Dave Rubin’s recent conversation with Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring ripped the lid off a medical culture that too often hands out pills as a first resort and calls that progress. Dr. Josef — a board-certified psychiatrist who spent time at the FDA and now runs TaperClinic, a practice devoted specifically to guiding patients off psychiatric drugs — lays out what many Americans sense but are rarely told: medications can help in the short term, but they’re not a substitute for a life of purpose and responsibility.
What’s striking about this moment is that it ties a cultural rot to a clinical one: social media and the instant-gratification economy have trained a generation to chase fleeting happiness, not durable meaning. Numerous reviews show heavy digital use correlates with worsening anxiety and depression among teens and young adults, a trend exploited by those who would monetize every human craving instead of fortifying families and communities.
Medicine has become the easy answer to deep social problems, and psychiatry is no exception — too many struggles of ordinary life are being hastily medicalized. Genuine science warns us that stopping psychiatric medication is not always simple; withdrawal can be prolonged and severe for some patients, and sloppy prescribing practices have left people dependent rather than healed.
We must be blunt: drugs like benzodiazepines and certain sleep aids are useful tools when used briefly by responsible clinicians, but they are not harmless. Federal safety reviews have repeatedly flagged the very real risks — including dependence, dangerous interactions with other depressants, and even death when combined improperly — and regulators have tightened warnings as a result. Americans deserve straight talk about those risks, not soothing slogans from pharmaceutical PR.
And don’t be fooled into thinking “natural” equals harmless. Herbs like ashwagandha clearly have measurable effects on the brain and body; randomized trials show benefits for sleep and anxiety, but that means they act on neurotransmitter systems and can interact with other medications or produce dependence-like effects in vulnerable people. The proper conservative approach is cautious: use proven tools wisely, know their mechanisms, and protect individual liberty by demanding full disclosure from prescribers and manufacturers.
That’s why Dr. Josef’s work at TaperClinic matters — he’s built a patient-centered model for safely reducing and stopping psychiatric medications, informed by clinical experience and regulatory insight. We should support more clinicians who prioritize careful, individualized tapering protocols and long-term restoration over quick fixes that pad corporate balance sheets.
Conservatives should lead this fight: defend the sanctity of the physician–patient relationship, roll back the pill-first mentality, and restore civic institutions that give life meaning outside the pharmacy. Healing begins at home, in churches, in workplaces, and in neighborhoods where responsibility and belonging are taught, not medicated away.
Hardworking Americans deserve honest medicine and honest culture — a system that offers real help when needed but refuses to turn every ache of modern life into a lifetime prescription. If we want a healthier nation, we must demand accountability from medicine, common sense from regulators, and a return to the moral habits that actually build flourishing lives.
