Which of the following statements is the author’s main claim A. The use of alcohol is still more dangerous than the use of any other drug. B. The danger in legal drugs comes from mixing different kinds or from using alcohol with a drug. C. People should not be allowed to buy drugs without the physician’s prescription. D. People should avoid using drugs when being ill.
All these drugs act on the central nervous system. They are often over-prescribed and misuse can lead to dependence. Prescriptions for mood-altering drugs are disproportionately high among women because they constitute the largest group of patients seeking medical advice. It is known that women will reach for and accept help at critical points in their lives, which may heighten their dependence on medical advice. Marriage, birth, and motherhood, separation, divorce, menopause or major surgery often result in psychosocial and physical stress. Since women, unlike men, are encouraged to admit distress, they are more frequently diagnosed as having "non-specific anxiety" and are given tranquilizers.A recent government study for the assessment of the drug and alcohol problems of women is especially critical of the tendency of physicians to "help" women by prescribing anxiety-reducing drugs as an adjunct to other medical treatment.
This report stated: "Drugs, as a coping mechanism, offer short-term help coupled with long term danger. This is not to say that drugs have not proven helpful for serious depressions and other mental illnesses. They have indeed. But for life’s everyday problems (and they can be painful), the support of sympathetic friends and relatives, specialised organisations and spiritual solace are preferable to habitual reliance on drugs in any form.\