Opiate addiction is a problem in the United States, but why do so many patients have so much pain? In some counties, the number of prescriptions for opioids exceeds the number of people living in the county. Doctors prescribe pain medication, then their prescriptions are monitored by medical and pharmacy boards, who pressure doctors to restrict prescriptions for pain medications, leaving the patients in pain, addicted, desperate, self-medicating, and hoarding pain medications. Opiate withdrawal can cause agitation, aggression, and acts of violence.

SSRI drugs for depression comprise 5 of the top 10 drugs most likely to induce violence. More than 4 billion SSRI prescriptions were written in the US, in 2017. Why are so many people depressed? SSRI drugs are symptomatic treatment that can lead to addiction, and violent ideation and acts. Doctors prescribe SSRI drugs without understanding mental illness is a medical problem, SSRI drugs are addicting, and who among their patients are most likely to suffer from violent ideation. When patients suffer withdrawal from SSRI drugs, the symptoms are often interpreted as the return of the depression rather than symptoms of withdrawal.

Doctors and patients alike are trained to rely on symptomatic treatment, rather than diagnosing the root causes of pain, mental illness, and many other chronic diseases. Many chronic diseases are interrelated, have the same root infectious cause, and the infectious cause can evolve over time to become a variety of chronic diseases.