that??

NOTHING. She's still a drug addict, and in fact, recently had back surgery, so she got even MORE drugs and even MORE doctors. All free for the taking!!! (for her anyway.) And let's not forget the food stamps and money she gets for her kids because she's "disabled."

The moral of the story kids? Well, there isn't one. That's the sad truth. And I'm quite sure that she is just the tip of the iceburg.

Does she qualify for "superwoman" syndrome? Maybe welfare fraud. But, since her doctors are sanctioning it knowingly, it's not even fraud.

And how's your pain??

Lee, So did you read the same article that I did, or were you looking for an excuse to rant? My take away from the article was that good intentions and naivete can lead someone to be vulnerable to addiction. It is important to have a very skeptical attitude towards both prescribed and OTC substances, and be in charge of what you put in your body. I don't think either of the very successful women described in the article ever intended to become an addict, but there are many legal substances that are very dangerous and cannot be used effectively by many people who have different body chemistries and needs. I think you could benefit by taking a more humble approach to this topic. Good people get addicted to drugs (or other substances) too. I wish the article had mentioned the dangers of Ambien and other sleep drugs. I have seen many good people get caught up in being addicted to Ambien, and they've needed professional help to detox. (Fortunately, unlike your poor example, they had good health insurance that allowed them to do that.)

You just cherry-picked an 'example' (and did you borrow it from Ronald Reagan's "Welfare Queen") phrase to make a broad statement about socialized medicine and where your tax dollars are going. No one wants fraud, but if you allow yourself to be educated and realistic, you will see that this issue is far more complex than your rant.

First of all, this article "cherry picked" two examples because that's all there was in the article. Two examples followed by a sweeping title that I disagree with.

Secondly, yes I read the article. If you're reading the thread, I was responding to the first comment in the thread, which, as far as I know, we are allowed to do.

And thirdly, if you think I rant. That's your opinion. But, I think there SHOULD be anger and finger shaking and loud shouts for people who commit welfare fraud. But, if you want to put down someone's opinion, that's you're feeling. I respect that.

And btw, I am educated and realistic. I understand the realities of drug addicts. I'm not one, but have first-hand experienced the "complexities" of lies, greed, narcissism, destruction, and theft that goes along with drug addicts.

Hi Lee, I was referring to your mention of the woman on welfare, not the examples of the two seemingly successful women who were discussed in the article. I really thought your bringing in the other example of the woman you know came out of left field, and was not related to the topic of the piece. And I have to apologize if I wince when I hear the term "Socialized Medicine" thrown around. There are so many wingnuts (from both sides of the political spectrum) who think that this is a simple issue when it is not, and they do a lot of damage with misinformation.

I have read your other comments. You are blessed that you have a husband and a family that has pulled together through the tough times. You deserve credit for that, and I am sure that you have passed those values on to your children. I also think you learned some hard lessons from your family member whom you decribed as an addict. I was once married to one, and no amount of love or encourgement could bring him out of the abyss. He fooled a lot of people, as he was kind and outwardly very successful. He just couldn't live without alcohol. But I digress here.

Go back and read the article again. It is a crazy world, and life is getting more hectic and demanding, with many families today forced to work several jobs just to make ends meet (or in the case of my friend, to pay for the very expensive therapy her kid needs that is NOT covered by her 'good' insurance.) There are Superwoman (AND Supermen!) out there who find themselves stuck in the trap of addiction when they never intended to do so. I think you would benefit from understanding that it this is a far more complex issue than your first comment would have had me believe.

All the best to you and your family.

Karen

Lee,

I am sorry that you are so upset about many things. But please take one minute to think one thing through: if we truly had "socialized medicine," do you understand that your own insurance rates would be much lower, would be the same as those of the woman you attack for being on the state's dime? Do you understand that you would no longer HAVE to pay for her "fraud" -- and my husband recently had back surgery, it's not a joy ride, neither are the drugs he hates to take but must when the pain gets bad -- but that her medical care, yours, your husband's, and your children's, would all be covered and you wouldn't have to hate, resent, or despise anyone because they're getting something for "free"?

The most deliberately misunderstood part of a public option is that "welfare queens" would get away with free medical care. We are all paying for those who can't pay now, plus a hefty surcharge for the insurance companies who insist on their cut for doing nothing but administrating paperwork and denying claims. That includes illegal aliens, by the way. We ALL pay for them now, without accruing any of the benefits of doing so. We would ALL be better off spreading the cost across a wide base of the population and lowering administrative costs by cutting out private insurers-- we would ALL be paying less and receiving better care.

By the way, as a full-time working woman in a budget-threatened job, with a foreclosed-upon hard-working son, granddaughter with special needs, also hard-working husband recovering from surgery which was long delayed by the denial of benefits from a company to whom I pay fairly high premiums -- I feel just a bit stressed myself. Women have often taken the brunt of having to work outside the home as well as take on the lion's share of housework. That's no reason to despise us (I'm talking to the other folks on the thread now who think women have it easy compared to the poor poor men.). I love men. But I see the women around me taking on far more than any one person should. If it takes a village to raise a child, where is our village? And where is the compassion for women who feel compelled to do it all, and do it well? (I'm not talking about me -- I'm just muddling through as best I can.)

