Between the 1990s and the mid-2000s, the pharmaceutical industry saw revenues rise sharply when patents expired on a number of highly successful drugs and cheaper generic equivalents were introduced on the market. Consequently, until the economic crisis of 2008, the pharmaceutical industry became one of the most flourishing businesses in the world, turning over billions on a yearly basis, providing high-paying jobs even for people without a degree in the field. Particularly in the sales department anyone who passed their job interview was granted access to climb the corporate ladder. It was a sector that fully accommodated the self- made man ideology in which one could aspire a top career, as long as they could deliver the results desired by the administration board.

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The pharmaceutical industry’s sales departments were responsible for promoting their companies’ drugs catalog to doctors and hospital board members, who then decided which of the available options should be purchased to treat certain conditions or diseases. Real fortunes were thus spent on marketing campaigns that shimmered through the kinks of the times as well as its promises of an ever brighter, in this case healthier future. Consumerism was exploding, everyone loved souvenirs as much as salespeople loved to please their customers. It was non- negotiable that every new medical product presented to doctors came with a mug, a laser pointer, a reusable plastic straw with the product’s mascot, pencils, pens, beach towels, binoculars, T-shirts, erasers, Swiss Army knives, calculators, music boxes, etc. Among these, gambling-related souvenirs were some of the most common ones to be found. There were playing cards promoting Imodium (which treats occasional diarrhea), score sheets for “King” advertising Cefradur (an antibiotic to treat bacterial infections), or poker dice sets by Xanax (to treat anxiety and panic disorders). “Anxiety has many faces” was the motto printed on the inside of a Xanax poker dice set, suggesting a light-hearted link between anxiety disorder and gambling activities. The souvenir came with a notepad combining the respective score sheets and the drug’s information leaflet, leaving open possible metaphorical interpretations in terms of addiction, unpredictability, the operation of Big Pharma or the hobbies of doctors following mental illnesses.

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Much has changed since then as nowadays several countries debate whether or not pharmaceutical advertising should be banned in general. Simultaneously, social awareness over mental health concerns has evolved radically during the last decade. But the dice have been rolling for thousands of years, dictating luck or misfortune since ancient times. We’ve all learned to breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 7 and breathe out for 8, and I’ve taken a life lesson from my therapist: NO STRESS.

— Francisco Correia