Society (and the conventional healthcare model) normalizes symptoms like fatigue, mood/mental health, digestive symptoms, and symptoms related to stress as an expected part of being human. It is implied nothing can be done except medication to mitigate the annoying symptoms. The truth is: the majority of Americans are not living a lifestyle compatible with health/healing. They have no idea how amazing they are designed to feel!
Picture this: a woman sees her primary care provider with complaints of fatigue, depression, and acid reflux. She gets an acid reducer for her reflux, an anti-depressant for her depression and a (somewhat valid but not investigated) explanation about how her fatigue is related to her mood or her overwhelming schedule of career, kids, and other obligations. This is done in a ~7 minute visit with her provider where they may or may not even look up from their charting note. She feels invalidated because she knows there is more going on that has not been addressed. Each of her symptoms were treated individually as if these systems are unrelated. She takes the medications prescribed and may feel better initially until more symptoms surface as a result of the medication and the worsening underlying conditions not investigated. She returns to her provider where she may receive another medication to combat the side effects of the first two. Lifestyle and daily habits are not addressed as contributing factors. Thus, the cycle is born. Does this sounds familiar?
Another example of normalizing symptoms is the situation where a patient has received an accurate diagnosis and prescribed the appropriate medication(s) while being told they will need to take these medications and live with this illness the rest of their life. The only option given is to continue to refill and take said medication(s) or their condition will return/worsen. This scenario is centered around the patient accepting illness and suppressing symptoms through medication, thus normalizing the condition. This patient may think this protocol is normal and to be expected especially when other people with the same diagnosis are on the same treatment regimen. This approach to chronic illness is common practice in conventional medicine. Often the patients feel powerless when they are only given one option.
I work with patients who are frustrated with our current healthcare system, they have been dismissed, mistreated and mismanaged. They have been dis-empowered by being told there are no options for cure or reversal. They don’t appreciate the hierarchy of provider and patient where the provider is seen as the ‘expert’ on the patients health or condition. They don’t like the ‘pill for an ill’ model, which is superficial and doesn’t take into account the complexity of human physiology or the impact of lifestyle and behavior. They are motivated to change behavior with the right information and guidance.
Going back to our hypothetical patients: what if they had received a thorough assessment of their symptoms as well as their input on possible causes? What if this was followed by a clear plan that would not only alleviate their symptoms but resolve the underlying mechanisms causing the symptoms? What if we, as healthcare providers, viewed symptoms as a form of communication from the body and we knew how to ‘de-code’ those attempts at communication to resolve illness? I think we would see a very different healthcare system which in turn would create a population of incredibly healthy and empowered individuals.