Take care --

To ornery-dem: Oh, man, where do I start ? Yes, where is our village ? Way back in the day there was the extended family, with aunts, granmas, etc, to help out with the kids if a woman worked outside the home. Now, granny, and great granny, too are working if they can find a job. A lot of women's life ambition was to be a great homemaker, but that was shot down by the high cost of living and raising kids. So, after working all day at a stressful job, a woman must provide something for her family to eat whether she picks it up or cooks it, laundry, straightening up the house, even with help from the kids, and don't even get me started on the weekend routine ! It's enough to make ya wannna stop off at a bar !!!! But ya can't ya know, cause you got the kids in the car with ya ! ha, ha.... I'm just sayin'........ Back in the day my mom, my granny, mom-n-law, everybody....they had their "nerve pills", prescribed by good ole family doc.....much more acceptable to the church folk than a stiff shot of liquor! Somehow they kept it under control and legal. I think many who become addicts have meds prescribed for a condition, and the meds help so much, and make them feel so much better that they are able to deal with daily issues better. This is what helps them slide down that slippery slope to taking more and more.

Middle Class Mama...Let's play pretend the ideal could happen. What if kids could be schooled at home via a transmitted intranet educationalcomputer network? The masses of teachers would be safely ensconced in a computer hub site that controls the kids intranet and their educational process while Mom gets to work out of her home? Think about it...school taxes would be reduced as would property taxes, families would save money on the huge child care bills, school clothes and school supplies.

Imagine the national savings..Reduction in costs to build new schools, hiring maintenance people and high priced superintendents, principals etc.

But the best part is the kids are at home safe from the violence that occurs in schools these days. Lots of less stress for Mom and Dad.

Where do I sign up? Part of my stress is that the kids are in school. I breath a sigh of relief when they return unharmed; both emotionally and physically.

Dear OK People

Yes, but those are MEN, and who cares about them!!!??? I mean-- they're there just to be ridden into the ground and then left behind to find a new man-- right? Men are here to be slaves of women? Right? After all -- they don't have feelings-- I mean-- not like women-- right?

To most women men are like oranges- squeeze as much as you can and then throw the rhind away.

You overstate it, but you left one thing out. Men ARE overworked, overwhelmed, overscheduled-- and also over-tired, and worried sick to death of what tommorrow will bring,-- "Will I still have a job? Will the government take away more money? Will I be able to keep my house over my families head? Will the neighborhood go to pot? Will my kids be OK at school? What new disasters are coming over the phone today and what does that pain in a place I didn't even know I had mean?" And they also feel dreadfully underappreciated and they are lonely as well. But the difference is we don't bleat and moan and cry about it. We just keep going because we're too stupid and too pig-headed to know any better.

Apparently the author of the comment doesn't realize that practically all studies that have looked at the roles of women and men in society point to an unbalanced workload between the sexes. Women have entered the workforce in large numbers but still do the majority of home and family duties as compared to their spouses. While this is slowly starting to change and become more balanced this is not the case right now. 1) http://www.artsci.uc.edu/sociology/kunzctr/stats.htm 2)http://chronicle.com/article/Female-Scientists-Do-More/63641/ 3) http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/06/17/housework.relationships/

You know, I have to say that your couldn't be more spot on in your assessment. My anger at calling women "superwomen" who get addicted to drugs because they are somehow more special since they have degrees, I missed your point entirely.

My husband travels and currently (and has always) worked more than 50 hours a week, if not more. He makes breakfast on the weekends, helps with the laundry, takes great care of his family, and is an overall great guy, if I do say so myself.

He's EXACTLY the type of women they're describing in the article. Except he's NOT a woman and he's NOT a drug addict - barely ever drinks. He manages it all.

He managed it when we had sick preemies who had multiple surgeries and when my dad died of a long illness that required me to be away from the home.

And he doesn't whine, complain, or turn to drugs. He's a hard worker who works and makes no excuses. He does it. Because he's a great, great guy.

Where are these men?

I describe my husband as a great guy. But I don't think it's "greatness" that drives him to work hard and be a good person. I think it's because he bears a great responsibility for doing the right thing and that includes working hard and being present for his family. It's about decisions and he makes good ones.

Addiction runs in our family. His father is an alcoholic and my sister is a prescription drug addict. Our desire NOT to be like them has helped us make decisions NOT to be like them.

Sigurd, you're right. I see a lot of women taking men for granted...men that take care of them AND their children, even when the children aren't his. I don't have children, and just started dating again after a couple of years of hermit-ness. And as I have gotten older and observed couples around me, I have learned to appreciate a man who tries to do the right thing even if he's not perfect.

