It's October 10th, World Mental Health Day, a day we are dedicating to promoting awareness. Awareness, so that we are not insensitive to the people around us that may be suffering from poor mental health. I think we become insensitive because we do not know much about it and not many of us go and learn about it.
I know that people can suffer from depression, anxiety, panic attacks, migraines and dementia, and we might think it is something that can be taken care by taking drugs or adjusting how you perceive a situation. Not so, in some cases, the reason is a brain chemical imbalance which is as a result of blood sugar levels.
According to Acupuncture Today, "the brain is the most dependent part of your body to sugar". It needs energy from the sugars in our food to form blood sugar.
http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=32621
Acupuncture Today also says that when the brain does not have enough energy, especially over many years, a depletion of serotonin is the result. With a depletion of serotonin, our brains cannot respond to pleasurable events which results in depression.
Now that we know that depression, anxiety, panic attacks, dementia and migraines are sometimes due to brain chemical imbalance, we can now look at some solutions.
Western Medicine's approach is to prescribe anti depressants, which for some is an option. It takes care of getting rid of the symptoms (shortness of breath, heart palpitations, chest pain, trembling, feeling unreal or detachment from surroundings etc) for the short term and has side effects.
Looking at it holistically and in the Traditional Chinese Medicine approach, we can treat the root cause the imbalance.
1. Shiatsu Therapy Treatment (no needles) or acupuncture twice a month
2. Eat in a way that keeps a constant but slow flow of glucose to your blood. Protein-rich breakfast, snack every two-three hours with protein in it. Do not finish meals with a sugar rich dessert and avoid bread and simple carbohydrates in between meals that will cause your blood sugar to spike like crazy.
3. Take supplements and herbal medicine that fix the chemical pathways that are broken to restore insulin sensitivity.
This sounds like how a diabetic would eat, you say? Well, if this chemical imbalance is not corrected, Type 2 Diabetes is what is going to result. Keeping our mental health in check is very important, because everything is connected.
Symptoms are our body's way of telling us there is something wrong. It is an early warning to us to change our lifestyle, eating habits, the way we think etc. So the next time you get a headache or experience anxiety, ask yourself what you can do differently. How do we support our loved ones who have panic attacks and depression? Let's be aware of our mental health.
To your health,
Christine
ShiatsuShaman's Wife
