Knowledge over Prozac, Ativan

By Owen Nelson, Las Vegas

Saturday, June 24, 2017 | 2 a.m.

Not many will read the lengthy article, “Prozac nation is now the United States of Ativan,” (June 16 in the Sun), but I am one who did read it and I have a response.

The article’s main message seems to be that being constantly in a state of anxiety is the normal human condition, and that Ativan is replacing Prozac as the pill of choice for dealing with anxiety. It seems to me that such an article should delve into both the causes of anxiety and ways to deal with anxiety without taking pills.

Anxiety arises in the amygdala, the part of the brain that deals with worry, sorrow, fear and other reactions to one’s environment. It follows quite naturally that one of the amygdala’s most significant functions is to appraise new situations and place them on a scale ranging from the known / benign / nonthreatening to the unknown / threatening / dangerous type of situation. Psychologists call this the “fight or flight” response. The less one understands a new situation, the greater the chance that it will be seen as a threat — and a source of anxiety.

Obviously this has implications for the importance of education and reasoning powers. The more you understand the world and the more you are able to deal logically with new information, the less likely the chance that your amygdala will cause you to react with anxiety.

It has long been argued that argument and debate is the highest form of human discourse. I’m reasonably confident that this is why the very first amendment to our Constitution protects free speech, so I wonder why so many in today’s political climate are against free speech. I also wonder why so much of what is taught in public schools is done in such an indoctrinary fashion, rather than by allowing arguments about such things as climate change, capitalism, socialism and religion.

More knowledge would be a better way to treat anxiety than either Prozac or Ativan.