"A Mind of Your Own" by Dr. Kelly Brogan, MD

When in doubt, look UP!

It's hard to believe that at this time last year I was deep in the throes of a medical crisis so severe, so terrifying that I feared I would not come out of it alive.  I have never felt so alone, so hopeless and if continuing to share my personal journey saves just one person from that hell, than it will be well worth it to me.  

Over the course of many months, I was misdiagnosed multiple times by several different doctors and specialists.  Every single doctor I saw gave me yet another prescription.  One diagnosis was particularly disturbing and made by several of the physicians with whom I consulted...I was told that I had a form of delusional schizophrenia called "Delusion of Parasitosis" or DOP.  And each time this diagnosis of DOP was unceremoniously delivered, after less than 10 minutes of speaking with me and little or no physical exam, I was given one thing: a prescription for an extremely powerful anti-psychotic medication called Zyprexa.  

The scary thing is that only one of those doctors was actually a psychiatrist - and he was also the first doctor who told me that he believed I was actually suffering from Chronic Lyme, not DOP. Later, I came to find out how many Lyme patients have the exact same experience of being wrongfully diagnosed,  not just with DOP, but many other forms of mental illness as well and prescribed all sorts of dangerous, mind-altering, psychoactive drugs. Thankfully, even in my weakened and confused state, I just knew that psychiatric meds were the absolute last thing I needed and I refused to take them. I don't even like to think about what would have happened to me if I had followed the advice of those doctors. 

All of these months later, I am on the path to complete healing and all without the use of anything pharmaceutical, chemical, or toxic in any way. On the contrary, one of the key components to restoring my health has been to completely detoxify and restore balance to every system in my body holistically and naturally.  This has led me to rethink everything I have ever been taught to believe about Western medicine.

Today I started reading a book that, in the very first chapter, echoed many of the thoughts and suspicions that have been swirling around in my mind for months...I can already tell that this book is going to change my life in a very profound way. 

The book is called "A Mind of Your Own", written by Dr. Kelly Brogan, M.D. Dr. Brogan studied cognitive neuroscience at MIT before receiving her MD from Weill Cornell Medical College. Board certified in psychiatry, psychosomatic medicine, and integrative holistic medicine, she is one of the only doctors in the nation with these qualifications. 

Needless to say, Dr. Brogan is no quack and has credentials up the wazoo.  But even more impressive to me is her courage to speak the truth and stand up to some very powerful and often intimidating entities, i.e. the AMA, CDC, Big Pharma, and mainstream medical organizations just to name a few.  By writing this book, Dr. Brogan is essentially putting her professional reputation, career and personal well-being at risk, all for the sake of helping others. I haven't even made it to Chapter Two and already this woman is my hero!  

An excerpt from the first chapter...

"...let me be the first to tell you that the only path to a real solution is to leave the medical world you know behind. This, the journey I will take you on, is not just about symptom suppression, it's about health freedom. First let me tell you that I was once a typical doctor, not to mention a typical American who loved pizza, soda, birth control, and ibuprofen. My message is from a personal journey and thousands of hours of research that has compelled me to share the truth about prescription-based care: we've been duped.

Yes, my entire training was based on the model of disease care that offers patients only one tool - a drug - and never a shot at true wellness. We've handed over our health to those who seek to profit from it, and we've been buying into a paradigm based on the following notions:

• We are broken.
• Fear is an appropriate response to symptoms.
• We need chemicals to feel better.
• Doctors know what they are doing.
• The body is a machine requiring calibration (via drugs). A little too much of this, too little of that.

I call this collective set of notions the Western Medical Illusion. It sets up a vicious system the ushers you into lifelong customer status, dependent and disempowered.
As you can likely guessed by now, I love to rant. But I do so with the best evidence science could offer, and there's a lot we know today about the real root cause of depression - and how to treat the condition safely and successfully - without a prescription pad. If there's one lesson I will drive home, it's this: shed the fear, take back your inner compass, and embrace a commitment to your best self medication free. Even if you don't already take a prescription drug, I bet you still doubt living the rest of your life prescription free and reliant on your own inner intuition to know what's best for you. The idea of supporting your body's innate wisdom may sound quaint at best, or like dangerous hippie woo-woo at worst. From now on, I want you to embrace these new ideas:

• Prevention is possible.
• Medication treatment comes at a steep cost.
• Optimal health is not possible through medication.
• Your health is under your control.
• Working with lifestyle medicine- simple everyday habits that don't entail drugs - is a safe and effective way to send the body a signal of safety.

How can I make these statements, and what do I mean by lifestyle medicine? You're going to find out in this book, and I'll be presenting the scientific proof to answer questions you may have and to satisfy the doubtful. When I meet a woman and her family, I speak about how to reverse her anxiety, depression, mania, and even psychosis. We map out the timeline that brought her where she is and identify triggers that often fall under one or more of the following categories: food intolerances or sensitivities, blood sugar imbalances, chemical exposures, thyroid dysfunction, and nutrient deficiency. I forge a partnership with my patient and witnessed dramatic symptom relief within 30 days. I do this by teaching my patients how they can make simple shifts in their daily habits, starting with the diet. They increase nutrient density, eliminate inflammatory foods, balance blood sugar, and bring themselves closer to food in its ancestral state. It's the most powerful way to move the needle, because food is not just fuel. It is information (literally: 'it puts the form into your body'), and its potential for healing is a wonder to me, every single day." 

And...

"Psychiatry remains the wastebasket for the shortcomings of conventional medicine in terms of diagnosing and treating.  If doctors can't explain your symptoms, or if the treatment doesn't fix the problem and further testing doesn't identify a concrete diagnosis, you'll probably be referred to a psychiatrist or, more likely, be handed a prescription for an antidepressant by your family doctor.  If you are very persistent that you still need real help, your doctor might throw an anti-psychotic at you as well." 

O.M.G!!!  That is exactly what happened to me and countless others!!!

Right on, Dr. Brogan! You are a shining example of what it means to take The Hippocratic Oath...what it means to be a physician who truly cares about the well being of her patients...what it means to be a human being who emulates compassion, morality and quality of character.  I applaud your efforts to educate and empower and commend you for your honesty and for your bravery in the face of some pretty serious and threatening adversaries.  And I haven't even made it to Chapter Two!!!

This book is going to open people's minds to the truth about conventional medicine and the influence of Big Pharma and in my opinion, has the potential to change the world.  At the very least, it will dramatically influence the lives of many and empower them to take their health into their own hands in order to feel better and start living life the way it was meant to be lived: drug-free and feeling good, without constant fear of impending doom.

My advice to you is this: 

Go get yourself a copy of Dr. Brogan's book and decide for yourself - it may just save your life!!