Friday, July 10, 2009

If You're Happy and You Know It...

I recently posted a video on the effect of the drug Effexor on pregnant mothers on my Facebook page and got a whole slew of comments. I felt it deserved a follow up for those of you with questions, so here goes...

Remember, I am not a medical doctor and I am not in the habit of handing out medical advice. I am merely an advocate of researching for yourself all possibilities.

My commentary is on psychotropic drugs in general and not any one in particular as they are meant to treat the same or very similar cases.

Let's start by saying that there is no such thing as a "chemical imbalance" in medical terms. There are no objective tests being done to prove that someone's brain chemistry is unbalanced. In fact, those of you who have been on psychotropic drugs or have had the recommendation to begin treating with them, you know that any test you may have taken was completely subjective. You may have filled out a questionaire, consulted with a psychiatrist or psychologist, or spoken with your medical doctor.

There was, in fact, a program called "Teen Screen" that tested thousands of high school kids (with a series of questions) to see whether or not they were candidates for psychotropic drugs. (By the way, there is also something called the Mother's Act being legislated right now to do the same thing for new mothers.) When this particular test was taken by normal, healthy adults, approximately 80% of those tested would have been placed on drugs. Questions went through a range of normal, human emotions that were in no way out of the ordinary.

Our society has convinced us that we need to be "shiny, happy people" every day. That is simply unrealistic and completely untrue. I think of myself as a rather optimistic person, however, I have most certainly had times in my life where I have felt "down in the dumps", anxious (to the point of having panic attacks), or overwhelmed. I consider those feelings normal.

The trick was not medicating to cover up the symptoms I was experiencing, but to face what was causing them head on. It wasn't until I addressed the numerous issues that were causing those feelings that I was able to heal.

Certainly, some of these emotions can be caused by circumstances or events (as we all know), however, they can also be caused by nutritional toxicities or deficiencies, stress, lack of exercise, stress, not following one's passion, and did I mention stress?

Find what is causing your particular issue, be it depression, anxiety, or any other diagnosis, and get to the root. This may mean reaching out to a counselor or psychologist for assistance in recognizing the causes, but it does not mean there is necessity to medicate.

For more information and to understand the serious effects of these drugs, see the film "Making a Killing".

With Unconditional Love & Gratitude~
Erin

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