Ryan Bridge: Will pill popping really help with our deeper issues?

Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

If you've got a health problem, if you've got a mental problem, if you can't sleep, if you're fat, enormous, obese, don't worry.

All your problems can be solved with a pill, an injection. a prescription - or even no prescription.

That's the clear message we've been getting from regulators.

From Tuesday, the Hollywood weight-loss drug Weygovey, like Ozempic, will be available here, not for diabetes, but to shift weight.

People aren't being told to not get fat, they're being told once they get too big, a drug will make them small again.

Melatonin will now be available over-the-counter for those who can't sleep. Forget counting sheep, or wearing yourself out with exercise, pop a pill and go to sleep.

You can now get an ADHD diagnosis from your GP or nurse practitioner - usually, you'd need to see a psychiatrist.

We're prescribing ten times the amount of meds than we were 15-odd years ago.

We spoke to a guy this week on the show with ADHD who said the law change is a good thing, but he also warned about TikTok - lots of young people are getting diagnosed by TikTok and running around telling everyone they've got a neuro disorder when, actually, they're just spending too much time on their phones and hunting for likes.

The question is whether as a society, as a species, all this pill popping medication is evolution or insanity.

Is the fact we've we're wealthy enough to eat ourselves half to death then fix it all with a simple twice-weekly injection a sign we're smart, or incredibly stupid?

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