this is very true.

i admittedly self medicated myself for years.

as someone who did this, i can attes to this being absolutely true. My experience is also what gives me strength, as I am the one who lives with the anxiety and panic of past trauma.

self medicating is worst than the actual illness in most cases.

Im glad i cut all that out, and have been doing a lot better. Its been months.

You answered your own question. If placebos only work 60% of the time then what accounts for the other 40% of the time when it doesn't work? It's not all mental.

The common cold is real. AIDS is real. STD's are real.

You can make a case for some mental disorders but not for most conditions and illnesses.

It can have little to do with chemical imbalances and much more to do with viruses ,bacteria, and infection. And those are very real.

When I was younger I bought some blow from a guy - he said it was good. After testing it I knew it couldn't get a fly high, so I kicked his ass.

ADG Webmaster

The mind is limited against real illnesses. People dying of cancer and other horrible diseases often seek alternative healers to help cure them after usual medical methods have failed. These people believe they will be cured. However, if they have a fatal disease 99.9% of them die anyway because the mind can't change that.

I suffer from anxiety as well and do not believe pills should be the end of your treatement...maybe just the beginning.

And by that. I'm referring to a time when I was going through an acute phase and needed help and help quick

However once I was "evened" out I stopped taking the meds, and started looking at what were really causing the problems that led me to anxiety and to this day I have anxiety attacks but no where near the intensity i had before and I have been off the prescribed drugs for years.

However I can't believe it's all psychosomatic. You can see MRI's catscans etc of the brain and there is a noticeable difference of people with and without mental illness.

have you read the Book, "Don't Panic?

it helped me.

I saw a replay of it this morning, cruise came off as a complete know it all prick, which is what you would expect. I felt bad for Lauer getting talked down to the way he did.

Aren't you a huge pot head Fletch? Wouldn't that help you with the symptoms you've described?

"anxiety, stress, depression, and panic attacks since then (age 11). ...I take no pills.

...not all of us Americans are running around doped on pills to keep us in line.

I am medication free, and have been my entire life."

I cleaned up months ago boss.

but i still suffer from people thinking less of me because I did drink alcohol and smoke pot.

what part did you miss Redshoe?

but i see your point, by "medication", in that post i did in fact mean "doctor prescribed"

BOOYEAH.

80% of the time people dont need anti-depressants that are taking them. They are way over-prescribed. BUT thats not to say that some people dont get genuine relief from them.. This goes for ALOT of drugs..

But to be perfectly honest, I'm not a doctor and neither is tom cruise. He thinks he knows , but really he is just a brainwashed idiot who thinks he has all the answers ( or scientology does )

As with the bible it has some great life instructions, but it also has alot of useless garbage that can be interpretted very differently by different people.

I want to have your babies

im losing what respect i had for tom cruise...

I think there is alot broader of a "range" of brain activity than doctors think..

Like i think 2 "normal" people can have markedly different brain activity.

I also think that the "anxiety" influx in society today is a direct result of things we are making/doing not a sudden change in brain patterns or brain chemicals, so to try to chemically balance the effects of things we are creating prob isn't the smartest idea.

I had my own problems quite recently with "anxiety attacks" something i have never had , and found most irritating and sudden. I could not figure or the life o me what these attacks were coming from. Every doctor i spoke to wanted to put me on some sort of brain chemical balancing drugs.. The silly thing was is in the back of my mind i correlated the problems i was having with the carpal tunnel symptoms i was also having, and it turned out IT WAS. The whole problem was working on the computer at a strange angle. New chair new keyboard mouse and every symptom VANISHED like no magic you have ever seen.. I can't tell you how amazed i was that such a simple problem could have turned into such strange symptoms. While i'm sure this isnt everyone's solution , i think most people would be suprised at what's really causing them problems..

No but I will check it out.

What caused me to seep into this issue with panic was going through a few very traumatic times in my life and allowing that to alter how I accepted challenges...and by that I started to take the road more often travelled.

I started looking for security in love, family, work etc. When in reality there is nothing secure in this world.

I had to break free from that and quit taking the safe way out and face fears.

I still deal with issues that trigger anxiety, I don't go out of my way to confront them because it's just not feasible but I don't go out of myway to avoid them. I remember a time sitting on a hospital gurney after about the umpteenth time in just a few weeks being sedated saying to myself. "I have to stop dying, and start living."

And now that's what I do.

