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What are we doing to our kids? A recent NPR story does a thorough job of laying out how drugs are now given to kids that are not behaving as we wish.

Since the mid-1990s, the number of children diagnosed with bipolar disorder has increased a staggering 4,000 percent.

Yes, I do have a charge about the proliferation of drugs to treat children. May be it is because if I was a child today I would be given these drugs. When I was growing up in the 60’s I had many of the symptoms these kids have. Yet I was fortunate – there was no diagnosis or drugs for my problems.

My parents being good parents did what they could; they took me to speech, reading any other specialist that could help. I don’t recall any helping. I do recall feeling the love and support from my parents. There is a good chance today they would be taking me to a psychologist for elaborate tests to evaluate what would be the best drug. As the above story points out, we have gone beyond Ritalin – now the drugs of choice are anti-depressants hyper kids.

Healing ADHD

I cured my severe Asperger’s Syndrome, dyslexia and ADHD through natural means when I was a young adult. If I could do it as an adult and I have seen many children do it when their parents focused on removing the stress from their kids, others can do it.

I had an 11-year-old boy this week for a client. The day after his first session his mother reported the child was markedly better. It is that simple for most of these kids – just release the tension and their body does rest.

For a better sense of how something this simple is possible, I encourage you to read some of the other posts on this blog.

Please, let’s take our kids off these drugs. I know you want to do the right thing. I know his or her behavior is disruptive. However, there are less toxic, safer and more effective solutions. Drugs at best suppress, they don’t heal.

Deepak Chopra, MD wrote a recent article about new research showing our faith in antidepressants is ill founded. He writes about a study from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine that states, “More than half the people who take antidepressants for depression never get relief. “

These researchers found molecular evidence that counters the prevalent dogma that stress is generally a major cause of depression. Specifically, their research more than questioned two beliefs/lies:

Lie #1: Depression is directly linked to stress.
Stress is not causing depression because the genes related to stress are “totally different from those related to depression.”

Lie #2: Depressed people have chemical imbalances in their brains.

Depression doesn’t come from the imbalance of Neurotransmitters, but from the formation and functioning of neurons. These nerve cells adapt to express depression, meaning a depress person develops more sad and hopeless neural pathways than the happier ones we all would want.

How were sold the lies

In the study published in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, researchers analyzed data from a national survey of antidepressant conducted in 1996 and again in 2005.From – Washington Post article:

Pharmaceutical companies nearly quadrupled their spending on consumer advertising for antidepressants during the period of the study. In 1999, drug-makers spent $32 million on direct-to-consumer advertising; by 2005, this figure had jumped to $122 million. Drug ads lead to increased prescriptions and often overstate the benefits of a drug while downplaying the risks.

Recently we celebrated the 20^th year anniversary of Prozac. For 20 years, we were lead to believe that depression was solely a “chemical imbalance.” It was as if our bodies was a high school chemistry lab experiment – if we add a little more of a certain chemical we would get a different reaction. Now we are finding out that may be the most powerful effect Prozac and other similar anti-depressants had was a placebo effect.

More research and clinical evidence is showing life style changes have a huge effect on preventing and healing depression. Being depress can be a normal part of life. Staying depressed is not normal. We don’t need to treat depression with drugs, we need to address what causes ongoing depression.

Mindfulness stress reduction has proven to be a powerful prevention and healing for depression, as well as nutrition, mild exercise, bodywork, acupuncture and other holistic techniques. It is about time we all start using common sense and start questioning the marketing hype of drug companies. I have seen people completely cure themselves of depression and related symptoms with never taking a drug. Let’s do research on that!

Let us know what you feel. What are your experiences with these drugs?

A recent story on NPR talks about how breathing in a slow, easy manner will reduce stress. Many of you who read this blog or practice mindfulness know how focusing on your breath can be the secret to stress reduction. I am glad the media is noticing the power of breath.

“Improving control of the breath while simultaneously learning to relax is critical” to not only reducing stress, but also from everything from singing as the story speaks about to enjoying life. This is a great intro to reducing stress through breathing – pass it on to your stressed out friends.

The New York Times Sunday Magazine recently ran a long article on depression, chronicling what life is like for both children and adults with depression/bi-polar problems. Essentially, the primary treatment for anyone suffering from any of these disorders is drugs. The old ADHD diagnosis is now evolving; now it’s called depression, too, and children suffering from its symptoms are being given psychotropic drugs.

The increased frequency of these problems in our culture demands that we look beyond what pharmaceutical science has to offer. The use of more holistic therapies is not even mentioned in the article. In conventional medicine, diet, trauma, somatic imbalance, environmental and stress variables are not considered as co-causes. It saddens me that we’re not looking at—let alone treating—the causes of these conditions.

But some professionals do get it. In another article in the New York Times, Dr. Ronald Pies, a professor of psychiatry at Tufts and SUNY Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, comments on the depression diagnosis creating “a bogus epidemic of increasing depression.”

In my practice, I have seen many patients “cure” themselves of depression and ADHD using non-traditional therapies and lifestyle changes. It can be much like getting in shape: at first there is a lot of work and little benefit, but after awhile, the benefits are self-sustaining. The first step is to decide what model of depression you will use to define your condition, from there you can determine your next step.

