Anxiety, depression and insomnia, am I going insane?

If you were to listen to your regular family doctor, you probably do believe you are on the brink of loosing your mind. Let me dispel this way of thinking.

We are often overwhelmed and tired. Life, work, stress, are part of our daily staple and at no time do we catch a break. Fortunately in our 20s and even 30s, we are too busy to notice and our bodies are too young and healthy to start creating problems. So, we don’t notice the occasional bout of insomnia, or maybe the one too many days we walk around with a cloud over our head.

Anxiety is part of our everyday vocabulary so why would anyone ever think it abnormal?

But, stop and take a breath and look at your life and at how you feel. By the time you are in your 40s your body is starting to rebel and unless you are listening and taking it easy, you are now bereft of anxiety, fears, depression, and certainly sleep is rapidly becoming your enemy.

What happened? Has your hormone balanced changed resulting in an ever increasing pile of symptoms? Anxiety, depression, insomnia are all easily traceable to stress and loss of hormone balance. Going to the conventional physician down the street will not improve the situation.

A quick fix with a sleeping pill or an antidepressant du jour will  not only make a bad situation worse, it will start you on a rapid downhill slope of medication, diagnosis and never ending array of illnesses. That is unless, you find a doctor that specializes in integrating body and mind into a series of health seeking programs that add up to more health as we age.

More health as we age brings me to the easy way to approach anxiety, depression and insomnia without endangering your health and adding more problems.

1. INSOMNIA- Are you eating right? Are you eating too late in the evening? Do you drink coffee or other stimulants late in the evening? Are you too stressed to relax? Is your bedroom a safe place to sleep or is it more of a workplace? Is the TV on all night? Do you exercise fewer than 4 hours before bedtime? If the answer is yes to any of these questions, you must start by improving the situation at hand. If you are doing everything right and your relationships are also good and balanced and you cannot sleep, you must address your hormone balance. Have them checked and take the proper supplements and bioidentical hormones to get them back into balance.  And do not forget about thyroid. Low thyroid causes sleep problems. So does medication, so watch out and put them on hold for a few days. See how your sleep pattern changes.

2. ANXIETY- When does it occur? Connect it to something you just ate or something you are doing. Is it constant? Does it come and go at different times of the day and month? Cut out the sugar or processed foods from your diet and eliminate the coffee and alcohol for one week. See how you feel. Exercise. See how you feel after a serious 30 minutes of aerobic activity. Make love. Does your anxiety go away, or is it worse. Once you make the connections, you will increase your body self-awareness and correct the source of the anxiety and improve your chances of feeling better rather than drowning in the feeling. It's possible you need a little help from progesterone. If this is the case then feel free to try one of my age specific hormone support treatments. It may turn out to be just what the doctor ordered right before your period.

3. DEPRESSION. Do you have a bona fide reason to be depressed? Did you loose someone you love? Is a relationship you care about heading south? Are you in an unhappy job or an unhappy place in your life? Can you make reasonable changes that will improve your life situation? If not, is it maybe just okay to be sad at this point? Why are we so quick to numb our emotions and take a pill? Maybe we’d enjoy life a lot more if we stopped and felt the pain for a while. If you find yourself unable to get out of bed and go to work, or skipping going out with friends in favor of just watching TV alone, you have a real problem. But even if you do, chances are you can make it better by addressing the real reasons for the problem. Hormone changes and loss of balance do lead to depressive episodes, but they fluctuate depending on the environmental stimulation or lack thereof. So, pay attention to how you feel and put it into context.

Don’t rush to do something. Spend the time gaining better understanding of yourself and take responsibility for creating a positive outcome. I bet you will find yourself in a happier, healthier life and the person to thank for the results will always be YOURSELF!

Comments

[sohaila]

I need help with insomnia and depression. I thought your page had help but half of the links on your web page do not work.

[Chelsea]

So if there are bioidentical hormones to treat menopause...is there a bioidentical birth control? I know I need to stop taking the synthetic hormones, but I just wish there was a safe pill with real hormones. Is there such a thing? Or is our only option condoms and other natural ways of contraceptive? Also, does the copper T have negative effects as well?

[James Kronefield]

From my personal experience I know that the right diet can be of enormous help for overcoming insomnia and depression. Forget about the plentiful dinner and you will be one step closer to a good night sleep.