senior '21

prescription pill dependency dress

Chained to a Prescription Pill Dependency

Physical Design · Visual Design · Art · Senior Project

Project overview

This was my senior project for my major, integrated digital media. I wanted to make something that was integral to my life, so I chose to focus on prescription pills. My vision was to make the concept of a prescription pill dependency into something tangible and interactive to help those who do not take prescription pills understand the struggle of having to do so daily.

All of the pill bottles used were mine that I have saved up for over the past three years.

Click for Photo Album

MAterial

· Around 140 Pill Bottles
· Gold Chain
· Gold Jump Rings
· Gold Wire

The meaning

After a recent realization on my dependence on prescription drugs, it occurred to me how normalized this kind of life now is after seeing my pill bottles slowly accumulate over the years. In fact, according to Healthday in 2017, around 55% of Americans regularly take prescription medicine, with the number likely increasing over the past 4 years. The reason I have chosen to envision this prescription drug dependence I, and half of America, face regularly is because I want to bring to light how it affects my own image. Prescription drugs are like a chained suit that I wear everyday, and I hope to show others who don’t face this issue a chance to be in my shoes.
‍
The reality is, a lot of the drugs prescribed to patients used to alleviate symptoms of pain, whether physical or mental, is in excess of what’s needed. This issue played out not only with Purdue Pharma and oxycontin, but continues to happen with incredibly high frequency. After my personal diagnosis and experience with prescription drugs, it became clearer than ever what doctors were taught to do in school: to prescribe away the symptoms of their patients because they are supposed to work the best. In fact, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, millions of Americans continue to misuse their prescribed pain relievers, tranquilizers, and stimulants each year, creating a negative feedback loop of overprescription that I seek to convey with my wearable.
‍
Unfortunately, a large chunk of the affected population lies in teenagers. In one SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) article, the truth about prescription medicine is unveiled, showing how teens increasingly use prescription medicine abusively. The dependency is started from a young age where both the mental and physical aspects of a teen’s life are subject to the side effects and chemical imbalances prescription drugs create. However, the fault does not lie with them. Their bodies have simply adjusted to the substances they were told to take, making it so that they continue to ask for more prescription drugs as they grow older in order to feel what they believe is normal. It is easy to say that laws and regulations need to change in order to fix the issue, as one Department of Health and Human Services paper says, but I believe that the fundamental change lies in changing the way American universities teach future doctors to combat the symptoms of their patients. Without addressing the issue of prescription medicine from those with the power to suggest them to patients, we may be forever stuck in a world where prescription drug dependency is the norm.

The process

001 drawing

The process started out by sketching out my design. I wanted to create something that was beautiful and breath-taking. My goal was to create a piece of art that gave off ethereal feelings.

002 PILL BOTTLES

After finalizing the sketch, I started to prepare all the bottles. I had to some experimenting to see what was the fastest way to take off all the stickers cleanly. After some trials, I realized the best way was to soak it in oil overnight, peel them off the next day, scrub off the residue, and put them through the dishwasher. I had to do this to around 140 bottles.

003 breaking

After the pill bottles are all cleaned. I started to break down each bottle. It started with cutting off the top ring with the band saw and the bottom with a box cutter. I then used a mix of tools to make the individual pieces.

004 ALIGNING

I aligned each of the pieces on the mannequin to get a gauge of where I need to drill the holes in each of the pieces. Then I drilled out each of the holes in preparation for the chains.

005 Chains

Once all the pieces had their holes. I started to individually piece it together. I took my box of jump rings and chained them piece by piece together.

006 Wire Weaving

For the waistband in the dress, I needed to make something that was strong and could hold up a decent amount of drag. I took four wires and measured out the waist size and wire wrapped the four together as the base of the waistband.

007 necklace

I finally finished one section of the outfit. The three chains that are the choker and necklace were modified and finished.

008 Top

I finished the front part of the top and the waistband.