Part of the lessons that us women have to learn is to un-do the lessons our mothers taught us. My generation, "X", were latch-key kids, or spoiled, or over-protected. Then when we should have moved out, our parents kept us at home to support failing marriages. Older kids are an excellent buffer, apparently.

The roles of yester-year are no longer clear cut and defined. Do I miss the repression of that era? No way. But I do miss the feeling that people respected each other... specifically, men and women respected each other.

Nowadays, we hurl whatever hurtful comments that come into our heads at the moment. Setting aside the issues that women deal with, I can see generations of boys, then men, struggle with their identities in society and within the family unit. Its a power struggle. It shouldn't have to be.

I think we should try to get back to basics- not repression, not abuse, but the sharing of responsibility and caring. Just like any other team, there are those that are better at certain things than others. Also, sometimes, you have to delegate. And then sometimes you have to pull more than your fair share, for the sake of the family, but also it should feel like you know your partner would do the same for you if the situation was reversed. I think that THERE is the breakdown, and the resentment festers.

Men don't deal with things like women do. Frankly I don't think one gender is better than the other. I think we each have our strengths and weaknesses. However, we should build each other up, and support each other, and the little things DO count.

Apparently the author doesn't realize that practically ALL men are "Overworked, overwhelmed and overscheduled, juggling families, friends and careers."

But you see, it's expected of men so when they do it's just a normal thing. It's not expected of women so the ones that do are somehow special and "super". That's why this is news.

It is imprtant to remember that men are suspectible to stress, being overworked, etc...and therefore vulnerable to prescription addiction...but this article may have originally been written for a publication or market aimed at a female audience, like Self. Some effective editing could capture an alternate audience, like Men's Health readers, for example.

And as a mental health professional who works with substance abuse clients myself, I would very much agree with the Doctor quoted in the article who recommended that women get help from programs designed to work specifically for them. I have seen that it can make a difference in staying clean if the treatment program really knows where the client is coming from.

I agree, Karen-816207, I've known many men addicted to prescription drugs and not as many women addicted to prescription drugs so the focus on women's abuse did seem a bit odd in the article.

In some professions the pressure to perform is overwhelming and sometimes people just do what they can to keep up and find themselves with a tiger by the tail.

My mother (1950's early 1960's) had uppers, downers and a huge array of medications she took regularly. She was a case and always full of woe. There were many women tossing back pills their doctor's prescribed and it was easy to get what you wanted.

Men, it seems were more inclined to use alcohol in those days and drank all day long but for a woman, especially with children, smelling of alcohol was not a very good idea so the pills were a substitute.

Many want to escape the rigors of everyday life and our society has been on a crash course for a long time. Hopefully with each generation we'll be able to correct some of the aspects that make us want to escape.

js-445607: agreed

We just all need to take a deep breath and relax and ask ourselves, what is so danged important? Take a rest............yeah, we all have to work and take care of the kids, men included, but maybe we take it too hard and don't look for the joy in the ordinary. We worry too much about money.....unless we are getting the electricity and water shut off, and the bank is taking the house, most of the time it will all work out.

Omgsh OK I caught that too..but didn't put it in my post..totally agree...I saw all blame on women..lol but I knew all to many men who would take 10-15 vicodin a day! So the men are just as addicted as the women if not more.

Karen..thank you..you nailed it too. Life is def more hectic..and everyone is stressed out. Some people do take them for the very brief "high" and some people do take them for pain...either way its up to them and their doctor to decide and keep track of how many they are taking..we are all responsible for our own lives and decisions!

Apparently, American women have it worse than all other women on the planet. More pablum from the feminist-driven self-help publishing industry.

Ian Blokesworth, You always seem to be bratty when commenting on or about women. The industry does a lot of harm with "tricks to be the woman you always wanted to be" and the hype but some people, men and women, fall behind and make poor choices. This article was focused on women only but you know men have the same problem. When we get out priorities straight, remember to take it easy most do just fine. Those who do fine should not kick those who fall down.

The Majority of people who take precription drugs, be it pain meds, or other, do so properly and without abuse. Study after Study after study supports this.

This is the DEA making up for their failed "war on illegal drugs" so they are going after Drs and patients who have legitimate needs. Your seeing alot of these stories lately, and yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if they are looking for a way to not pay for these expensive meds.

Be pretty easy way to tone this down. Stop allowing a drug for everything to be advertized on television!!!! Watch an hour of the evening news, and every commerical is for some 1 a day pill. You could take a 100 different things 1 time a day if you listened to them all.

all these stories do is hurt those with legitimate needs. If superman or super woman needs drugs to get thru his/her day , that is a personal problem that should be addressed with her/his Dr . MOST Drs monitor useage of things they prescribe , as it should be. Not the DEA, or the Police department, but that is the new thing. Watch Stosells special on it tonight. It will shock you.

