5 Secrets Your Doctor Doesn’t Want You to Know About Your Anxiety
Are you one of millions of Americans who struggle with an anxiety disorder? Read on for insights from someone who knows how you feel—and who’s tamed the dragon successfully.
(Originally published on Medium.com)
Mental illness is a growing epidemic in America. According to Adaa.org, “Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S.,” with over 40 million affected. And, of these 40 million worry-stricken folks, just 39.6% seek treatment.
For those who do seek treatment, many doctors don’t offer much of a solution. All too often, the primary course of action for an anxiety disorder is a prescription medication, which comes with a gaggle of nasty side effects. Even worse, this medication can exacerbate the problem they’re supposed to treat. That means you need increasingly high doses over time. Not much of a treatment!
The thing is: Big Pharma plays a huge role in educating psychiatrists, as well as offering them gifts and professional development. This means that psychiatrists not only learn whatever Big Pharma wants them to (such as the results of biased, pharma-funded drug studies) but they have no incentive to learn about alternative perspectives or offer alternative treatments.
Of course, this is the case with allopathic medicine as a whole, which operates on the disease model of medicine, emphasizing disease “cases” and drugs over patients and healing. This is, in part, because natural substances and healing practices can’t be patented for profit. Prescription drugs are a trillion-dollar business, after all. It’s even been found that some textbooks used in medical schools were funded by pharmaceutical companies. This could mean that the information medical students receive is fundamentally biased and may skew toward prescribing drugs as a necessity.
But the conflicts of interest run especially deep in the field of psychiatry. Individuals on the panel for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) were found to have financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, especially in areas of mental disorders where drugs are the first line of treatment. This means the people making the drugs are also developing the criteria for which the drugs are prescribed.
Does this mean these individuals have an agenda? We can’t speak to that, specifically. But, at the very least, it doesn’t seem to leave much room for objectivity. And if the people educating our doctors can’t be objective…that’s a problem.
All of this is not to say these people are bad, nor is it to say doctors are bad people or that meds have no merit. Quite the contrary. Most doctors genuinely want to help their patients, and many do — often with medication. But there are other perspectives and deeper root causes of anxiety, and most healthcare professionals simply don’t have the time or bandwidth to explore a more holistic perspective.
Furthermore, there is a time and a place for conventional medicine, and it does save lives. In the case of anxiety disorders, however, Americans are getting worse for the wear, and many patients see no hope for recovery, suffer more acutely every year, and find little if any relief from the treatments they’re prescribed.
Luckily for us, it’s the golden age of online self-education, and the truth is coming out. It’s easier than ever to do your own research, be your own health advocate, and take control of your destiny.
Here are 5 secrets your doctor doesn’t want you to know about anxiety. More accurately, your doctor may not know these facts, either.
But first, a little disclaimer: I am not a doctor, scientist, or healthcare professional in any form. And I am not suggesting that anyone with a condition of any kind stop seeing their doctor or stop taking prescribed medication. I am simply a freelance health writer and wellness enthusiast who’s personally recovered from several chronic conditions and loves sharing her knowledge and experience. Do your own research, talk to your doctor, and please take caution in implementing any new treatment modality into your life.
Anxiety is not caused by a chemical imbalance. Cute, little, sad bouncing balls pouted their way across America’s TV screens in the 1990s and early 2000s, telling us that depression may be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain…and that Zoloft could correct it. But the chemical imbalance theory is just that: a theory. It has never been proven. Nor has it been officially pushed by the field of psychiatry as a whole, according to PsychiatricTimes.com. The chemical imbalance theory has been adopted to explain all kinds of mental illnesses by doctors and laypeople alike. And this has caused many people to take antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds for extended periods of time, which can have serious consequences. But there is no scientific evidence to support the chemical imbalance theory for depression or any mental illness.
Anxiety is likely a symptom of a deeper issue, such as chronic inflammation. Diagnostic tests on patients with symptoms of mental illness have shown similar results to patients with chronic inflammatory diseases. Chronic inflammation can be caused by a variety of factors, including conditions like diabetes or cancer, as well as long-term exposure to inflammatory, processed foods. Other drivers for anxiety are B-12 deficiency and insulin instability. Anxiety — and any psychiatric condition, for that matter — can be a complex and highly personal health issue. And it must be addressed as such.
Anxiety is not simply genetic. Contrary to what many scientists have cited as fact, the link between DNA and mental illness has never been established. Anxiety can be a kind of addiction. Being anxious about one thing leads to fixating on another thing, and then another, and then another. Pretty soon, it’s become a learned pattern of behavior the brain is compelled to repeat, again and again. This pattern may have been “inherited” in a looser sense through epigenetics, which links conditions like anxiety to our DNA and even outlines ways to change our DNA through tools like breathwork. But the science points more to trauma being stored in our DNA, which can then cause anxiety, and research shows that we have the ability to turn on certain genes while turning others off through behavioral factors. Epigenetics is a complex and incredibly exciting topic that requires a whole ‘nother blog post (and I’d love to write one! But in due time.)
Anxiety can be treated naturally, without drugs. Some years ago, the brain-calming benefits of meditation made their way into the mainstream. But studies also show that symptoms of psychiatric conditions can be improved dramatically by implementing lifestyle changes, such as eating a diet consisting of whole and fermented foods and avoiding genetically modified and processed foods, sugar, gluten, and dairy.
Anxiety can be cured. Despite what most mainstream scientists and healthcare providers may have previously believed about chronic anxiety disorders, many people can make a dramatic recovery from anxiety — for good. It may not be easy. But it is possible. Taking a holistic approach to your health and beginning a meditation practice could be a good start. Functional medicine doctors and naturopaths may also be highly supportive, as can conventional doctors, so long as they support you in looking at the whole picture and sniffing out the root cause of your anxiety. And studies have shown that EFT/tapping can be an effective way to calm the nervous system, even alleviating symptoms altogether.
Our society has been increasingly sick for years now, and these are particularly stressful times. So, it’s understandable to be anxious, on edge, and generally not “OK.”
But if you’re suffering from anxiety, it’s imperative that you make space for all the parts of you — the good and the bad, the light and the dark, the beautiful and the not-so-beautiful — and stop meeting the parts you don’t like with resistance, suppression, and more negative, self-deprecating feelings. Being anxious and angry about your anxiety will only cause more suffering. And that will further rob you of your lifeforce.
So, be gentle with yourself. Give yourself space to feel your emotions. And take baby steps toward a healthier, more peaceful lifestyle. It is possible to heal yourself. It may take some time. But it is possible.
And, when you’re feeling better — if you’re brave — let your doctor in on your secret. They’ll be floored to see the dramatic improvements you’ve made using only simple, natural tools from your healing toolkit. And then, hopefully, even more of us will start to find our way out of the dark.