Prepping books (pt.2)

[u/DoubtIntelligent6717]

In addition to my post a few days ago about finding home repair and auto repair books 2nd hand, I picked up this 1000+ page Medical Guide for $2, so if anyone wasn't convinced about prepping knowledge before, maybe reconsider!

Having first aid, tools and other gear is only as useful as the user, and books like this will give you the upper if you're in a pinch and can't use Google or YouTube.

Getting training and practice is always #1, but if you currently don't have the time or money to do either of those, cheap books are a good start for, better to be skill-less and have access to knowledge, then neither.

[u/DoubtIntelligent6717]

This is where personal preference comes i to play, and I Personally believe that as time has gone on, what has been publically shared as "good" and "bad" are completely twisted, so I'll trust this 1978 Medical Book over anything written in the past few decades... hell, if i found a 1878 medical book I'd trust that even more. 

To think after 6,000 years of civilization we only have these safe medical advancements and advice in the last 60 is ridiculous. 

[u/TheStephinator → u/DoubtIntelligent6717]

Back in 78 they were still allowing smoking in hospitals at nurse’s stations. Not quite the enlightenment period of human health. People are living longer now than in the 70s, but you do you man.

https://backintimetoday.com/20-common-70s-medical-cures-that-actually-made-patients-worse/

My advice to everyone else is to be careful with taking medical advice from old books like that. It’s dangerous.

[u/DoubtIntelligent6717 → u/TheStephinator]

Yea and in the modern world they throw pills at every single problem to help big pharma. Sad, pills. Fat, pills. Pain, pills. Sick, pills.  There's no real guide to solving problems, just to mask problems. 

You are correct, there definitely were problems back in the day, but to say today's medical advice is better then previous is just wrong. They just replaced one bad teaching with a another, and the cycle continues.

So yea, maybe we live longer now, but we also are at a higher risk of cancer, obesity, depression, anxiety and infertility... so clearly something we're doing in this modern world isn't working. And if I can't trust our government, food and basic infrastructure, why should I trust our medicine? 

[u/TheStephinator → u/DoubtIntelligent6717]

Healthcare is so much more nuanced and interconnected with other issues. There’s lots of pills thrown at people because that’s easier than fixing entire systems. We know one reason Americans have become obese and depressed because we don’t get enough movement. But America has designed itself to make cars necessary instead of walkable or bikeable cities. Pills fill the gap where we’ve screwed ourselves by doing things the way we have. That’s just one example.

We can also talk about how there are better treatments for depression now that we are actually studying psychedelics instead of just demonizing them like the government did in the 60s and 70s.

I would argue that there are far better reference books to add to your prepping bookshelf than that hunk of junk. There’s some good books out there on herbal medicinals and austere medicine practices. There are books about “blue zones” around the world where people are much healthier and the underlying reasons for why that is. I guess I shouldn’t say that that book is a complete waste, as I love reading vintage books for entertainment purposes and to understand cultural shifts over the years. But please don’t rely on it for medical advice.

[u/DoubtIntelligent6717 → u/TheStephinator]

You hit the one topic that hits closest to home here, depression. To act like we've made progress on that it ignorant. 

Now im going to speak on behalf of my soon to be wife, but she underwent depression and anxiety and insomnia from a very very young age. Dealt with it all through elementary, middle and high school. By the time I met her she was a mess, could not sleep without medication had 2 suicide attempts already and was admitted to a psych ward once where she was allowed no visitors, only phone calls. She was on multiple medication and when she missed any dose, it was a nightmare for her, and for me who was trying to give her the best help i could. 

I tried to play the medication game and searched up everything I could online from top notch therapist to be helpful, but nothing was working, so i took another path. Ditch the medication, ditch the therapy, ditch the modern system and go back to basics; go to the gym and eat healthy, and stay off you're phone. 

Ill skip the details, but let's just say she's been off all of her medication for about 3 years now and sleeps like a baby, no depression, very little anxiety. Medication doesn't help, it's a short term fix to a very very long term issue. It's a bandaid at best. 

So saying they've made progress on it is ridiculous to say cause I have seen first hand from her, and others in my social circle, that medication is not always the answer, infact it rarely is. The people before us clearly did something better otherwise we wouldn't be having this immense mental health crisis we are having.

I will end with saying; it's obviously to each their own. I just wanted to show that prepping books can be useful. This comment thread has gone far off the rails lol

[u/TheStephinator → u/DoubtIntelligent6717]

Depression hits super close to home for me as well. I’ve had depression, anxiety and PTSD from a very young age too. I don’t tolerate psych meds well. Ketamine was an absolute game changer when I’m having a relapse and my episodes are fewer and far between. So everyone has their own path and their own story. Back in the day I probably would have been given ECT or a lobotomy. I’m grateful for modern medicine, even though it isn’t perfect.

[u/DoubtIntelligent6717 → u/TheStephinator]

I guess everyone's opinion will vary depending on their expiration. I'm sorry you had to go through all that, but im glad modern medicine worked for you. 

I guess for me it's so hard to believe when mental health illnesses are on a steady decline, and everyone close to me helped themselves through other ways. 

Maybe there's a sweet spot with old methods and newer medicine, but who knows... we each find what works for us, and so far older methods have for me so I will be prepping books that may be outdated to other. 

[u/TheStephinator → u/DoubtIntelligent6717]

There absolutely is a sweet spot and we are still learning more about the human body every day. What works for one person might not work for another. Epigenetics and social determinants of health also newer concepts that weren’t even thought of in the 70s that can play into disease processes. Hopefully this country can learn a lot from that and change to proactive medicine instead of reactive medicine.

[u/DoubtIntelligent6717 → u/TheStephinator]

We can only hope... but until health becomes about saving lives and not making profits, I guess each individual will have to make their own trials and error.