With abuse of anything, drugs, drinking, sex, food, gambling, spending money, you name it, there is a thing we used to call personal responsiblity. Because of the few , you don't attack everyone. Personal responsiblity.. anyone remember that old, seemigly forgotten way of life?

i think anomalee23 is having a "crack attack". go see your dealer honey

Maybe women just need to collectively not "pack their bags and get on the guilt train". That was how my sister amusingly referred to not being able to "do it all". Most women I know are not even close to the addict in the article, more likely they are the stay-at-home types, where it is the husband killing himself (because he wants to be at the top). Those women are likely being driven more internally, like a high achiever male, and they could sure use a wife for back-up like the guys, but the ladies are on their own.

Reminds me of an in-law, who despite being a bank VP with a supportive but hard working husband and two great Eagle Scout boys, had her own elderly mother bemoaning the fact that she just "wasn't take care of the house" the way she "should". Sigh. Have to block that sort of thing out.

I agree that too much guilt is a bad thing...but trying giving that advice to a single parent struggling to make ends meet.

There are examples of people who want it all and take on way more than they can handle.

Then there are others who simply have no choice.

When you read some of the negative comments on this seed it is easy to see why some take drugs to escape. We are all products of our society and the balance has never made it to equal. The competitiveness of the work force, the pressure to step up to all the tasks at hand and to simply get through the day is often overwhelming.

I know many women who do not do drugs but have severe allergies, migraine headaches and other illness brought on by stress. I say take it easy and let some things go. Don't rabbit around in what needs to be done, what isn't done and what can't be done, just take it one step at a time.

EMNH54 wrote "Women in the professional world make less when doing the same job as men do, and are expected to work much, much harder"

Myth. Get your hands on a recent (I have 2008 here. Is 2009 out yet?) report by the US Department of Labor. Women and men make have the same pay rate for the same job when when corrected for experience and education. The *income* disparity persists because women continue to choose lower paying jobs with more comfort, steady hours, less relocation, less physical labor, less physical risk and work an average of 36 hours/week compared to 43 for the average man.

I think the "superwoman" title is an engineered fallacy. And I actually think it's sort of laughable. I know alot of professional women who balance careers and families. And why they aren't perfect, they do a pretty darn good job.

I think all people just need to stop making excuses for making bad choices. And if they are choices they can't undo, then they need to find a way to make it work.

Life isn't just about choices. It's about how you handle the ups and downs that we all endure. All of us. Everyone has difficult, stressful times in their lives.

As Nike says, Just Do It.

I think we are finally beginning to truly realize that your definition of multi-tasking is actually the more accurate way to describe it. There is no shame whatsoever in slowing down and concentrating on one thing at a time. I personally feel you will get better results and not have to constatnly backtrack because it was done just half-ass the first time. And it was done half-ass because you had so many isssues all at once that were at "critical mass" status! I think this sick culture started in the work world and bled over into people's home and personal life. The point in my rambling? Just embrace and nourish that little bit of slacker parent/spouse we all have in us! And for the record I am a 37 year old female with 2 young kids who works a paying job as well as my non-paying parent job.

Dear SJB

Couldn't agree more.

Multitasking is a scheme cooked up by the boss to get more out of us so he can do less.

I got my first clue of this when I was prowling around antique shops and looking at some fine old carved oak furniture. It was pure artistry. The man who did it could work wood like it was clay. I realized that he was a real craftsman, an artist, and he did it because he could apply his mind totally and solely to his craft and didn't have to do a "slap-dash" affair so he could get on to something else. I've seen the same touch in pottery, paintings, handicraft, and even toys.

There's an art to a career, but also an art to cooking, cleaning, having a nice home, and all the minor little rituals of life-- even drinking tea and conversation. Raising children is of course the greatest art of all. All of these things take single-mindedness and a minimum of distractions.

I don't like Jazz myself-- I'm a classical music man. But I recognize the artistry in a good Jazz musician and a person totally in control of his instrument and his craft.

I also learned the hard way that "life in the fast lane" isn't worth living. After a decade of doing it I decided that I wanted life in the slow lane. Now-- I want life on the shoulder.

Love it! Over the years I've come to appreciate quality, whether it is in products & services, or in the use of my own time. Much of what we do is unneccesary. I am the mother of 8 year old twins, volunteer in my community, & have a small business. I have had to learn what to spend my energy on & what to ignore. You sound like a grounded & happy person - thanks for sharing!

SJB, you said it! Former opiate addict here. Life is so much better at a slower pace, I am one of the unemployed and I am looking everyday, every add asks for a multi-tasker... I just laugh.

There is a lot of overhead in switching tasks. A good multi-tasker is someone that spends a lot of time monitoring the state of the other tasks. This means that other tasks must always be simple to start and costless to interrupt.

Any experienced researcher knows that at least twenty minutes of solitude are required for a brain to settle in to a deep task. Time loses meaning during the task. When the person emerges from those mental depths, several hours may have passed.

