What About Drugs for Anxiety and Depression?Written by Margaret Paul, Ph.D.
The following article is offered for free use in your ezine, print publication or on your web site, so long as author resource box at end is included, with hyperlinks. Notification of publication would be appreciated.For other articles which you are free to use, see http://www.innerbonding.com Title: What About Drugs for Anxiety and Depression? Author: Margaret Paul, Ph.D. E-mail: mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com Copyright: © 2004 by Margaret Paul URL: http://www.innerbonding.com Word Count: 728 Category: Self Improvement What About Drugs for Anxiety and Depression? By Margaret Paul, Ph.D. As a counselor, I am often asked, “Can drugs be helpful for anxiety and depression?” The answer I give is “Yes” and “No.” Yes, drugs may be useful for short-term help. No, drugs are not a good long-term solution. Anxiety and depression are not caused by a lack of drugs. Drugs do not heal underlying causes of anxiety and depression. However, when drugs are temporarily used to give a person a window of relief to do inner work necessary to heal underlying causes, they can be useful. Anxiety and depression generally have two major underlying causes - emotional and physical. THE PHYSICAL CAUSES OF ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION Our bodies go into imbalance when we do not eat well or have enough healthy exercise. Our bodies are not made to handle unnatural substances found in processed food. When we overload our bodies with chemicals, pesticides, sugar, and devitalized foods, our bodies become depleted of vital nutrients and go into stress. Anxiety and depression can be result of this physical depletion and resulting stress. Our bodies are designed to thrive on food and water that God gave us – pure, clean, organic, unaltered food and water. If you take drugs for anxiety and depression and do not clean up your diet and get proper exercise, you are just using a Band Aid for a gaping wound. THE EMOTIONAL CAUSES OF ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION Emotionally, anxiety is caused by dysfunctional thoughts – thoughts that are not true. For example, if you tell yourself that you are not good enough or you have to be perfect, you will likely feel anxious. Thoughts of not being good enough and having to be perfect are generally focused on our outer qualities of looks and performance, rather than on inner qualities of kindness, compassion, and gratitude. When we choose to be kind, loving and compassionate with ourselves and others, we feel good about ourselves. When we choose gratitude for what we do have rather than dwell on what we don’t have, we create inner peace. Kindness and gratitude are wonderful antidotes to anxiety!
| | When Normal Isn't NaturalWritten by Christin Snyder
Many of us suffer from chronic symptoms and disease. It isn’t very often you hear someone say they feel great and there are no problems. Most people will complain of suffering from at least one of a whole range of symptoms -stress, headaches, heartburn, and list goes on and on. We are bombarded daily by advertisements for medications for numerous symptoms like anxiety, depression, and various physical maladies. As a society we have begun to accept disease as being natural, and that is where many of us unknowingly tolerate unacceptable conditions under guise of “normalcy”. This concept permeates many areas of our lives, not merely physical health. Just because something is widespread, does not make it natural or normal. As a Naturopath, I advocate, “whole being wellness”. I believe all parts work together to make us whole, and that each aspect directly affects others. The whole being consists of several “bodies”, mental, emotional, spiritual, as well as physical. When we suffer from depression or chronic anger, effects of that stress will also manifest in physical body through various symptoms. The reverse is also true. When toxins are taken into body; it must work overtime to rid itself of these poisons. The resulting fatigue may affect ability to think clearly and concentrate, or cause depression or irritability. Although Allopathic medicine does recognize many of these correlations, physical symptoms still continue to be treated as stand-alone disorders. The underlying factors are not usually taken into consideration. These diseases are lumped together and treated in “textbook” fashion. As individuals, each of us will have numerous combinations of different variables that contribute to state of our health. How can it be effective to lump everyone with a particular group of symptoms into same general category? Naturopathy recognizes this, and seeks to treat whole person, considering all aspects of individual’s lifestyle and habits, not only physical manifestations of illness. It is my belief through my studies and my own life experience that majority of diseases are merely symptoms of a deeper underlying problem. For example, in my teens I was diagnosed with Asthma and Clinical Depression. I was angry a lot, always tired, and irritable. I was sent to a psychiatrist to talk about my feelings and receive medication. The pills I was given not only didn’t help; they made me feel even more worn-out, which in turn increased my anger and depression. I was never asked any extensive questions regarding my diet; sleep habits, activity level, or anything else that directly affected my lifestyle. In typical textbook fashion I was labeled and given standard, across board treatment for depression. I was led to believe that depression was “normal” and for whatever reason I must be less than normal if I did not respond to standard treatment. I felt destined to live a life where I would always feel unhealthy, and that very belief system itself was problematic. My asthma was very much same. I was given a slew of chemical inhalants and put on pills to “control” my asthma. I was convinced it was natural for some people to not be able to breathe without aid of manmade chemical devices. As years went by, my asthma worsened as my body began to develop a tolerance for various drugs I was given. It wasn’t until I began to study holistic health and naturopathy that I learned some interesting facts about lungs. When there are high acid levels in body, body works hard to rid itself of excess by secreting it through lungs to be exhaled out of body. I had been told for years that aerobic exercise would strengthen my lungs, and every time I would try to run or engage in strenuous physical activity I would end up having severe asthma attacks. It turns out body produces more acid during extreme physical exertion. An already saturated body will then have that much more toxin to deal with. The better choice for me was diet modification and light to moderate activity. I spent years not knowing this because accepted scientific “norm” doesn’t recognize this particular correlation.
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