Afraid of Death? Tylenol May Help

As I have been working on my Junior Theme, I have been thinking a lot about the American mentality of popping a pill to fix any and every problem. For my Junior Theme, I am researching the increase in antidepressant usage in the United States. I recently found an article that describes new research that suggests that a component of the household medication, Tylenol, may help ease some peoples anxiety about death. The researchers believe that Tylenol, a pain reliever, can also be used to relieve psychological pain rather than just physical. They found that, "these anxieties may be processed as "pain" by the brain". Since Tylenol is proven to work as a physical pain reliever, they found that it can successful in reducing "pain" that the brain interprets from anxieties about death.

To me, this is just another representation of how Americans want to find a cure for nearly every problem in life. Consumers would find it appealing knowing that a cure is right within their reach, probably at easy access in their medicine cabinets at that very moment. This new finding worries me because it makes me think about what other psychological problems, even some that seem not very severe like this one, can be fixed with simple medications. Furthermore, this begs the question about our society and the values that we posses. Is a "quick fix"really the solution to every medical problem?