As a former suffer of Asperger’s Syndrome, dyslexia and ADHD, my healing demonstrates you can go beyond medicating the symptoms to healing the condition(s). Many people will tell you these conditions are not curable, and they’re not—if you use pharmaceutical treatment. But sing bodywork, holistic nutrition, homeopathy, energy work such as acupuncture, and release of emotional trauma and stress, it is certainly possible to be “cured” of depression, bipolar disorder or ADHD.

I wrote an article on back pain and stress. It is at Sandpoint Wellness Council’s blog.

ADHD has become a veritable plague on our children. Some attribute the rise in the incidence of this condition to us simply being more aware of what always existed. Mike Adams contends that the cause of ADHD is diet. Others argue that this syndrome is only a creation of professionals and drug companies. Many are pushing for more testing and pharmaceutical treatment.

On top of all this, the media is telling us children with ADHD have smaller brains. But Mike Adams points out that the study the media is quoting about the “small brain phenomenon” was done on children taking ADHD medication. Further, he references a longitudinal study proving that children on these meds experience stunted growth. All these study results raise more questions than they answer.

I had ADHD as a child, I had it as an adult, and I’ve had dozens of children and adult clients with it, so I speak from personal experience. To address this issue, to get at the root cause, I believe the first thing we need to do is step back from all the hype. Let’s take a hard look at the culture our children are growing up in. The expectations, constant stimulation and projections from their parents continue to increase. Our children are simply stressed out.

What cured me of my ADHD was dealing with my stress – my old, stored stress – and learning not to reproduce it. I have found that, for most children and adults suffering from ADHD, their way of dealing with stress produces the ADHD responses.

A growing number of studies demonstrate that Mindfulness practices reduce ADHD symptoms. In one study, 78% of participants reported a reduction in total ADHD symptoms when using Mindfulness techniques.

We need to teach our children—and ourselves—to experience stress in a healthy manner. We all need to learn to accept its present effect on us, then release the stress or tension in the present moment. With this conscious response to it, stress does not build. The released stress does not find another means of expression, such as ADHD behavior.

ADHD is only one manifestation of the effects of constant stress; we are seeing more incidences of everything from childhood obesity to violence. Repressing the symptoms of ADHD with a time-release amphetamine is not dealing with the cause. When we finally deal with that root cause—the stressful environment our children live in—our children will be calmer, healthier and blissfully unmedicated.

When you avoid a feeling, you may experience physical or psychological pain. This mind/body connection is a cornerstone of alternative medicine, and it seems that mainstream medicine is finally catching on. A recent New York Times article reports on the growing acceptance of Mindfulness as a valid therapy approach.

The Times article points out something obvious to those of us who practice Mindfulness: studies show some people get worse with Mindfulness therapy. That is true. Some people do get worse-but usually right before they get a lot better. With repressed emotional pain, you must recognize the emotion-and the physical symptom it’s causing-allow yourself to experience that emotion, and accept the emotion before you can release it. The good news is, once you accept and experience the old feelings, you’re done with it. That pain is gone for good.

Old stress frequently leaves the way it went in. For example, if you lost someone whom you cared deeply about, but didn’t allow yourself to fully, deeply feel and release the pain, the pain can turn into tension. That tension in turn creates physical symptoms. Using Mindfulness to treat that pain, the tension lets go. And as that happens, some of the “stored emotions” will release to be experienced in the present moment. But once you’ve caught and released that pain, you’re free of it-physically and emotionally.

As we continue to catch-and-release our emotions, we lighten our load of tension. We also teach our bodies and minds to experience and release on their own. Letting go becomes the default behavior. That is the biggest gift of Mindfulness.

You thought it was bad before, but it’s getting worse. According to a new American Psychological Association (APA) study, a third of us are experiencing extreme stress: “œnearly half [of Americans] believe stress is damaging their health, their relationships, and work productivity, and that it has got worse in the last 5 years.”

As our society evolves, the effect of stress increases. Being constantly assaulted by information from the media, pressing decisions, and unending stimulation (which we mistakenly believe is an escape from the other stressors) is causing our stress to grow. All this is occurring as we experience a decrease in resources of time, energy and possibly money. We are squeezed.

Decrease the Irritation

Your first tendency is to change your external world – you try to remove or reduce the stressors in your life. Go for it. Unfortunately, experience has taught me that manipulation of these variables have a limited effect. What you need to change is how you respond to stress, or how you frame it.

A secret to generating a new stress response in yourself is this: give up an old believe or behavior pattern. Maybe you created myths that are not serving you. A common one is: “I should have it all.” This begs the question, what is “all”? If you can redefine your “all” based on what you really need and want, your stress will change.

The myth that “I have to know” or “I must stay informed” sets you up to fall prey to the media’s constant barrage of stress stimulation. Implicit in this myth is that there is always more to know, so you are hooked to your media dealer. Recent research on dreams and stress support this as well as how the news sets up post traumatic stress for children. Because most of society operates under the effects of these myths, it’s easy to miss something insidious: the constant media exposure keeps your nervous system on alert.