There are plenty of men who go on the "daddy track" too. They just don't call the press and brag about it.

airportwoman...There are plenty of younger men who get ragged on by the older guys because their younger counterparts take a day off to tend to their kids medical needs. Seen it, heard it, know it well.

There is no such thing as a Daddy Track. Why? For the same reason there's no woman president.

Because women consider *their* children to be *their* property ?

Kairry..and your blaming others why? Why does an addict have anything whatsoever have to do with YOU getting your painmeds? Don't sit there and play the guilt trip game cuz I ain't buyin it..all you have to do is see your doctor every three months and he determines what pain level your at..and I know for a fact you can get pain meds if you are determined to be medically neccesary. So quit trying to blame others for your own problems. I am sorry for you pain but I live it every day too..I have a torn rotator cuff, 2 herniated discs and suffer from migraines..I don't abuse any thing..and that is why my doctor has no problem prescribing me the medicine I need to function. Tell it like it is.

Anomalee23, Your comments are great and right on the money. I've had a torn rotator cuff, crushed wrist and other situations where I've needed several refills of pain medication. I have never had a problem getting what I've needed and would never think to take them beyond their use. I believe most people are like this and are relieved when pain meds are no longer needed.

Drug addiction is very sad and anyone going there has a long road back. I've known many men and women in this situation and it is hard for them to admit they have a problem.

Kairry - I agree with you. When you've had long-standing severe pain. just taking two prescription pain pills a day people can make you think you're some strung-out druggie. I know my doctor runs blood tests every so often to check on the internal organs and to make sure I'm not doing something bad like taking 20 pills a day, but I guess I'm pretty stupid because I don't know how I would find that many pills even if I wanted them. I always thought that prescriptions were all supposed to be tracked by computer nationally anyway. Another thing I've never understood is why someone would want to take a "downer." I always thought that was supplied by our stress in life!

Exactly ! ALL this does is hurt the person who legitimately needs pain meds, or anti-anxiety short term. But especially pain meds. The DEA is now the Dr.

Do you know the DEA tells the manufacture of Vicodan how much it can produce every month? I didn't know they were Drs , and they certainly don't have the legal right to dictate or prescribe, but that's what they are doing .

Essentially, they and Police departments all over the county are focused on the Pain med Drs and the patients, to cover their failure in the war on illagal drugs and justify the billions of dollars for their Budgets. It is insane. They will absolutely harrass you to death, threaten you with jail, many years of legal battles etc, because we prescribe a strong pain killer to someone with cancer.

As I have said before, study after study after Study proves, wihout doubt, that the majority of people in pain mangement, or are prescribed drugs do so properly. Drs watch them. The abuse rate is less than 10 % , and that is Dr's and patients.

There is on every bottle of medicine,a label that says " take as directed" . Some personal responsiblity is part of the equation.

It's ironic, many Drs are threatened with jail for giving a person with cancer, which is some of the most horrifying pain there is , a heavy narcotic, but god help you if fluffy the cat is in pain, and you dont do something. PETA will burn down your house. they don't want you to precibe pain meds to people, but they want you to have a tax deduction for your pets plastic surgery and money for Horse condoms. That is messed up.

Personal responsibility in everything. Meds, use as directed. Pretty simple concept

With two crushed vertabrae (L4 & L5) 30 years ago, that have caused severe degenerative disc disease, the VA prescribed painkiller after painkiller for my husband, finally ending currently with, of all things, methadone. He takes it 'as directed', never abuses it, but it is extremely addictive and still doesn't completely control his pain. For this 'carry-over' pain, they (the VA) give him oxycodone. Sometimes his affect with both drugs is like that of a junkie; apathetic, nodding, poor decisions, and from what I have learned working in a rehab center, it is harder and more dangerous to kick than heroin, once addicted. After 5 years on the med, his teeth have all begun to fall out. I have to wonder everyday what it is doing to the rest of his body, and how much longer he will be with us.

My husband has told the VA Drs. that some chiropractic treatment would probably help him cut down on the meds; it helped considerably with the pain before he started going to them (due to no insurance). We certainly can't afford to send him on my part-time employment and his tiny disability check, especially after all the VA co-pays we pay. But no...the VA doesn't 'recognize' chiropractic as suitable treatment, and then they just increase his dosage. They don't seem to want to address the other issues either, and when he suggests that this med is causing too many problems, and he would like to be off of it, they say "You want your pain relieved, don't you?" Any personal responsibility he tries to show about his own treatment seems to dead end.

So where does "personal responsibility" fit in here, Dr. Bobby? I mean, it's the freaking GOVERNMENT that has addicted my husband, AND THEY WON"T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT! They have never once offered to help get him off this stuff. He has tried to dose down on his own, but this just makes him sick, AND in pain, and when it's time for the next dose, he's right back to where he started. You can't just stop taking methadone; it's like as not to kill you when you are taking such large doses.

