Sometimes we need interventions. A shot or a pill, these things can be very helpful. While they are useful in the short term and create a safe space for us during compromised times, they cannot be relied on. We must be willing to face the underlying reasons for our compromised states, and if possible, do everything we can to change the habits underlying the reasons.
When we take an intervention such as an antidepressant or shot, the concentrated chemicals flush the body. Intelligent systems within the body learn that they no longer need to take on certain tasks. Over a few instances, the body will begin to expect this to happen and stop doing what it has been doing naturally. Ever try to stop taking a drug after long term use? Exactly, detox, rebalancing is not easy. This is just your body showing you that it has changed the way it works because of the drug. Over time, you can find balance again, but it certainly is not easy.
If a shot is administered to help the immune system, then ideally the individual will take this boost and run with it; they will eat better, rest better, stay away from toxic influences, practice mindfulness and stress control. If, over time, they do not change the habits or conditions that lead to a weakened or compromised immune system, they have simply bought themselves some additional time. In addition, the repeated exposure to the intervention (immune boost) will lead to an overall exhaustion of the system itself. Just like drinking an extra cup of coffee doesn’t actually give you sustainable energy, it simply gets you through a long day at work. The immune boost won’t get you anywhere other than through a short period of exposure. Afterwards, much like the day after having excess caffeine, the system itself is tired and weakened. The immune system, from these ongoing interventions, will become depressed unless the lifestyle, diet, and mindset (all things that play a key role in immune system health) are shifted to support that system.
If the intervention is seen as a fix, then the downfall of the individual begins here. Someone with gout that loses a leg… the problem isn’t over. Perhaps the septic limb being severed was essential to avoid the whole body becoming infected, but if the pH of the body continues to degrade due to existing conditions and habits, the loss of limb is representative of what will happen to the whole body in short order
Want to see the efficacy of interventions increase? Change your habits…
Want to help others around you? Change your habits…
Want to live a long and healthy life? Change your habits…
You cannot be dependent on constant intervention without intervening in your own life. Well, you can, but your health will begin to decline quite quickly. (I do realize that some individuals carry certain conditions that require the consistent use of an intervention. I am not referring to these conditions, so if that is you, please ignore what is stated.)
The same is true for mental health. Taking an antidepressant as an intervention may be the exact thing that someone needs at the time of prescription. However, circumstances and times change, people change. How much motivation and difficulty did it take to get you to see the doctor? Perhaps when you were most likely to visit the doctor, you were also at the most tired, sad, and stressed as you had ever been. So the doc sees you and assesses you in this traumatized and reactive state and BOOM, you are diagnosed and prescribed drugs. This is equivalent to checking someone’s heart rate as they plummet from a plane as a skydiver. Wow, looks like you need blood pressure medication, we’ll get it to you when you reach the ground. In addition, that intervention or antidepressant is ideally a helpful addition to your holistic treatment of the conditions in your life. To ignore diet and lifestyle habits as you administer the intervention is to simply ask for more and more of the same. It is to ask for the individual or patient to take more and more of the intervention with no hope of being freed from it’s effects. In other words…being pushed up a hill in a cart doesn’t make you any better at climbing the next mountain, and oh boy, the mountains will come. The pill or intervention must be seen as a short term stopgap to an ongoing crisis. Goals need to be set for the dissolution of the treatment altogether through processing, habit shifts, and personal integration.
The point here is two fold…
1. You may have needed the intervention at that time, but don’t actually need it anymore.
2. If you don’t take this opportunity to rethink your habits and life, then you become dependent on the intervention, needing more and more of it as the months and years progress. (tolerance)
So what are you doing to help yourself? How are you seeing the bigger picture right now? Can you imagine being without the interventions? Can you begin to understand why interventions are needed in the first place?
If you are ready for this approach, it is quite simple to see where you can begin making changes that will free you from the necessity of intervention. You can be the one to intervene. (I am not a doctor and I am not recommending that you start or stop any medications).
In closing, I can tell you that the first place I go in all difficult situations is rest, nature immersion, and meditation. Between these three, there isn’t much that I cannot treat on my own. Most often, through meditation, rest, and exposure to the natural world, I am given answers that allow to be my own treatment specialist. Through the mindful and self loving practices, I receive insights and become more sensitive to the influences in my life. Maybe there is too much of this, or not enough of that. Perhaps I just needed to sit alone somewhere. Maybe I just needed to tell someone how I feel.
These seemingly insignificant practices, when ignored over years, can lead to chronic conditions. The energy in the body must be expressed. That is your life essence wanting to come out. If you don’t give it a proper channel, it will create one, often in mystifying and challenging ways.
My challenge to you is to set one goal to achieve better attunement with your own body. Your body is housed within the healing temple of your soul. Know thyself :: Whatever can bring you into the temple of self will protect you from the labyrinth of lies and marketing.
My recommendation, play this tone, and sit in silence for 5 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIbweADku04&ab_channel=CatalystUniversity
As you write your goal, see all of your power coming back to you. You deserve to live a life of freedom and exploration.
If you have Netflix, it is worth watching Human: The World Within. The episode called Defend is about our immune system. It is fascinating and relates to what you are writing about. It actually talks about those who spend time in nature around germs and who are always naturally provoking their immune response are actually healthier. I know from my own experience that saying no to the intervention of drugs was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. Yes, I had to change my life and my lifestyle to get healthy, but I can’t imagine where the other option of life-long drugs would have led to. In fact I can… because it was drugs that helped make me sick in the first place. Just know that there are always options if you are willing to trust yourself, the voice inside you, and take a holistic approach to life.