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Title: What About Drugs for Anxiety and Depression? Author: Margaret Paul, Ph.D. E-mail: mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com Copyright: © 2004 by Margaret Paul URL: http://www.innerbonding.com Word Count: 728 Category: Self Improvement
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 underlying causes of anxiety and depression. However, when drugs are temporarily used to give a person a window of relief to do inner work necessary to heal underlying causes, they can be useful.
Anxiety and depression generally have two major underlying causes - emotional and physical.
THE PHYSICAL CAUSES OF ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION
Our bodies go into imbalance when we do not eat well or have enough healthy exercise. Our bodies are not made to handle 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 result of this physical depletion and resulting stress.
Our bodies are designed to thrive on 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 AND DEPRESSION
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 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!
