Jonathan Aceves
Prof. Maruyama
ENGL. 1A
March 25, 2018
Happiness is a Pill
In Brave New World, happiness comes from a pill. In this dystopian world we can state that the people tried to create a perfect community where everyone is happy and to obtain that, they are obligated to use a pill called soma for contentment. Though, soma is a realistic drug that relaxes muscles and are willing to be prescribed. There are a variety of substances that resembles soma in our world and are being used today. The substances that are more similar to soma we use today are Flexeril (cyclobenzaprine), Robaxin (methocarbamol), and valium (diazepam).
Flexeril (cyclobenzaprine) with a price of two hundred fifteen dollars, helps the consumer relax their muscles. This substance is widely used to treat muscle spasms and is available as a generic, but it shouldn’t be used long-term. The downsides when using this particular substance is that it will cause dizziness and sleepiness. The pill is not recommended in elderly patients, and people with heart conditions, but overall this pill will be one of the three substances that can be relatively close to soma. There are many relax pills, but Robaxin is closer to Flexeril and it’s effects.
Robaxin (methocarbamol) with a price of ten dollars, is more similar to Flexeril because it relaxes the consumer’s muscles as well. Robaxin effectively relieves muscle spasms, but it can cause drowsiness and interfere with your ability to drive. Other downsides to this drug is that it needs to take a few times throughout the day to maintain effect. Might not be safe to use in people age sixty-five or older due to increased sensitivity to side effects such as drowsiness. Also, this drug has made researchers curious on how it would affect the safety and effectiveness in people under age of sixteen. Valium will be a similar relax pill, but it will be relaxing the nerves instead.
Valium (diazepam) with a price of eight dollars, is frequently prescribed to treat anxiety and stress. In emergency care, it is used to treat alcohol with drawl and grand mal seizure activity. Valium and soma are obviously different drugs, but they will both make you sleepy. The use of valium can cause memory problem, drowsiness, dizziness, and confusion. Seventy percent of people have said that this drug is worth it and soma on the other hand is sixty percent which makes valium more effective.
Everyone is applicable to obtain any of the substances mentioned and are very risk taking. Soma was a whole different mindset in the novel, but also gave some similarities in the real world where as it became a drug that made people addicted, relaxed and content. The drugs mentioned were related to soma and its effects, but were actually different with their downsides. In todays world people tend to use their drugs to the purpose of dulling pain, not to seek happiness, but as we can see in the novel, the people there are convinced that soma is a drug used only for happiness. Since drugs take away the focus away from problems, problems and issues just remain there unsolved, so when the drug effects are worn off, the problems become bigger and worse since now the drugs are in the mix.
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