by Margaret Paul, Ph.D.
As a counselor, I am often asked, "Can medications be helpful for anxiety and
depression?" The answer I give is "Yes" and "No."
Yes, medications may be useful for short-term help. No, medications are not a good
long-term solution.
Anxiety and depression are not caused by a lack of medications . Medications do not heal
the underlying causes of anxiety and depression. However, when medications 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 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 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 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 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 medications for anxiety and depression without
attending to your dysfunctional thinking and to how you are treating yourself.
However, if you take medications 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 medications may take the edge off pain, they also take the edge off joy.
Most of the people I work with can avoid medications 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 medications may be a way out for you. But
if you want to feel true peace and joy, medications 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 FREE Inner Bonding course: http://www.innerbonding.com or mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com. Phone sessions available.
