I’m sure others have made this observation in the past, but I was just thinking about it and had a personal epiphany. Tobacco and caffeine are socially acceptable are because they don’t stop you from working. If anything they can help you work longer. That’s why you don’t see the elitecalling them evil so much as other drugs. Not a super mind shattering realization but I thought it might be worth discussion. Thoughts?
I certainly agree that misdiagnosing things like ADHD is a serious thing. And under capitalism, we shouldn’t be surprised that people are misdiagnosed. There is a pretty clear contradiction between the patient’s best interests and profit. So on the one hand you have things like the opioid crisis in the US, where an enormous amount of money was made though overprescribing and false diagnoses. And on the other hand, you have situations where drugs that have potential benefits are kept illegal, thus creating the need for higher police funding as well as allowing for mass incarceration (which is very profitable). So either way, the patient is not getting the care they deserve.