Anxious about the economy?
The economy may be slowly on the mend, but one major aspect of hard times like these is the effect they have on mental health. Based on the calls we are receiving at my office, anxiety about the future and personal finances is widespread and people are seeking help.
A news release that recently crossed my desk suggests that up to one in three Americans are losing sleep over the state of the economy. No matter how you look at it, losing sleep will not get you any closer to finding a solution. While the drug companies may be quietly benefiting from this state of affairs, it is important to remember that natural solutions work equally well or better, with no side effects, no risk of addiction, and often with beneficial effects for health in general. Unfortunately, the people who suffer the most are often also the least likely to seek help from a qualified natural health professional like myself because the expense involved generates its own stress and anxiety.
To find a comprehensive discussion of natural treatments for anxiety and depression I suggest you go to my website at www.DoctorVolpe.com and click on this topic, which has its own button at the top of the home page, that leads to an article I wrote about a year ago. The path I suggest in that article involves making an appointment to see me so you can receive an individualized evaluation and plan of action. As my article explains, this is a worthwhile process because natural treatments work best when they address individual needs.
However, if this is not an option due to your current financial concerns, there are supplements that can be introduced on a trial-and-error basis without any risk of adverse effects. These supplements are often effective, or at least partially effective, because people who share symptoms like anxiety often also have common nutritional needs.
The first product I would recommend is a powdered multi-nutrient called Natural High. This product contains a complete set of nutrients that address the causes of many “functional” brain conditions like anxiety, depression, but also food cravings, attention difficulties, and more. I call these conditions functional because there is nothing wrong with the structure of the brain; it simply doesn’t function at its best due to stress combined with a lack of proper nutrition. Natural High was actually developed as nutritional support for treating addictions, and it works very well in that context but, as I often tell my patients, there is no nutritional product for addictions. There are only nutrients that provide what the brain needs to function at its best and these will help not only addictions but also many other problems.
Once I saw how well this product was formulated, I started to recommend it for attention deficit, anxiety, depression, food cravings, and so on and found that most people experienced a positive response to it, though the problem was often not completely corrected and some additional tweaking was needed. As with everything else, a few people do not respond to it or experience an adverse reaction, and in these cases I recommend discontinuing it and finding a better alternative on an individual basis.
If you decide to try this product and, a few weeks later, find that your symptoms are better but could use a little more help, and if anxiety is what you are struggling with, you may consider adding a cream called GABA/L-theanine cream. Though you may be familiar with these nutrients in capsule form, in my experience the cream works better, probably because when these nutrients are absorbed through the skin they are not exposed to intestinal bacteria and thus possibly altered. The recommended dose for children and adults for this product is four pumps once a day applied to an area of soft clean skin. However, applying this amount twice a day is often better and there is no concern for toxicity.
Anyone can try either or both of these products and they can be ordered from my online store.
Just remember that, if results are not completely satisfactory, what may be missing is the individualized evaluation discussed above. However, in tight times or as a first approach trying these supplements on your own won’t hurt and could very possibly be just what you need.
