December 2003

Reaching for help

by Dr. Madeline Behrendt

While on line at the grocery store recently, a woman was telling her friend why the evening news doesn't upset her anymore ‑‑ she's now on prozac, and could care less.

At one time, many women's concerns were dismissed by conventional health care professionals as being all in their heads. Then, someone figured out there's an industry in this. Today, many women who voice concerns are diagnosed as having a "mental condition" and subsequently medicated. Yet, where are the conversations about the validity of these women's concerns? Where are the referrals to other practitioners who can provide women with skills to improve their lives?

What is happening to women's lives, and who's helping them?

We all know that life has its challenges. Good people, trying to live good lives, trade the bigness of dreams for the realities of everyday minutia. Some feel stuck in jobs or other situations that don't honor them. Many women feel tired. Into life can come loss, betrayal, isolation, or frustration. Marriages end, hopes stall, children can disappoint, in‑laws can bring stress, and events can happen that are beyond our control. But, being numb while others interfere with your life energy, is this really a helpful solution?

Imagine if Einstein got "depressed" after only his 800th experiment, got "medicated," and then didn't care to continue his work. Or the women who came before us and fought for rights in voting, property issues, and the work place; if instead of responding to the negative restrictions of their environment, what if they got a prescription that left them numb to injustice, would women have as many freedoms today? And the pilgrims! Would America even exist today if the pilgrims had treated their rage with narcotics?

Are these examples too big, you don't feel that you were meant to change the world? Well, each of us DOES change the world. Our lives are not accidents. Each of us has a purpose ‑‑ to love, to teach, to serve, to lead, to think, to produce. We create families, businesses, culture, and communities. We are active, not passive.

And our very evolution is the result of people (many of them women), listening to their inner voices, especially when those voices have concerns that something is not working and needs to be changed. That's called innovation. That's called creativity. That's called feminine intuition. Consciousness.

As a consumer, several points are clear to me. Do some people benefit from medication? Yes, some do. But medication as a never‑ending way to replace emotional healing is a limited approach. It's very expensive and possibly addictive. Medication as an only choice is a consumer's nightmare. What about getting a fuller range of choices? Medication as the first choice is simply questionable, as medication doesn't create new skills or promote the body's innate ability to heal but manipulates brain chemicals. And with medication comes the consumer's responsibility to know all of a drug's potential side effects (for those details visit: www/.pdr.net).

As a chiropractor, I know that it's very important when people reach for help. It can be the first step towards positive life changes. I want to let people know that when they reach for help, they can reach for a caring hand, a book, a tape, or a supportive professional, not only a bottle.

And they can reach for chiropractic care.

Chiropractic offices are extra busy during the holiday season. People find getting adjusted provides great comfort from the stresses that are intensified during this time. And, as the year winds down, people start to focus on the "cleansing" that often occurs at the beginning of a new year. They seek out chiropractic care as the foundation for their new and improved regimen.

With the strong connection between body and mind, when we are stressed in any way, it can show up anywhere. The emotional stress of a family dispute can show up as tension in the body, the physical stress from work can show up as mental distortions. It is so important to approach our health looking at the full picture, not separating us in to pieces, or separating body from mind.

Many research studies (www.jvsr.com) document that the response to chiropractic care includes the reduction of vertebral subluxations, and an associated improvement in the ability to adapt to physical, mental, chemical and/or emotional stress. In women's daily lives, this can translate into less mental or physical stress, and more ease in responding to the environments of work, home, and the outside world. In women's daily lives, chiropractic care can be a great help for them.

Warmest holiday wishes from the WCA Council on Women's Health to everyone!

(Dr. Madeline Behrendt is chair of the WCA Council on Women's Health and associate editor of the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation [JVSR]. An author and speaker, she is committed to connecting women to chiropractic and chiropractors to women, and may be contacted at drmadeline@drmadelinedc.com)