HEALTH

Are you embarrassed to start talking about anxiety with friends and family? Maybe they know, but they brush it off like it’s not a big deal. Maybe you’ve been told one too many times that you’re being a bit ridiculous, or you’ve been called a hypochondriac or a conspiracy theorist or my favorite one – dramatic? Or something else that was a little hurtful (even if it was maybe a little truthful)?

You’ll see exercise recommended OFTEN as a first course of treatment for depression. There is absolutely no question in anyone’s mind that exercise = endorphins = happy feeling. (Ok, there’s also no question that it’s not that easy, or depression wouldn’t exist, but there’s lots of evidence to suggest that it can move you in the right direction.)

Perhaps some people would call me a fence sitter, when it comes to the whole natural health vs modern medicine debate. Wait, don’t leave! If you are firmly in one camp or another, I’d say we can probably find common ground.

That’s the nice thing about fence sitting. I lean toward the natural, but I understand the place for medical intervention. If the only way you’re making it through the day is with your Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Lexapro or maybe Ativan, then who am I to tell you it’s not the right way?! It wasn’t the right way for me but that doesn’t mean it’s not working for you. (I do have a prescription for Ativan… but I only take it when it’s absolutely necessary. 50 pills can last me a year and a half or so.)