For most families, Christmas is the one time of year when life finally slows down. We decorate the tree, bake cookies and gather with loved ones. It’s meant to be a season of joy and gratitude.
For millions of Americans, a shadow hangs over the holiday: the rising cost of prescription drugs and the growing dependence on them.
Drug companies insist that high prices are necessary to fund innovation. For the patient choosing between a refill and the power bill, that argument feels painfully detached — especially when delivered by CEOs earning tens of millions a year for companies earning billions in profits.
Meanwhile, three out of every five Americans report taking at least one prescription drug, and many are financially stretched by the predatory pricing of drugs on which they depend. Drug prices in the United States are higher than in many other countries; yet, ironically, when people wreck their budgets to pay those exorbitant prices, their spending only pulls them away from what actually heals.
Once you’re in the pharma system, it’s hard to break free, as the relentless barrage of advertising reinforces the illusion that every discomfort demands a chemical solution. Yes, there are times when medication is necessary and life-changing. However, pretending prescriptions alone can solve complex emotional, spiritual or relational wounds simply isn’t honest. Family, community and faith offer endurance no pharmaceutical can match.
I understand the temptation to fix everything with a pill. Fifteen years ago, I believed that alcohol was my answer. Commercials for wine and low-calorie beer promised connection and escape. For a while, alcohol dulled my anxiety and numbed old wounds. Behind the scenes, it was corroding my marriage, damaging my health, and turning me into someone I didn’t recognize.
Scripture put words to what I was learning the hard way: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 14:12).
My journey out of self-medication taught me a truth we don’t like to confront: there are no quick fixes. Whether it’s alcohol, street drugs or a prescription bottle, no substance can mend what’s broken inside. Some people need medication — and I am one of them. I still take a low-dose anti-anxiety prescription. Medications alone can’t replace the relationships, rhythms and spiritual disciplines that lead to deeper healing.
Without those God-given remedies, we remain stuck — chemically stabilized, perhaps, but no closer to wholeness. And while pharmaceutical companies may not literally “hate” natural remedies, their business model tries to replace them. True restoration reduces dependency, which reduces profit. That tension is real.
At Christmas, we remember that Jesus didn’t come as a quick fix. He came as the embodiment of presence, love and restoration. “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). If we looked more to these words — and to the people God places around us — we’d be a healthier nation.
Today, healing comes to me through motherhood, friendship and church community. When my kids race through the living room in their Christmas pajamas or collapse into giggles over a silly family joke, it’s better than any high I ever chased. Those moments remind me that the antidote to overwhelm is often found in the simple, grounding gifts God gives us.
Journalist Johann Hari famously wrote, “The opposite of addiction is connection.” America has a disconnection problem, not just a chemical one. When I finally pursued sobriety, what saved me wasn’t a product. It was people. It was honesty. It was God’s grace breaking through the noise. That kind of healing can’t be bought.
And if it comes with side effects — withdrawal pains, alienation from bad friends, the small aches and pains that come with any relationship — those, too, will bring us closer to complete healing.
This Christmas, let’s remember that medications have their place, but they are not the center of our hope. The gifts God gives us — family, faith, fellowship, laughter and the miracle of Christ’s birth — are the remedies our hearts need most.
Maybe pharma companies want to mimic the value of grace by hiking their drug prices so much. But “high price” is not the same as “priceless.” No matter how high or how low Big Pharma’s price tag goes, God’s gifts are the better buy.
