I have noticed how the vast majority of my American friends do not express any reactive need to unnecessarily take pharmaceuticals (especially painkillers, in the case of pain) when they have a medical problem. Does my single anecdotal datapoint negate your single anecdotal datapoint?

I guess we need a third anecdote to make a final determination.

I’ll throw another spanner in to mess things up: I am European and know other Europeans who feel compelled to take painkillers for any little thing (I personally will take them only if the pain is really severe or interferes with work or such, which is quite rare typically).