One of the most common complaints from people about trying botanical medicines is that synthetic meds are stronger. People looking for relief are afraid they’ll take an herb or supplement and not immediately feel something, to be able to know that the medicine is working. Internet “skeptics” and medical providers alike say that pharmaceutical medications…… Continue reading
Sometimes it seems like depression is everywhere. But for how common it is, it’s still not all that well-understood. Maybe it’s because different people can experience it in vastly different ways, making there no one stereotype that fits everyone. What we do know is that our friends, family members, and maybe even ourselves experience mood…… Continue reading
I dug into Turtles All the Way Down, the latest best-selling YA novel by John Green, both to catch a fun read and check out the portrayal of Aza, the main character of the story who we’re led (indirectly) to believe has a diagnosis of OCD. I went in expecting a heavily biomedical explanation of…… Continue reading
Menstrual cups like the Diva Cup and Moon cup are becoming increasingly popular alternatives to pads and tampons during the menstrual cycle. At this point, I’m too far on the inside to barely even remember that some people think this is gross. (You’re gross.) I vaguely remember once upon a time when the topic kind…… Continue reading
You won’t get far into any conversation on women’s health without getting into hormonal birth control. That’s because it has become the most popular form of birth control, with 11 million US women on the pill as of 2012. We’re told that birth control is a hard-won prize of the early feminists, and really, how…… Continue reading
Why, since I spend so much of my time talking about emotional well-being, do I inwardly cringe at the approach of things like “Mental Illness Awareness Week” and “World Mental Health Day”? Because I’m mentally preparing myself for the onslaught of societally-approved messages about human suffering, messages ranging from the ill-informed to the downright dangerous.…… Continue reading
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly 1 in 5 people in the US experience anxiety severe enough to be diagnosable by psychiatry in any given year. I guess it makes sense, then, that Xanax is our top prescribed psychiatric drug. Given the explanations we often hear about why so many of us…… Continue reading
I see you there, drowning in invisible water. Some people are drowning in real water, you think. Water you can see. And so you sink into the endless question of how you could be so stuck with nothing holding you back. From the outside looking in, you’re cowered in the middle of some limitless expanse.…… Continue reading
I’ve been around the natural health movement for a while, and I know that if you have too, you’ve encountered tons of info about what might be going on if you’re struggling with anxiety. It could be this, it could be that. Oh, and don’t forget that it could also be this other thing. While…… Continue reading
Check out my piece published in full over at Mad in America! It was five days before my birthday and two weeks before my wedding. And there I sat, hugged up against the wall of a psych ward at the far end of the hall from the nurses’ station, arms wrapped around the teddy bear…… Continue reading
