Something to lift your morning

[revolution_grrl]

Pfizer has announced it will make available Viagra and 69 other commonly prescribed drugs to those who have lost their jobs in 2009.

It seems like an excellent idea to me. So excellent that it's surprising they actually thought of it.

Comments

[firynze]

Even their cutoffs are entirely reasonable - my morning DJ mentioned this, in reference to "his crazy pills," which cost him $150/mo even WITH insurance/a job. I mean, this is great of them - if you've been taking one of their products for at least three months and have lost your job, you don't have to go off-med. That's wonderful.

[revolution_grrl]

I don't think it's chemical altering of situational depression at all. There are a lot of reasons erectile dysfunction can occur, and I think a pill that ameliorates the effects so that people can live normal lives is an excellent thing.

It may be that in some cases anti-depressants treat non-chemical, situation-based depression, but I am vehemently opposed to the idea that this makes them somehow "just" band-aids and inferior solutions. Should people work to improve their circumstances as they are able? Absolutely. Can they do this when they're too depressed to get out of bed? Not so much. We have anti-depressants, and they work for many, many people, for both chemical and non-chemical depression. I celebrate them.

[anonymous]

Paul Keedwell's How Sadness Survived: The Evolutionary Basis of Depression is a must-read on this subject, brilliant book.