Any insight into possible other "personal responsibility" and 'simplification' would be appreciated.

Please! As Sigurd stated, "If you didn't want to go to Minneapolis, why did you get on the bus?"

What if men had to take over and do it all, and not nag their wives to come and help out?

Living proof right here which is why I feel (and can say with conviction) that much of the work women do inside the home is overstated.

I would hardly deem it as super.

Women excel at using emotion to convince their men that much work is done in the house. Most of the so-called cleaning of our AntiSeptic Era is completely necessary. A better term is polishing.

Women excel at using emotion to convince their men that much work is done in the house. Most of the so-called cleaning of our AntiSeptic Era is completely necessary. A better term is polishing.

Ha IAN! Lets see you "polish" a filthy toilet that only the husband uses..and the urine around the base of it..mixed with hair, dust, shower water, hair gel..and other unmentionables..lets see you dust the tv, move the couch to get the accumulated dust that always seems to be there..lets see you clean the dinner dishes...after preparing the meal you just ate before I worked all day and stopped on my way home to pick up groceries so you could eat that dinner.............polishing..oh and feel like helping me do 2 loads of laundry tonight cuz if I don't keep up on it it piles up in about oh..a day...one more thing the sheets need to be changed..cuz the sh!Ts gettin deep in here...

Anomalee23, You GO Girl! Somehow some cannot wrap themselves around such tasks...as well you know.

Anomalee..I've got a really good "first hand" experience you'll love. Our building needed both the mens and womens rooms remodeled as a result of flooding.

For more than 6 weeks, the women had to "share" the mens room. It reeked. The urinals clogged at least 10 times in that 6 weeks. The women called the super and told him that the men left their waste in the toilets. How did we know? We were on a half hour use schedule all day long. Men used it on the half hour to the hour, women the hour to half hour.

When the ladies room was done, we shared the brand spanking new ladies room with the men and there was urine drops on the floor at the foot of the toilets, again waste left behind and hand towels on the floor instead of in the receptacle.

Anyone who tells me men are hygienic is nuts.

EMN..While I was divorced, I was the moderator of a divorced and separated group for men and women at my church for about 7 years. Here's what I saw, heard and learned. The men whose wives left them were infinitely more bitter than the women whose husbands left them.

The men who were left with children to care for whined about having to work, take care of kids and "not having time" for "themselves". The women in the same situations accepted it and moved on rather quickly as a result of their children's needs.

Most of the newly divorced men remarried within the year after their divorce. Most of the women remained single for up to 5 years.

As for me personally, I chose to never remarry knowing that the price of such a decision was a salary that would never compete with what my ex earned and the reality that no matter how I tried, I couldn't do it all.

The reward? I saw my children 24/7, laughed, cried and enjoyed them and their friends. Their father spent his time with his paramour and her two daughters of her first husband lavishing themselves on two salaries what we couldn't afford on one salary.

Today? My sons are happy, well-adjusted and their father died much too early 3 years ago. He missed more than half of his sons' lives.

Anomalee22 wrote "Ha! Lets see you "polish" a filthy toilet that only the husband uses..and the urine around the base of it.."

The phrase "get your mind out of the gutter" applies here. This is the classic conflict between men and women, each trying to resocialize each other. In the end, the amount of cleaning converges between the two levels of polishing. The balance is carefully preserved with less cleaning and more tolerance of nagging on the man's part and the woman with more cleaning and dishing out the nag.

ewent wrote "The men whose wives left them were infinitely more bitter than the women whose husbands left them."

When a wife leaves a man, she is typically awarded full custody of the children and "child support" income from the husband for several decades. Of course, that income stream is MUCH smaller than the man's full income. So, these women are choosing to limit the possibilities of their children in the future simply to remove the man from the household. So, of course, the man is bitter that the entire family has been stripped from him. When a man leaves a wife, well, it's the same situation.

Why did you have THREE kids if your husband didn't take care of them?

kate-1650185, You are very brave and I am impressed with your accomplishments. I think many have no idea how this dependency can get started and get out of hand like a run away train. Thanks for you comments they are truly good for this particular seed.

airportwoman...Not everyone possess ESP. I had two children by my own choice. Your posts seem to be attempting to enable men to be relieved of responsibility in the proportions women are expected to manage it.

ewent, I've noticed that airportwoman doesn't have a lot of compassion or understanding of the situation.

Stress comes in all sizes and shapes and sometimes people get caught up in habits they wished they'd never started. We've all experienced difficult people in the workplace and in public. Our society has become more than a rat race it has become a run away train and some have a hard time coping with this. Add the economy slump and the number of people out of work and we come up with a bigger mess. My sympathy goes out to all that are under far too much pressure to deal with it alone and has taken up a drug to feel relief.

Finally, someone with a heart. I do most of the work, both inside and outside of the home. I have a 16 year old and a 9 year old. My husband works about 11 hours a day, 6 days a week.

