Life for a lot of Australian's is increasingly being endured rather than enjoyed. I'm not surprised about the use of anti-depressants but feel the endorphins produced by getting outside and having a walk, doing the garden, swimming or walking on the bush might help alleviate the suffering of some. It's all too easy to sit inside living your life through a device but some are doing so at the cost of losing relationships with friends, family and the world around them. And make us who we are. It's not just the young, older people are just as vulnerable. Liking a grandson's photo of his newborn on facebook is not quite the same as calling him. We have generations of people looking at life and living it from a distance courtesy of their devices.
We all tend to live our lives in a bubble of security that some have taken years to weave. It's comforting but I was shocked out of my complacency yesterday. Hubby and I choofed along to his fire brigade's Christmas barbecue. I asked one of the guys where his wife was and he replied that she had dental problems. Commiserated to him that it was shame that these things inevitably flare up on weekends when a lot of dentists are closed. He then related that she was on a 3 week waiting list at a public hospital's dental clinic. Hmmm. I mentioned to him that I had accessed an after hours dental service offered by my dentist but he told me that they didn't have private health insurance and couldn't afford to pay for it themselves. I was appalled and have been thinking about it since. I now realise her circumstances are probably familiar to many. I also realise that neglecting dental care can lead to serious health consequences. It might be easy to mask the growing inequality that exists in Australia with anti-depressants and panadeine forte prescribed by doctors to mask and dull the pain but we aren't addressing the underlying problems. I read last week in The Australian that we are consuming codeine products, prescribed by doctors, at an alarming rate. I can now understand part of the reasons why. I'm off to do some gardening and ponder what we can all do to help.