009 Back

I measured everything out and attached the chains to the back to give it the backless look.

010 bottom

I started to do the bottom of the dress by wrapping wire on the waistband and cutting it to a certain length. Then I took the pieces and started to string them together. I used crimp tube beads to close them off so they would stay put.

011 Finishing

Finished off the top and the bottom. I rewrapped the waistband to hide all the other wires that were poking out.

A special thank you to Brian, Jide, and Gabby. This piece would not be Possible without everyone's help.


Sources:
 https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/misuse-prescription-drugs/what-scope-prescription-drug-misuse
‍https://www.samhsa.gov/homelessness-programs-resources/hpr-resources/rise-prescription-drug-misuse-abuse-impacting-teens
‍https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/pdf/hhs_prescription_drug_abuse_report_09.2013.pdf
‍https://www.webmd.com/drug-medication/news/20170803/americans-taking-more-prescription-drugs-than-ever-survey
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iysCyK3MQPHlMMC0a10HskBkHSiiVq1Z535UILiBFvQ/edit?usp=sharing

Chained to a Prescription Pill Dependency

Senior Project: Wearable

After a recent realization on my dependence on prescription drugs, it occurred to me how normalized this kind of life now is after seeing my pill bottles slowly accumulate over the years. In fact, according to Healthday in 2017, around 55% of Americans regularly take prescription medicine, with the number likely increasing in the past 4 years. The reason I have chosen to envision this prescription drug dependence I and half of America face regularly is because I want to bring to light just how it affects my own image. Prescription drugs are like a chained suit that I wear everyday, and I hope to show others who don’t face this issue a chance to be in my shoes.

The reality is, a lot of the drugs prescribed to patients used to alleviate symptoms of pain, whether physical or mental, is in excess of what’s needed. This issue played out not only with Purdue Pharma and oxycontin, but continues to happen with incredibly high frequency. After my personal diagnosis and experience with prescription drugs, it became clearer than ever what doctors were taught to do in school: to prescribe away the symptoms of their patients because they are supposed to work the best. In fact, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, millions continue to misuse their prescribed pain relievers, tranquilizers, and stimulants each year, causing this overprescription of medicine that I seek to convey with my wearable.

Unfortunately, a large chunk of the affected population lies in teenagers. In one SAMHSA article (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), the truth about prescription medicine is unveiled, showing how teens increasingly use prescription medicine abusively creating a negative feedback loop which continues for decades. The dependency is started from a young age where both mental and physical aspects of a teen’s life are subject to the side effects and chemical imbalances prescription drugs create. However, the fault is not on teens. Their bodies have simply adjusted to the substances ingested, making it so that they continue to ask for more prescription drugs as they grow older in order to feel what they believe is normal. It is easy to say that laws and regulations need to change in order to fix the issue, as one Department of Health and Human Services paper says, but I believe that the fundamental change lies in changing the way American universities teach future doctors to combat the symptoms of their patients. Without sorting out the issue of prescription medicine from those with the power to suggest them to patients, we may be forever stuck in a world where prescription drug dependency is the norm.

Unfortunately, a large chunk of the affected population lies in teenagers. In one SAMHSA article (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), the truth about prescription medicine is unveiled, showing how teens increasingly use prescription medicine abusively creating a negative feedback loop which continues for decades. The dependency is started from a young age where both mental and physical aspects of a teen’s life are subject to the side effects and chemical imbalances prescription drugs create. However, the fault is not on teens. Their bodies have simply adjusted to the substances ingested, making it so that they continue to ask for more prescription drugs as they grow older in order to feel what they believe is normal. It is easy to say that laws and regulations need to change in order to fix the issue, as one Department of Health and Human Services paper says, but I believe that the fundamental change lies in changing the way American universities teach future doctors to combat the symptoms of their patients. Without sorting out the issue of prescription medicine from those with the power to suggest them to patients, we may be forever stuck in a world where prescription drug dependency is the norm.