Mental Health

In cases of mental illness, medication can have its place. If your symptoms are severe, the proper medication can ease your suffering. But what if you find yourself in the dilemma where your doctor has not found an effective medication for you or the side effects outweigh the benefits? Then you might want to explore other avenues. Please do so with caution and under the watchful care of your physician. Please understand that herbs and meds often do not mix. Some natural substances to be avoided by those taking medication can include primrose oil, St. John's Wort, Valerian, kava kava, and gotu kola. Also be aware that just because it is a natural substance doesn't mean that it is safe and not without side effects.Sometimes just changing your lifestyle, by adhering to strict health principles, is enough so that you can cut down on medication and eventually get off of them entirely. This is more often not the case. I have known people who have tried every herb in the book and still could not get true relief. Although other people have reported good results wtih kava kava, valerian and GABA with B-vitamins including inositol helpful in cases of anxiety. This no doubt in part due to the fact that we are all individuals requiring different things at different times, but it can also be due to the lack of quality of the products being used.  Nevertheless more than general health principles and an herb or two is generally required. 

Tracking and eliminating allergens and toxins can be an important part of recovery.There are many ways to detoxify the system. You don't need to purchase expensive items to do so. A master cleanse and a few 7 day rounds of colloidal bentonite and phyllium cleanses a year will do wonders to help clear the body of accumulated waste and will help you lose weight as well. Just make sure you get the approval of your doctor before doing anything.   Probiotics are important as well.  These are all subjects in themselves which should be addressed individually.

Actress Margot Kidder, who played in such films as Black Christmas, The Great Waldo Pepper, The Amityville Horror, and Lois Lane in the 1978 film Superman, suffered from bipolar illness for many years before curing her condition with amino acids such as GABA, L-taurine, tryptophan and other natural substances. If you are afflicted with this condition you might want to explore this option by checking out the following website: http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/articles/aminobipolar.htm

The Natural Medicine Guide to Bipolar Disorder book by Stephanie Marohn describes mental illness as being the result of an imbalance of the body, mind and spirit and discusses alternative treatments involving cranial osteopathy, homeopathy and other methods of treatment.

John Nash, who inspired the movie A Beautiful Mind in which Russell Crowe played the lead, recovered from paranoid schizophrenia without the use of psychotropic drugs. You can catch Nash being interviewed on the following website: http://beyondmeds.com/2011/01/10/johnnashvideo/

A NEW VIBRANT YOU

I am not a doctor nor a dietician, however I do know what has helped many people lose weight and regain their health. The suggestions I offer are not new. They are based on time proven principles. So after checking in with your doctor to get his approval, let's begin to build a new you. The first step is hydration.  Water is essential to cleanse and keep all body processes going. You need to flood your system with half its weight in water. Seems like quite a lot, yet it is not. Begin your day with a liter of water and wait at least 20 minutes before eating breakfast. I'll have more to say about the benefits of water in future Soaring Chi posts.

Now you are ready to eat, which involves the second key principle to weight loss and better health.. Forget about the word diet and think nutrition. Feed your body whole foods. Major on vegetables, fruits, eggs, lean meat if you eat meat, beans, sprouted grains, dairy if you eat milk products and cold-pressed oils such as flax and olive oil in limited amounts.   Eliminate soda, sweets, white flour products, hot dogs, packaged foods. I'll say more on this subject in further posts as well. The third principle involves the care of your teeth. Find a good dentist that you can trust and take care of those dental issues . An infected tooth can poison your body. You need to take responsibility for your own dental care by keeping your teeth clean. I'll have more to say on that subject as well. The next thing your body requires is light exercise, get out of your house and get moving. Begin by walking, even if it is only a few minutes at first, breathing in the fresh air. Add minutes to your daily walk until you have walked 20 minutes. Begin at a slow pace and over time build up to a fast clip. This takes care of two other important health principles, your need for sunshine and your need for fresh air. Now let's address emotional and mental health. We are made of love and need to love and be loved. Emotional support and a positive mental outlook on life is crucial. Turn off that nightly news and focus on goals and not problems. Focus on what you have and not on what you don't have.  Focus on what you can do now, instead of what you can't do. Our last health principle is so often neglected in our fast paced world,  I call it the three “R's”. Our bodies require time for rest, recreation and reflection. This includes the eight hours of quality sleep that our minds and bodies require in order to function properly. Speaking of time... it will take time to reverse your health condition, so be patient with yourself. I'll flesh out each one of these principles in further posts.