As soon as I started reading this weeks article the images from recently taken photographs of pills came to mind. Apart from the attraction of the madder rose pink of the pills, not to sound too pretentious, the repetition of the identical pills and the structure imposed by the days the pills should be consumed stamped on the packaging tickled my fancy. In one of my former manifestations I was a supply teacher in South-west London and Kent, and during one stint I took a group of key stage “I can't remember” to the Horniman museum in South London. Its mainly known for its excellent collection of musical instruments from around the world and a wide variety of artifacts from tribal societies. While killing time I made some doodles while looking at a wall of masks from Africa (see below). The memory of doing so came to mind when reading this weeks issue.

 

 

 

 

Unable to shake off a crippling bout of depression the writer has started a course of Prozac. Being self employed, six weeks of wandering around his flat aimlessly on the days managed to find the will power to get from under his duvet while both work and bills piled up had to be addressed somehow. He is wary of taking pills to deal with depression but ironically, having just completed a three year degree qualifying him as a counsellor, faced with a client in his situation he would not hesitate suggesting medication in support of counselling. The knowledge honed over the three years has made him aware why he is feeling as he is but likens this knowledge as been akin to being handed a detailed map of the steep sided terrain when stuck down a deep hole when what he really needs is a ladder. He points out that Prozac, unlike uppers of old, works by preventing levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin from falling too low, and that people with low levels of serotonin general find it very hard to deal with stressful situations, minor incidents lead to anxiety and panic which overwhelms them. By maintaining a health level of serotonin the Prozac enables the brain to realise that former stress inducing situations can be dealt with, and with the circle broken the chemical crutch of the pill can eventually be removed. As an aside he points out that one of the side effects of MDMA-ecstasy pills is a marked diminishing of serotonin, and wonders about the state of mind of the e-generation in later life.

He ends the article on an interesting note. Prozac is particularly helpful to those whose reaction to rejection or loss is out of proportion to the situation (the writer sees himself in this description). If one of the ways we make sense of life is through our feelings, how we react in a given situation, which in turn determines the nature of empathy we feel for others and consequently how we socially interact, by allowing Prozac to correct a chemical imbalance do users run the risk of calling into question their perception of the world? For instance, if the writer begins to emotional wound so easily will he start subconsciously assuming others too wound less easily? Will he become less compassionate? Will his motives for relating to others change?

I have this very fuzzy memory of passing a wall on Glasgow’s Great Western road on which someone had suck up a row of identical posters advertising the release of some band’s new album. I remember admiring the image at the time, although not rating the band very highly, and now it’s irritating that I can’t recall who the band was. The reason I bring it up is because I’m sure I had it in mind when I added the pill to the face masks above, because the albums artwork, if I remember correctly, was of a man’s face painted in very broad brush strokes in a graphic manner, the different parts of the face were painted in different blocks of colours, and as in my Pillhead, a pill was framed by an opened mouth. If anyone actually reads these ramblings and knows the cover I am referring to, drop me a line.

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