What About Drugs for Anxiety and
Depression?
by:
Margaret Paul, Ph.D.
As a
counselor, I am often asked, “Can drugs be helpful for anxiety and depression?”
The answer I give is “Yes” and “No.”
Yes,
drugs may be useful for short-term help. No, drugs are not a good long-term
solution.
Anxiety
and depression are not caused by a lack of drugs. Drugs do not heal the
underlying causes of anxiety and depression. However, when drugs are
temporarily used to give a person a window of relief to do the inner work
necessary to heal the underlying causes, they can be useful.
Anxiety
and depression generally have two major underlying causes - emotional and
physical.
THE
PHYSICAL CAUSES OF ANXIETY
Our
bodies go into imbalance when we do not eat well or have enough healthy
exercise. Our bodies are not made to handle the unnatural substances found in
processed food. When we overload our bodies with chemicals, pesticides, sugar,
and devitalized foods, our bodies become depleted of vital nutrients and go
into stress. Anxiety and depression can be the result of this physical
depletion and resulting stress.
Our
bodies are designed to thrive on the food and water that God gave us – pure,
clean, organic, unaltered food and water. If you take drugs for anxiety and
depression and do not clean up your diet and get proper exercise, you are just
using a Band Aid for a gaping wound.
THE
EMOTIONAL CAUSES OF ANXIETY
Emotionally,
anxiety is caused by dysfunctional thoughts – thoughts that are not true. For
example, if you tell yourself that you are not good enough or you have to be
perfect, you will likely feel anxious. Thoughts of not being good enough and
having to be perfect are generally focused on our outer qualities of looks and
performance, rather than on the inner qualities of kindness, compassion, and
gratitude. When we choose to be kind, loving and compassionate with ourselves
and others, we feel good about ourselves. When we choose gratitude for what we
do have rather than dwell on what we don’t have, we create inner peace.
Kindness and gratitude are wonderful antidotes to anxiety!
Anxiety
is always a sign that we are telling ourselves a lie. The truth creates peace
inside, while lies create fear and anxiety. This is a sure-fire way of knowing
what is true and what is not true!
Emotionally,
depression is caused by not taking good care of ourselves. If we ignore our
needs, don’t speak up for ourselves, judge ourselves, and make others
responsible for our feelings, the result may be depression. If you have a child
whom you ignore and judge, that child will likely be depressed. The same occurs
on the inner level when we ignore and judge our own inner child. Putting
yourself last and taking care of everyone else but yourself may cause you to
feel unworthy and depressed.
There
is little point in taking drugs for anxiety and depression without attending to
your dysfunctional thinking and to how you are treating yourself. However, if
you take drugs for a short time and give yourself the opportunity to do your
inner work, they may be helpful. Many of the people I work with find that as
soon as they start taking good care of themselves, they don’t like the effect
of the drugs. They don’t like the fact that the drugs take the edge off their
feelings. They find that, rather than wanting to be numbed out, they want to
feel all of their feelings deeply, both the highs and the lows. The more they
learn to take responsibility for their feelings by attending to their thoughts
and needs, the more they want to feel all of their feelings. They discover
that, while drugs may take the edge off pain, they also take the edge off joy.
Most of
the people I work with can avoid drugs completely by learning to take loving
care of themselves, both physically and emotionally.
Many of the people who practice the Inner Bonding process that we teach find
Inner Bonding to be far more powerful in healing anxiety and depression than
drugs.
If you
are a person who does not want to learn to take personal responsibility for
your pain and joy, then drugs may be a way out for you. But if you want to feel
true peace and joy, drugs are not the answer.
About
The Author Margaret
Paul, Ph.D. is the best-selling author and co-author of eight books,
including "Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You?" She is the
co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding healing process. Learn Inner Bonding
now! Visit her web site for a |
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