Integrating mainstream and naturopathic management of an anxiety disorder :
An interview with a client
Maxine Lintott
Can you tell me a little bit about the mental health condition that you sought treatment for ?
I ’ ve probably always struggled with anxiety , but didn ' t quite realise . And then a pattern of insomnia - an acute episode of insomnia - led to a what I now call a mental health crisis ( not a nervous breakdown any more ), but it was acute anxiety , which triggered acute insomnia .
Were you able to manage it yourself , or did you realise you needed to talk to someone ?
I realised I needed to talk to someone pretty much from the very beginning , because it got much too big for me to manage . I was hoping day to day [ that I could manage ], and I think the tell-tale signs were that I wasn ’ t able to perform at work . I wasn ' t able to carry out normal life duties . I just wasn ' t able to live a normal life because of how acute it was .
Who did you speak to about it first ?
I had previously seen a psychologist so I spoke to my psychologist first . Then I spoke to the GP . I thought it was just insomnia at the start . I was not sure if I was pregnant or not , so what could they give me ? They couldn ' t give me what they would normally prescribe , which would be , I guess , Valium and all that type of thing . But I think that was a good thing in the end , because I now realise you can really get stuck in traps with sleeping tablets , and I think I probably would have used them just because I was so desperate . It might have been a bad trap , so I just had advice from the GP . You know the advice was just , ‘ It will get better , we don ' t know when , but this will pass . They started to talk about anti-anxiety medication . I was very , very reluctant to take that at the beginning , but less reluctant as time went on , and it was my only option , and it was not only the advice of my GP but also of my psychologist . They said they would support me whatever I chose to do , but I feel like I was probably being strongly encouraged because I also couldn ' t really make decisions for myself at that point . It was all a bit beyond me .
I know that you also have a naturopath . Were they involved in managing your mental health ?
I have been seeing my naturopath for a long time . I can also can speak to her without an appointment . I think I emailed her saying , ‘ Look , I ' m having this trouble with sleep . I would have said at the beginning it was a sleep problem , because that ' s how it started . I didn ' t even really realise initially I was having a mental health crisis , so she would have advised sleep things . I was trying to get pregnant at the time so her options would have been very limited .
Can you remember specifically what sort of sleep thing she gave you ?
Well , it was strong chamomile tea . And then she told me things like getting in the ocean , all stuff to try and fix my circadian rhythm . There was a lot of things to relax your body so massage and acupuncture . Again , because I was in very early pregnancy , what she could offer was very limited . After I miscarried , she prescribed a tincture , a herbal tincture , and then she also recommended a special sleep tincture . I ' m not sure exactly what was in that . Maybe passionflower - the thing you can ' t have when you ' re pregnant and also valerian and even chamomile . They ' re funny with pregnancy . But strong
206 | vol29 | no4 | JATMS