Feeling blue? Heart sometimes works better than a pill
by Kelli Renfrow
09:44 AM CDT on Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Sometimes, when I’m driving around on a dark day wondering where it all went wrong, I decide I’m going to give in and take the pills.
Antidepressants, that is.
Maybe you just can’t hang on in our culture without them.
A recent study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that antidepressants are the most commonly prescribed drugs in the country.
I confess; I’ve talked to my doctor about it.
At each annual exam, we conclude the same way.
Everything checks out, she says. Anything I’d like to discuss?
Well, yes, I say. At times, my mood is this. My energy level is that. My stresses are these.
Time for pills?
She listens with compassion and says: No.
Eat right, get more rest, exercise and try a multivitamin.
In my case, I know she’s right.
At least medically speaking.
And when I follow her advice, the physical aspects of stress lessen and tend to stop complicating the emotional aspects of the blues.
(I’m only talking about the occasional bout that’s endemic to the human condition, not the kind that requires professional treatment.)
Now, what to do about those emotional tidal waves that crash into me at times and make me feel like I’m, well, losing it?
The bigger picture
It’s time to think about it in larger terms than whether I’ll adopt a prescription lifestyle.
Perhaps a prescription is enticing, because it seems easy, fast and convenient.
Words that once described a microwave now describe everything about us, and I fear we’re nuking our souls with the drugs we use to keep a grip.
But I don’t think we’re sad because we’re busy. I think we’re bored.
Bored because everything is easy, fast and convenient. Though we do more, less of it fully engages our imagination and talents.
Our creative spirits have been trampled in the wake of our multitasking extravaganza.
Personal renaissance
It’s time for a personal renaissance: art for the artist’s sake.
Naturally, the obstacles of time and money immediately arise. But in my life, I’m beginning to see that this can be a matter of perspective.
While being busy has its own costs, the resources it takes to cope add up, too. I’ve spent a lot on Band-Aids rather than finding a remedy. The irony is that I’ve had to learn to waste time and money in a productive way.
Finding ways to express your creativity seems to require figuring out what you enjoy.
For me, writing and cake decorating turned out to be winners. But learning to sew was a disaster.
The failures won’t lessen the value of figuring out what it is that gives you the chance to throw yourself into something wholeheartedly.
And, really, it is the heart’s question we have to answer.
There’s no pill for that.
On the contrary, the pills we might call a cure probably are trying to silence that nagging voice that urges us to become more complete, to fire on all cylinders.
But in one of life’s elegant twists, exploring our creative sides reveals creative ways to fight off the blues.
And that’s a side effect I’d much rather risk.
Kelli Renfrow works in the marketing department of The Dallas Morning News.
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on Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007 at 9:41 pm and is filed under Poetry & Other Writings.
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