Better Than Drugs – Radio Is Good For Patients

Radio As Effective As Morphine
This photo shows several young patients at Beth Israel Hospital, N.Y. listening in to concerts on the radio taking their minds off their ailments, and making them happy.

According to Beth Israel Superintendent L.J. Frank, the doctors and nurses agree that in a large number of cases, that, at times the radio is as effective as morphine, bromine and other narcotics. Many sufferers of rheumatism and other chronic afflictions require no other sedative other than radio since it was introduced at that hospital as a treatment. photo: United Press International / Acme –  August 25, 1925

Radio, morphine? An interesting comparison.

When doctors made this proclamation 99 years ago that radio can take the place of drugs, it may have been scoffed at by the public. But the theory has been proven that distraction can ease pain.

Maybe the Beth Israel theory properly re-phrased today is – electronic media distraction is as powerful as drugs. Lots of kids and adults are hooked to devices much more complex than radio and can’t get off of them. For all of the productivity electronic devices supply, there is a cost. Especially to the generation that has never lived without it.

A non-stop addictive media stream, often distracting, frequently resulting in massive amounts of inertia and wasted time, with a byproduct of misinformation.

In my mind, modern media devices may be worse than drugs in terms of addiction. The jury is still out on their net effect on humanity.