Your husband works 66 hours a week and you do the most work outside the home?

I work a full day and then have to pick up the kids, feed them, do homework, laundry, sports, baths, etc. get to bed at a reasonable hour and then do it all over again the next day

The 16 and 9 year old I would think would ride the school bus. Where do you pick them up from. Or could they utilize the transportation and you choose otherwise?

Feed them yes. Do homework? No. Check it, yes.

Laundry is not everyday and the 16 year old and the husband can do their own. Choice.

Sports. Choice

Baths. At 16 and 9 years old I would hope they could do that themselves.

Etc. Choice.

Like I said before OVERSTATED.

commonsense-894488, I'm sure your life feels like a treadmill or hamster wheel sometimes with so many tasks to complete. I think this happens a lot and as a single mom for many years I felt a lot of stress at times but fortunately didn't succumb to drugs either. If I hadn't been so concerned about being impaired around the children I may have thought about it but it didn't enter my mind. I feel for those who do succumb to pressure as the women of this seed. I was into meditation and this was my drug of choice as it smoothed away the rough edges.

gattes..Walk in her shoes, then talk.

Thank you - he really dissected my comment didn't he. Sports/Extra-curricular activities are NOT a choice. If you don't keep your child active in something, they will find other ways to entertain themselves. HE obviously doesn't have children or has a wife that does it all for him.

No, they don't ride the school bus; too far to walk but not far enough for the bus.

Laundry IS everyday - women know that if you don't keep up with it, someone will whine that they don't have any socks.

The second sentance was a typo - I would think that you would realize that Gattes.

Got anymore questions Gattes?

Adderrall IS meth.

People don't care, obviously, or everyone would subscribe to a healthier lifestyle. Everyone wants the quick fix, no matter the consequences.

And I just learned that adderrall is actually a prescription form of methamphetines.

That is so sad, those things are addicting. Reminds me of the stories about girls going off to college and learning how to purge after eating, just awful.

When I was in college, oh so many years ago, I told a story to some of my friends. We had a dog and my parents moved. The dog refused to go up or down stairs and was "depressed." (Don't ask me how the doctor knew. Whatever.) So, the vet prescribed valium. My mom never gave it to the dog, probably wisely and he was back to his old self soon enough.

When I told that story to other students, many asked why I didn't bring the valium to school and many asked if they could buy it. Frankly, even though it was from the pharmacy, it never occured to me anyone would want it.

In the end, the valium disappeared. And we're all pretty sure my sister, a "superwoman" herself (by that I mean, drug addict, and nothing else) probably stole it for herself or to resell.

I agree and I do not consider myself naive but it just never dawned on me especially after the lethargic way it left me. Call me crazy I like to be aware of my surroundings.

The dog probably just needed time to get used to the new house and was missing his old spots. Once he realized he was there to stay he probably found new spots and was settled in so to speak.

Lee...You are sooooo wrong. It IS now and always will be about gender. I've worked exclusively with men for more than three decades. By observation alone, these very educated men always look for a woman to blame for everything. Yet, when it comes to leadership roles, they don't acknowledge inherent leadership skills most women possess by sheer nature alone.

There are a lot of kissy kissy women out there who know how to butter a man's rum to get what they want. These are the dependent, "Can't make it without a man" types who cannot imagine any woman without a man at her side.

From the gender bias on this thread, it's easy to see how old some of the posters are. Younger guys are not nearly as gender biased. I know this because it's inifinitely easier to work with the younger guys than the over 50's.

Lonnie,

Amen sister! It's so easy for people to look from the outside and judge.

Lonnie, I think you're talking about an antidepressant right? There's a clear distinction in this article and it specifically talks about drug addicts - not people who are on necessary therapeutic meds. But, bless your heart. I hope things get better for your family.

In the meantime, oh well if your mud room is a mess. Stuff it aside and now you have your very own Christmas corner. And guess what? You won't have to run around your house looking for it next December.

I understand that things get tough. Really tough. I had two preemies who were born really sick and between them they had 4 surgeries in 18 months, plus an open heart surgery 1 year later. That was so hard. So freaking hard I cannot even put it into words. So, my house was a mess and I cried every day and I took care of my babies and if someone came to visit, they had to step over all the crap in the hallway.

And then my dad suffered a long illness and died at home and I was primary caretaker. And then my husband lost his job of 11 years. I cried and prayed and put on a face for my children. And I prayed and cried some more. You can't see it when you're in the thick of it, but it's how you endure that counts. Not whether there are dirty dishes in your sink.

And what did I hear constantly? Not, damn, sister, your house is a mess. I heard, you're doing a great job. You are a good mom. I cannot believe how much you have to do. And there were days I hated people with healthy kids and people with jobs and everyone who had what I wanted. And then I cried some more.

My point is nobody gave a crap about my house. In the end, in 10 years, does it matter if you have dirty dishes? Does it matter if your Xmas stuff is still sitting in a pile you left it? No. It really doesn't.

