Heath Ledger – Do Prescription Drugs Kill?

Posted on 06. Feb, 2008 by Per Bristow in Uncategorized

As you know, another tragic death hit the world’s newsstands and the not surprising cause is now official. Heath Ledger died at the young age of 28 from a deadly cocktail of prescription drugs.

The talk has been about the dangers of mixing the drugs, but perhaps we should talk about the reason for drugs in the first place, and why drugs that were originally meant to heal create so much harm.  Here is something to ponder:

Today in your city:

• Sleeping pills are routinely given for sleep problems, even though sleeping pills destroy the body’s natural sleep cycles and sets the body’s ability to sleep out of commission.
• Cortisone is given like candy to combat inflammation, without concern of the fact that cortisone effectively shuts off the adrenal glands’ natural production of cortisone – setting the body up for more inflammation in the future.
• Antibiotics is given routinely for just about anything, which destroys many of the body’s own natural defenses – setting the body up for more infections in the future.
• Acid reflux medication is eaten like candy, which effectively shuts down the body’s ability to produce acid and digest food – setting the body up for more reflux in the future.

And these are just a few of the many very common prescriptions.

There has been talk and rumors in regards to whether or not Heath Ledger was addicted – or an “addict”. The tendency is to deny this because the word “addict” has a negative connotation – as if “addict” would make him a bad person. Of course he was addicted, and so is everyone else who depends on prescription dugs or any other substance. We can use the word “dependant on” to make it sound nicer, but it doesn’t change much. Do you need coffee to stay alert? Then you’re addicted. If you need sugar – you’re an “addict”. 

Most drugs these days are not designed to treat acute life-threatening conditions as they were originally designed to do. Drugs these days are designed for long-term use to create demand. They are not designed to heal, they are designed to “control” conditions – i.e. to make you dependant.

The reason pharmaceutical companies have been one of the largest industries for decades is not because we suddenly are so sick. Nor is their success due to us becoming so incredibly healthy thanks to their products. It is because we have become dependant. Their products prey on people under high pressure who are desperate for quick fixes, or who are not knowledge of consequences or alternatives. They are designed to create demand and blatantly advertise this fact daily – albeit disguised in a seductive promise of a greater life.

Heath Ledger had said in an interview: “Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night”…. “I couldn’t stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going”.

Can anyone relate? 

In cases like this, or in cases where the voice doesn’t work (which is the field I deal mostly with) – what do you do in desperate situations? Do you seek your MD?

With the help of advertising, we have become conditioned to believe that dependant-inducing drugs is our best choice – or even our only choice. Naturally, we think our medical doctor is the choice – as it used to be in old times.

But where was the person to help Heath silence his thinking, to help him empower his inner resources to fall asleep and silence his mind? Where was the doctor who dared stand up and say no to prescribing drugs, and instead prescribe what would really help him? Where is the doctor who dares to stand up and say no to the pressure from pharmaceutical companies to sell their products and make people more addicted? Where is the doctor who dares say no to a patient’s demand, whether addicted or not, to fill the prescription?

Most doctors who do are bound to lose business.  Why eat the hand that feeds you?

However, the truth is that there are many health practitioners who do stand up and operate on a higher level of consciousness and knowledge. And these “real” doctors, who are in the business of helping to heal rather than helping to diagnose and control, are multiplying rapidly. 

These are the people who are interested in empowering the individual rather than controlling the individual.

Heath Ledger was a wonderful artist and will be missed.

Interestingly, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who is credit for popularizing meditation in the western world passed away yesterday. Much is to be said about him and his impact on the world.

Perhaps Heath Ledger and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi are having a nice chat right now.  Perhaps we have a lot to learn from both of them.