September 8, 2014 – 8:04 pm
We are so much more than a brain with legs and arms. An effective approach to psychological health must take into account our whole body. Through our choices in life, each of us becomes a unique combination of the effects of our nutrition, exercise, family, intimate relationships, and community. Each person brings unique knowledge of themselves, their situation, and their own solutions to their problems. My role as a clinical psychologist is to help each person discover and develop their innate skills to heal themselves; in my approach, this includes many considerations beyond the traditional focus on the brain and its chemicals.
Complete Recovery is possible! I fight against the prevailing trend in my profession of labeling people in psychological distress as broken and irreparable. Lasting healing and true transformation is not possible through medication management.
Medications interfere with the process of recovery from psychological distress. While they may seem to relieve distress, they only relieve superficial symptoms, locking our distressing thoughts and emotions along with our power to address them into an almost unreachable chemical prison. Continual suppression results in a growing emotional abscess. This abscess festers, causing even more internal damage. Its pressure builds, usually requiring higher and higher doses of medication. Even then, our distress can burst into unhealthy thoughts and behavior, causing deeper distress depression, and even possibly psychosis.
Medications are never the healthiest solution. In addition to causing emotional and psychological damage to our innate abilities to heal ourselves, psychotropic medications are toxic and cause physical damage. Unfortunately, most physicians, nurses, and psychological professionals are taught to push the prescription of these toxic substances without first taking the time to fully explore healthier alternatives. In upcoming installments of this blog, I will explore the healthy alternatives that have proved successful for many people, allowing them to move off of medication and into transformation.