Last night I had the privilege of attending a focus group meeting for a new support group starting in my area. There were about a dozen people there, most of them women. This particular groups' focus was getting off prescription meds for various mental health issues. There we were discussing techniques and alternative options for keeping healthy while eliminating or in some cases reducing them.
We were all in various points on our journey. Some having just begun to consider their options, others had already quit using 'meds' either on their own, or with help.
This is the thing that struck and saddened me. Some of these people had been on meds basically their whole lives. The ages of the group varied. As did the age each person started meds. Here's the thing, some of them were put on meds as children. One person shared that she was six years old! Six years! Others ten, thirteen, it varied. But the problem they are facing now is the fear of leaving meds behind not knowing who they would be?
Pharmaceutical medications for various ailments can be and are a good thing. Honestly they saved my life, and the lives of many people I know. Life can be very difficult. Childhood can be very difficult for a lot of us. But meds at 6 yrs old? Some of these women had been on these meds for decades, dealing with all the side efffects, and mental issues they come with.
Now I have to say here that I don't know any of their stories. Nor do I know what they are doing now as far as self-care. The fact that there they were in a support group for getting off meds tells me that these people are awake and do care about their health. None of that is my point.
My point is for the sake of our children, please do your research. I find it hard to believe that people at 6 years of age need such medications. One mentioned ADD. Some of them were on more than a few heavy duty meds ( one woman on about a dozen). It's a vicious cycle created by the meds, the doctors prescribing them, and the pharmaceutical companies. But there has to be a better way! Especially for a child.
Children are all different. There is no one size fits all for them, or for any of us for that matter. While there are serious mental health conditions that warrant the use of such drugs I would challenge you as parents to look deeper. Having gone off these meds myself over the past few months I am
seeing that it's really going to come down to nutrition and exercise to keep me in a place that I can remain off of them. What it came down to in the end for me was healing all the underlying pain and old blocked emotions that had been in me affecting everything I did and everything I thought. It all began with finding a good naturopath who found a holistic way of helping me mind, body, and spirit. She did find I have a couple of things that needed supplements and attention for they were throwing my whole body off.
I have seen other children diagnosed with various behavioural issues and had to wonder. I know this American diet wreaks havoc with our systems from top to bottom. I have read of kids who have remained med free with diet changes. I have read of many children being diagnosed with medical issues when really what was going on was they were misunderstood. Highly sensitive, intuitive or empathic children are often misunderstood and well meaning parents seek professional help for finding out what is 'wrong' with their child. Nothing is wrong with our children except possibly their diet.
And diet is only one thing we can try. Meditation, therapy, techniques for dealing with stress and overwhelm, accupuncture, even hypnosis!
Now don't get me wrong I am not a perfect parent. No one is. And I am aware that we are all just doing our best and wanting the best for our kids. It just broke my heart hearing these beautiful women express their unhappiness with their current prescription meds and all their side effects while at the same time bravely sharing their great fear of not being on them anymore since they were children when they started taking them.
Parenting is a tough job. It is my opinion that this society we've created makes it even tougher. But for the children's sake please look deeper. Do your research. Ask questions. Find out what's troubling them. People, all people just need to be cared for and understood. Not medicated. Take it from me, that drug induced apathy and stupor is no way to live.
Just about to publish this when I found this in my inbox: Are statin drugs the cause of widespread decline in brain function? "You can't poison a crucial enzyme or block an important receptor for the long-term and expect a good result," explained Dr. Brownstein in his book Drugs That Don't Work and Natural Therapies That Do. Click the link below to see the full article.
Now I realize that statins are for cholesterol, but how many warnings do we need? In Dr. Bruce Liptons book called The Biology of Belief he makes the point that we cannot put chemicals in our body and expect them to only work on the cells they are supposed to work on, We really have no idea what effects these things are going to have on all of our cells.
We were all in various points on our journey. Some having just begun to consider their options, others had already quit using 'meds' either on their own, or with help.
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| Photo by Serge Bertasius Photography from freedigitalphotos.net |
Pharmaceutical medications for various ailments can be and are a good thing. Honestly they saved my life, and the lives of many people I know. Life can be very difficult. Childhood can be very difficult for a lot of us. But meds at 6 yrs old? Some of these women had been on these meds for decades, dealing with all the side efffects, and mental issues they come with.
Now I have to say here that I don't know any of their stories. Nor do I know what they are doing now as far as self-care. The fact that there they were in a support group for getting off meds tells me that these people are awake and do care about their health. None of that is my point.
My point is for the sake of our children, please do your research. I find it hard to believe that people at 6 years of age need such medications. One mentioned ADD. Some of them were on more than a few heavy duty meds ( one woman on about a dozen). It's a vicious cycle created by the meds, the doctors prescribing them, and the pharmaceutical companies. But there has to be a better way! Especially for a child.
Children are all different. There is no one size fits all for them, or for any of us for that matter. While there are serious mental health conditions that warrant the use of such drugs I would challenge you as parents to look deeper. Having gone off these meds myself over the past few months I am
seeing that it's really going to come down to nutrition and exercise to keep me in a place that I can remain off of them. What it came down to in the end for me was healing all the underlying pain and old blocked emotions that had been in me affecting everything I did and everything I thought. It all began with finding a good naturopath who found a holistic way of helping me mind, body, and spirit. She did find I have a couple of things that needed supplements and attention for they were throwing my whole body off.
I have seen other children diagnosed with various behavioural issues and had to wonder. I know this American diet wreaks havoc with our systems from top to bottom. I have read of kids who have remained med free with diet changes. I have read of many children being diagnosed with medical issues when really what was going on was they were misunderstood. Highly sensitive, intuitive or empathic children are often misunderstood and well meaning parents seek professional help for finding out what is 'wrong' with their child. Nothing is wrong with our children except possibly their diet.
And diet is only one thing we can try. Meditation, therapy, techniques for dealing with stress and overwhelm, accupuncture, even hypnosis!
Now don't get me wrong I am not a perfect parent. No one is. And I am aware that we are all just doing our best and wanting the best for our kids. It just broke my heart hearing these beautiful women express their unhappiness with their current prescription meds and all their side effects while at the same time bravely sharing their great fear of not being on them anymore since they were children when they started taking them.
Parenting is a tough job. It is my opinion that this society we've created makes it even tougher. But for the children's sake please look deeper. Do your research. Ask questions. Find out what's troubling them. People, all people just need to be cared for and understood. Not medicated. Take it from me, that drug induced apathy and stupor is no way to live.
Just about to publish this when I found this in my inbox: Are statin drugs the cause of widespread decline in brain function? "You can't poison a crucial enzyme or block an important receptor for the long-term and expect a good result," explained Dr. Brownstein in his book Drugs That Don't Work and Natural Therapies That Do. Click the link below to see the full article.