By addressing these myths and their behaviors, we remove irritating stimuli from our lives.

Operate from New Beliefs

Go beyond focusing on what you don’t want to what you want. Create beliefs that serve you. Tim Ferriss’ popular book, The 4 Hour Workweek is one of many advocates of leaving quantity of things for quality of life. The rapid growth of the Slow Food movement supports you leaving fast food to enjoying the experience of eating.

Focusing on being rather than doing is a simple statement. The faster you travel through life, the less aware you are of your experiences. The more hyped you are, the more you look for the next extreme experience that you can really feel. As you allow yourself to go through withdrawal from over-stimulation and constant arousal, you need less intense and less frequent stimulation to feel alive. If you constantly over-salts your food, you never get to experience the true flavor of what you’re eating.

A difficult belief to leave behind is one the belief that you don’t deserve healthy relationships. Do a survey of you relationships and ask yourself, “Am I losing or gaining energy from this relationship?” If you’re putting more in than you’re getting out, make a shift in that relationship. Speak what you truly feel and want. As you hold true to yourself, the relationship will either shift, or end. But either outcome is for your benefit.

As you take risks to speak your truths, take risks to pursue your passions. Yes, this can be stressful. The stress from moving forward in life tends to have a different effect than being at the mercy of life. It’s analogous to the stress of getting in shape – painful at first, perhaps, but the process becomes fun, and the results are always enjoyable.

I invite you to transform your extreme stress into extreme pleasure. Find role models for this; there may not be many, but they are out there. Often these are people who walked away from “success” to pursue a deeper desire. Ultimately, you may prove to be role model for others.

There are two simple ways to have a more productive and happier life.

1. Take the controllable stressors out of your life

2. Eat the foods that are right for your body

I said simple–not necessarily easy.

Let’s look at the first one:

I have managed to eliminate or certainly get to manageable levels, the source of most stress for most knowledge workers, which is basically getting everything out of my head and managing externalized systems so that my extended brain is kept pretty intact and current.

David Allen the founder of Getting Things Done (GTD), interview with the Web Daily Worker blog

In this post, David Allen offers his personal stress reducers, which I highly recommend. Also, check out his GTD system to manage your information overload.

As for Number 2, eating right, Allen mentions Eat Right for Your Type, a diet/nutritional book that teaches how to choose food based on your blood type. As strange as this might seem, it works. I have tweaked my diet to fit my blood type for 10 years. From the start, I had more energy. After what I experienced for myself, I have recommended this approach to over a hundred clients. Those who adopted it saw improvements in allergies and their energy levels.

So it’s really very simple: reduce your stress by keeping your body happy, and your mind clear. With the tools listed above, that’s as simple as it sounds.

These are two questions that are often asked by those experiencing the effects of either. We live in a culture that likes to label every thing. Medicine can’t treat a problem unless it is a diagnosable disease. If it not a disease, it is not real. 

Accused of being a quack, the physician Hans Steles who put stress on the map had to move to Canada to practice. Today his work forms the foundation of our understanding of stress and its effect on our bodies. 

Fibromyalgia, suffering the same plight is now being honored with its first drug. Pfizer in a new television ad touts the value of its drug Lyrica for fibromyalgia. I am glad that the suffers of this often misunderstood condition are getting recognized. So often, I have seen people who are told that either they are imagining their symptoms, they are depressed (inferring crazy) or to just get over it. 

The cause of fibromyalgia

The downside of this drug release is it further diverts the focus from the real cause – stress and toxicity. Just like with Prozac and depression we will likely see the abatement of symptoms for some, no effects for others and an adverse reaction by others from this drug. 

Many have cured themselves of both depression and its sibling, fibromyalgia through releasing their chronic stress and learning not to recreate it. There are few problems with this approach. First, it requires personal responsibility and commitment. Often it requires stepping beyond the traditional models and their treatment regimes. At some point as the stress starts to leave a person’s body the emotions that were associated with its imprinting are felt. 

 When these emotions first occurred, usually in childhood, we did not have the permission or the tools to express them, so we stuffed them. These emotions became stress, which became tension, which wears us out frequently causing depression, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. As we begin to accept the stress so we can release it, we are accepting the former unacceptable emotions. This is not easy – but it is required if we are to get well. 

Original fibromyalgia doc is cynical

In 30 years, I have never seen anyone truly get well from these conditions without dealing with their stress and emotions. The drugs maybe great at suppressing some of the symptoms; no drug removes the cause – stress. “Dr. Frederick Wolfe, the director of the National Databank for Rheumatic Diseases and the lead author of the 1990 paper that first defined the diagnostic guidelines for fibromyalgia, says he has become cynical and discouraged about the diagnosis. He now considers the condition a physical response to stress, depression, and economic and social anxiety.” – as quoted from the New York Times. 

The New York Times article finishes with – “Still, Dr. Wolfe expects the drugs will be widely used. The companies, he said, are ‘going to make a fortune.’” Let’s hope all this attention validates the pain many suff and supports them in healing the cause of the pain.