One of the speakers* at the ADHD conference I went to last week said, "It's time for us to stop apologizing about medication." Now he happened to be speaking as a doctor who prescribes it, but I think the same is true for those of us who take medication. I gulp down my thyroid medicine for hypothryroidism and take my Enbrel shots for RA with absolutely no shame because I have measurable conditions in my body, and treating them allows me to function normally. So why shouldn't I take Wellbutrin for Depression and Adderall for ADHD with the same attitude?
Well-meaning Christian people talk about "spanking deficit disorder" or "Jesus, not Prozac". Sorry, I have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ and rely on him daily. I believe in the healing power of God, but when I go eat lunch with my mom today I will not tell her, "Jesus, not insulin" (She is not even obese, so lets not go blaming the consequences of mom's actions either, O.K.?). I'm not angry at the people who say things like that, and I have even said them myself. I just think we really need to not be flippant when the well-being of so many people hang in the balance.
Is it really too much of a stretch to think that when Adam and Eve sinned and the world became broken, our brains became broken and fallen too, not just our bodies? The same forces of decay, brokenness and sorrow that leave creation moaning for Christ's return are at work in our very brain chemicals and synapses. So, yes, I will pray earnestly for healing, but I will also give thanks for the eager minds of physicians, researchers and psychologists and the way God instilled them with the drive to try and understand the mind. I will thank him for people with the desire to help those suffering with conditions no one talks about. And I will stop hiding and apologizing because I know I'm not alone.
*The speaker--John I. Bailey, Jr. from The Center for Attention & Learning in Mobile, AL
Now back to our regularly scheduled musings about clothing and appearance.
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