Thinking about things differently…

I was in Albertson’s recently and witnessed a striking reminder of something that is wrong with the status quo. The woman in front of me was placing her items on the conveyor belt– a two-liter bottle of Coke, a family pack of frozen Pork Taquitos, a jumbo bag of Flamin’ Hot Doritos, followed by a giant box of antacid to fight the onslaught of what her stomach was about to endure.

Why do we eat things that cause our bodies to hurt, and think it’s okay as long as we medicate ourselves in order to do it?

I’m projecting. I mean, who knows who the Doritos are for, and who knows who the antacid is for…but all one has to do is watch a pharmacy commercial to see that we’re literally encouraged to eat the things that make us sick, as long as we’re chewing Mylanta or guzzling Pepto.

It was a grim reminder of my previous life, clinically burnt out in veterinary medicine, having to take a handful of pills to go to work every morning. Meds for anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, migranes, ulcers, acne… It was terrible. I had to completely burn to the ground and start over in order to save my life. (Read Stark Raving Zen: A Memoir of Coming Alive for the full volcanic story.)

Destructive Messaging.

Big Pharma would have us believe that it’s okay to make destructive choices because there’s a pill to counter-act the abuses.

Don’t watch your sodium intake; just take a diuretic for your hypertension. Why should you cut out saturated fats for high cholesterol when there are so many good statin drugs on the market? No need to change your life and consider other options for the work that’s literally killing you–just take an anti-depressant! Just stay right there being dragged through the rat race, like a good soldier.

In Bruce Lipton’s book, The Biology of Belief, he cites a 2002 APA journal article from Prevention & Treatment, called “The Emperor’s New Drugs.” In the article, a University of Connecticut psychology professor Irving Kirsch found that 80% of the effect of antidepressants, as measured in clinical trials, could be attributed to the placebo effect.

80%!

Kirsch had to invoke the Freedom of Information Act to get the results of these clinical trials from Big Pharma because the Food and Drug Administration refused to publish them. When he was finally able to read the clinical trials, he found that the difference between the response of the drugs and the response of the placebo was less than two points on a scale of sixty!

The difference, by any scientific measure, was clinically meaningless; a failed experiment. Yet, the antidepressant industry earns over ten billion dollars a year thanks to all of us who trust the behemoth system which tells us to diligently pop our pills and get back on that hamster wheel, like I did for ten years.

Possible Side Effects.

80% of psychological improvement could be attributed to the placebo effect, and yet these are the recently published (at the time of this blog publishing) reported or potential side-effects of anti-depressants in the SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) category, the most commonly prescribed, and so called “safest” anti-depressants on the market-

1. Insomnia
2. Vivid and violent dreams
3. Inability to detect dreams from reality (The world takes on an other-worldly aspect)
4. No emotions
5. Inability to feel guilt or cry
6. Nausea
7. Loss of appetite
8. Rash; Breathing or lung problems
9. Heart fluttering
10. Shaking – jitteriness
11. Unusual energy surges at times producing super human strength (adrenalin rushes)
12. Memory impairment
13. Hair loss
14. Blurred vision or pressure behind the eyes
15. Inability to discontinue use of drug and increasing own dose
16. Cravings for alcohol, sweets, and other substances or drinking large sums of alcohol, coffee or other caffeinated drinks, diet pop with NutraSweet, etc.
17. Headaches
18. Swelling and/or pain in joints
19. Burning or tingling in extremities
20. Muscle twitching or contractions
21. Tongue numbness and slurred speech
22. Sweating
23. Dizziness
24. Confusion
25. Chills or cold sweats
26. Muscle weakness
27. Extreme fatigue
28. Diabetes or hypoglycemia
29. Lowered immune system
30. Seizures or convulsions
31. Weight gain or weight loss
32. Mood swings
33. Altered personality
34. Symptoms of mania, ie., inability to sit still or restlessness, racing thoughts, acting silly or giddy (like a teenager again)
35. Irresponsibility, wild spending sprees, gambling, criminal behavior, shoplifting, embezzling, stealing, hostility, etc.
36. Deceitfulness
37. Inability to see any alternatives in situations
38. Hyperactivity
39. Aggressive or violent behavior
40. Impulsive behavior with no concern about consequences
41. Numbness in various body parts – legs go numb and right out from under patient
42. Sexual organs go numb making orgasm impossible
43. Pulling away from loved ones and others (isolating oneself)
44. No desire to be touched
45. Paranoia
46. Loss of spirituality
47. Feeling “possessed” or that something evil is inside
48. Self destructive behavior and suicidal ideation
49. Suicide attempts
50. Muscle tremors
51. Loss of co-ordination
52. Mania
53. Psychosis

It’s criminal that this isn’t made more clear; that these statistics aren’t explained more thoroughly to everybody receiving these prescriptions.

For years I pushed through my body’s signals.

Full transparency…I am clearly biased.

For so many years I languished in a life that was not working for me on any level, forcing myself to get out of bed each morning, taking no less than EIGHT prescriptions for anxiety related illness, being told by my psychiatrist to “go get ’em, tiger!”…even though I was literally dying inside. He spent our sessions talking about how frustrated he was with his wife, completely clueless to my suffering.

Yes, I am biased, and this article reflects my frustration with a system that doesn’t seem to be based on the concept of our care.

I want people to be able to find another way. I want people to change their lives when their body, mind, and psyche demand it. I want people to learn how to believe in themselves, in order to make those difficult lifestyle jumps, sometimes without a parachute, when their soul demands it.

We deserve better. We are not hamsters spinning on a wheel. (Even the hamsters deserve better.)

The billion dollar ad campaigns from Big Pharma have been speaking so loudly for so long…we can no longer hear the voices of our bodies.

P.S. ~ I’d like to make it clear that I’m not advocating that anyone ditch their prescriptions without the guidance of a Medical Professional. I am, however, advocating that you search for a Doctor who listens, who respects you, and who is open to you advocating for yourself when something does not feel right to you.