chamomile , she suggested . But to be honest , what got me through it was all the psychological strategies rather than medications . So it was changing my way of thinking about sleep . And I don ' t know whether once I got some sleep I started to get better . But the naturopath , to be honest , didn ' t have a great deal of expertise with mental health . She was more treating insomnia or sleeplessness , or lack of deep sleep . She prescribed magnesium as well . She recommended a thing called Magrelax . I might have also not disclosed fully how acute the problem was to her because I was also speaking to my GP really regularly , and also seeing my psychologist regularly . So I didn ' t necessarily tell her . You know she wasn ' t my primary source of care . She was just supplementing my care .
Did you disclose to your GP and your psychologists that you were seeing a naturopath ?
Not specifically for this , but they would both know that I see a naturopath regularly . The GP wouldn ’ t have known that my naturopath gave me a herbal tea or anything else . I would have been more than happy to tell her , it just didn ' t come up .
So it was the psychological strategies that you think were the most effective ?
Yes , them , and time . Everyone said it would take time . And I actually think it was time .
And so where are you now ? That treatment regime you ' re describing is that the one that you ' ve maintained , or has it changed over time ?
No , there are things I still do every day to make sure I don ' t get back to that place . I ' m still taking an SSRI , an antidepressant . The reason I ' m still on that is because I ' m currently pregnant and the GP recommended it . It ' s very safe during pregnancy , and I have suffered from post-natal mental health problems before . It ' s very important during pregnancy to not have a mental health crisis or post-natal depression . And the medication ' s hard to come on and off so it ' s just easy to stay on it , for now . While I ' m in this period and also postpartum .
The other strategies I do – including exercise every day - are really important . I mean , the naturopath was always talking about exercising in the sun , getting enough vitamin D and restoring circadian rhythm . So I exercise every day . I meditate every day . Journaling . I try and get to bed at the same time every day roughly , and wake up at the same time every day .
And there are also strategies when I go into bed to not start the spiral of anxiety . So there are things I run through in my head when I go to bed . And I only sleep in bed , so no reading , no nothing . I think the point of that is to train your brain to know that once you ’ re aligned and in a dark room in in the same place , it knows that ' s the place to fall asleep . So it ' s just about creating the conditions to fall asleep and reminding myself that our bodies are designed to sleep . It ' s just some things get in the way . So it ' s reminding myself , the body is capable of sleep .
Have you kept up your appointments with your GP , your psychologist and your naturopath through this whole period . And do you expect that they will be ongoing ?
Yeah , I like that combination . I tend to gravitate towards massage and a bit of Reiki as well . Energy healing . I tend towards naturopathic care . It seems to speak to me , but I have a really excellent GP who knows that I see a naturopath , knows that I speak to my naturopath regularly . And also my psychologist is very aware of my naturopath . Especially when I got a diagnosis of gestational diabetes . In my last pregnancy the psychologist actually recommended that I transfer all the care to my naturopath and not listen to the hospital any more . They don ' t speak to each other or anything , but they all are aware of each other .
So looking back on it now , do you think there are more things your naturopath could have done ? Or do you think the combination of health practitioners that you put together was right for you ?
I think the fact that I was pregnant on and off during that period meant that what my naturopath could do , or what anyone could do , was limited . There was definitely emotional support from every single person . The GP gave me so much emotional support , and my naturopath gave me even more emotional support . But in terms of what they could give me , it was definitely restricted because I was pregnant . I also didn ' t think the naturopath had specific training in mental health conditions . I ' ve spoken to her about eating disorders and anxiety in the past , and she has said that she doesn ' t have specific experience in that field . So even though she gave me general support , once I wasn ' t pregnant any more , she gave me general support for the anxiety . I didn ' t feel like it was specific support . Or maybe she didn ' t have the same experience in dealing with mental health issues as my psychologist and GP had .
So ultimately the naturopath was treating you with insomnia in mind , rather than anxiety . Is that right ?
Well , she was treating what I told her , so at the beginning that was insomnia . And then I said , Look , it ' s insomnia . But I think it ’ s actually acute anxiety that is causing the insomnia . So then , you know , we started looking at an anti-anxiety things . It changed as my awareness of what was going on changed .
So the lifestyle recommendations were maintained .
They were maintained , and the lifestyle recommendations came from both my naturopath and my psychologist .
Can you run through those again ?
It was things like getting outside , waking up the same time every day , spending time in the sun in the morning . It ' s just like vigorous exercise in the morning
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