Well, like most people on GFY I only read half of what I want, and make judgements on other people. Personally, I don't care if you are a pot head or not. You seemed a tad more cooler when you were though. All this scientology talk is a bit too much for me.

I always considered you one of the elite free thinkers and now it SEEMS like you have been drawn into a way of thinking that follows a very contraversial religion.

I've been to the scientology website. I read through it's various articles. I know only a little bit about it. But I know enough to know that it's conformist thinking.

I have not investigated or read this site beyond it's first two statements.
http://www.skeptictank.org/cos-rol.htm?FACTNet

Again. I AM JUDGING YOU and really don't know you. I just assumed you were a free thinker. Perhaps you still are. I thought one day we would hang out and have a smoke or a drink.

I think your taking 2 + 2 and ending up with 5.

Yes, depression or anxiety prone people are more prone to getting a cold, but thats because those conditions raise blood pressure, increase your heart rate, and weaken your immune system. Thus making you more at risk of catching the common cold. It doesnt mean that the common cold isnt real. Thats ludicrous.

But thats not what Tom Cruise was saying. He is just advocating the use of positive thinking over prescription drug use. Basically dont rely on the cure, but take preventative measures. If you rely on drugs, you will never get better, you're just masking the problems.

And on that note, im not sure why people give him and Scientologists such a hard time. Thats what they believe, who cares, let them. Scientologists are no more of a cult then any other organized religion. Just because they are a newer crutch, doesnt make them less credible then the older more established crutches.

He also said there is no such thing as a chemical imbalance.

Doctor Tom's Medical degree from the Church of Scientology allows him to know such things.

100... :upsidedow

Redshoe don't read too much into board stuff hahahaha

if Fletch was a scientologist I'd have poisoned him long ago. Seriously.

if TC keeps pushing this scientology crap to the media I hope he gets shot. If Larry can take a bullet so can Tom. :1orglaugh

Take a short ride to Hollywood Blvd and take the free personality test.
I did one day when I was bored waiting for a flick to start at Mann's.

After it was all over with they proceeded to tell me I was so fucked up that I needed to wait before their special book salesperson would show up....LOL..that's what it's about man...they want to sell you a series of books.

what did you guys think a cult is going to do?

redshoe, im really not going to bother.

the last thing i need right now is someone telling me "youve changed" during this process.

i was reading scientology literature in highschool, im 29 - i have not touched the books in years. Recently due to tom cruise yapping about it, i dug them out... then noticed this thread.

i am not a scientologist, although i was close to being one.

i dont need the "youre not the same" shit.

yes, im a free thinker, one with addictions. opinions and addictions i dont need.

I knew it was bullshit...as I stated above I was bored so I took their "free personality test."

But it wasn't like "come to church." It was more like..."Here buy the Christian Scientist's version of the Encyclopedia Britannica."

I think were going to far here. Is north america over medicated? YES! Are all drugs bad? N0!

Ever put money into a collection plate or acollection box. Same fucking deal. But because Christianity has been around for 2000 years it's ok!

i am grateful too :)

and yes, redshoe dont read too much into it eh?

Cruise has seemed like a whack job as of late.

LOL man you have to go and do it for yourself to see..there is a slight difference in the whole process.

It's right up on Hollywood Blvd.

what you posted is misleading. read the real one on www.msnbc.com they are leaving out lots to make it seem more heated

Lol! Dude it's the exact same thing just just modernized. I dont agree with either one mind you.

All religion is a product that needs to be sold.

I take drugs and you should too.

depends if you're on uppers or seratonan

I have been audited-
I am still researching Scientology
I have many celebrity friends who tell me it will change my life as well.

I don't know- I am always looking for more inspiration

WATCH The video I posted from MSNBC in on page 2. Dont worry.

No it's not the exact same thing.

I grew up going to various churches and not every church that takes a tithe is selling a product...no matter how YOU try to interpret it.

There are true believers out there and that's the only way they can fund their church and keep it going and you are not required to give. Many churches will give you their books *The Bible* for FREE.

I've been to churches that were so broke but would give you the clothes off their backs if they felt you needed them.

Now for scientology this is nothing but their whole religion broken down into a product. Might as well sold it as a #5 with the ability to super size it.

But until you go through their "free personality test" process don't speak about things you know nothing about.

It's a very funny process...it's supposed to be quick but it's anything but quick.

ROFL that whole audited thing...hey Kbizzle. Let me save you some money.

Come over to my place and hold two diet vanilla cokes in your hands and let me audit you. I won't charge you for the cure to your problems.
:1orglaugh