What matters is that you and your husband have to endure some really difficult times and how you deal with that is what's important right now.

I don't get why women feel such a need to make sure their house is clean all the time. Hardly anyone sees the inside except when we have parties anyway . . .

Lee --

This isn't "really difficult times." This is just life. Real, messy, stressed, out-of-time, out-of-money life. Some people do care about the dishes in the sink, and that pile of Christmas stuff that hasn't been put away is enough to depress anyone who is trying hard to keep a life somewhat organized.

It's a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't. If the dishes weren't done, the house a mess, the woman's to blame. If she despairs of getting it all done without any help, pharmaceutical or not, she's despised. If she admits to using prescription drugs to get through it, she's despised. If she blames the man who is missing or unsupportive, she's despised. If she doesn't blame the husband, who may be or may not be watching the Speed Channel in the next room while she's struggling to get dinner and get the kids to bed, she's despised.

Exactly what is expected of a woman these days? How many hateful woman-bashing statements have been posted right here? I don't see any way a woman can live up to any of your (not you, Lee, the general threads on the site) expectations, and the hatred is just overwhelming.

Amen, sistah ! I'll drink to that !

Actually, my reply was to lonnie

Oh, and ornery-dem, I agree with you too !

Ornery...Spot on Gal!

Okay Limbaugh. We hear you.

Jim373...Wahhhhh Poor overworked men. Have lots of time to watch football on Sundays while wifie workingest tends to the kids, puts dinner on the table, cleans up after and then, maybe, if the armchair sportsmen in this country are willing to share TV time, she gets a few minutes rest before it's time to put the kids to bed, assuming they don't need help with their homework.

I'm a divorced female and figure out a month after my divorce, I didn't need extra work or an extra kid.
When men stop acting like Mommy's little darlings, let me know. By the way, I also raised two very independent, self-reliant sons.

ewent, I discovered the same thing after my divorce. Wow, did I ever have more free time to spend with the children. No one asking, "What's to eat?" "Where's my shoes/wallet, etc". Before and after work he would chill or work on his "hobby" car. Weekends we had to do what he wanted to do even if it meant hanging out while he played. The guy wouldn't cook, clean, shop or do laundry but I was expected to step up to his every whim. As much as I loved him I got over this pretty quickly when he started having affairs because I was too busy to give him the "proper" attention a husband deserves. Whoa, if he'd helped out a bit more there would have been plenty of time. He insisted I work 40 hours a week and be a parent and wife so when the pressure got to heavy I blew him off.

I am on pain mgmt. medication from injuries in Afgan. from an explosion. I am retired from the Army and had a massive surgery in Dec. I have three more surgeries to go. The pain meds (hydrocodone, tramadol, and 2 anti-inflammatories, and and anti-depressant make the pain bearable so that I can drive and do some work around the house and be a husband and father.

I am very well aware of the dynamics of drug addiction vs drug dependency.

It just blew my mind when I read that the subject of this article took two pain pills every time that she wanted to study for the Bar Exam! For me, they lessen the pain and I start off with one in the morning and then build them up by half a tab at a time until the pain is under control.

I did graduate from college and have a grad. degree from the Naval Postgratuate School (where there are no failures, lol!)

Somehow, I cannot envision the idea of taking opioid pain meds to be able to study the endless details, precedents, and reasoning that make up the study of law and tie all of that to the Constitution. When I was in college or some schooling of some type before I retired from the Army I used the technique of spaced review and study at a regular time. The only subject that I studied with music around me was math as an undergrad. All of the other subjects I would have a coffee or tea every couple of hours. I am much older now but if I would have tried to study with the pain meds I take now and having no pain for the drugs to block the pain signals to my spinal cord and brain the only thing that would happen would be that I would become tipsy and I don't think that it would help me study! The mere concept of that is pure stupidity.

Pain meds are to control pain and coughs. If they do not have a chronic pain to "work against" all that is happen is that all of these "borrowed endorphins" are going to be released into the brain and spinal cord and the opioid receptors will have no pain to mask so ---you will get snockered or tipsy.

It sound like a cop-out to me.

It is a wonder that the woman passed the bar exam.

I see this a lot here, and it doesn't make sense. Narcotics do not give a Umph. They are depressents, like Alcohol

JWL80..You may not whine, but when about 2 decades of your life pass and you look back at how much of your life you never had, you'll have a choice...either accept the enormous sacrifices you made as the only reward for a well-educated, well-adjusted daughter or you'll end up filled with bitterness. I chose to look at my SuperMom days as a reward.

DSL483..Men have pressures of a different kind. Some of those pressures are self-created. How do I know? I work around men all day long. It's like one long, unending drama watching them compete with each other. Was that the pressures you were referring to?

Word, ewent. That's why the TV series, "Survivor" has been so popular. Competition is the way people avoid deeper issues. God forbid that true cooperation happens.