Alternative medicine....holy hell

Hello everyone, happy Tuesday. After two weeks of dog sitting, I finally got to sleep in my own bed last night and it was glorious. It's always good to do my pet sitting since I get to get puppy cuddles and I get the opportunity to watch shows that I wouldn't normally have time to at home, so that has led me down a rabbit hole of Netflix documentaries.

As a fair warning, some of these ideas may be controversial for some. I do not claim to be an expert in any of these things I talk about and these are just a reflection of my own opinions. I am open to discussions and it is not my intention to shame anyone who partakes in these actions listed below, but these are my personal beliefs.

Normally when I dog sit, I have this tendency to watch serial killer documentaries. As entertaining as they are, it's never the best thing to watch when I'm by myself with only a dog as my protection. I think in the beginning I did do a little bit of those but I ended up migrating to baking competition shows and then I started watching Explained. I never would have previously thought to watch it but I figured I would give it a try and I definitely got schooled watching that. I learned so many things from those 25 minute episodes on so many different categories I would have never thought to watch myself. One conclusion I can draw from many of those episodes is that white people suck. (yes, I am a white person and I am aware of the privilege's I have being white and even if I personally have not done such things to cause harm to those of color, consciously or otherwise, I do have to acknowledge that there is a very long history of white supremacy in our country's history and it is my responsibility to educate myself on these things.)

Aside from learning more about of country's fucked up history, I was also introduced to all of the wonky shit people do for health. I understand that some of these come from a long history that pre-dates our country in these anecdotes for pain and wellness, and I also acknowledge that there are marginalized populations that do not have good access to proper health care, but good lord. I think some of the ones that baffled me the most were people consuming essential oils, supplementing breast milk as an adult, and tantra. All of these categories were episodes in the documentary on Netflix, "(Un)Well." Essential oils should not be consumed and I thoroughly believe that. Come for me if you want, but that seems absolutely ridiculous and the FDA definitely does not recommend it for human ingestion. Don't get me wrong, I know that using essential oils in diffusers can help people feel better emotionally, help them sleep better and what not, and I can get down with the occasional lavender if I want something calming, but for people to use it for more than that is no bueno. Not to mention that some of the largest companies that distribute essential oils are MLM's and don't even get me started on those. Ohhhh lordy, just no.

So.....breast milk for adults.........that's just a no go for me, dog. I absolutely 100% am for breastfeeding and I hope to be able to do that with any future children I may have, and I think those that are able to donate their breastmilk to infants in need is an amazing thing. Do I think grown-ass adults need to be drinking it, absolutely not. I think it's weird and nutritionally, it doesn't make sense for an adult. If mothers choose to do extended breastfeeding with their own children, that's all good and I know other countries and cultures hold extended breastfeeding to a high regard and I can acknowledge that, but for an adult to buy breastmilk for their own consumption is just a little off-putting to me. In the documentary, they did show a man who was consuming it to cure himself of cancer, and I guess it did show a reduction in his levels and that's cool for him. I think he might be an anomaly in that regard but who knows. There is still a lot to learn and tons more research to be had in that department. Would it be a choice for me to consume it as an adult, no thank you. Maybe there are kinks out there that people enjoy doing that, and to each their own and I'm not here to kink-shame, but that would not be my choice.

Now, tantra. This is not necessarily something that I think is bad and again, I'm not here to shame anyone that participates in what western culture has adapted tantra to be, but I think it should be known that tantra in its original existence didn't have anything to do with sex. I'm not sure how that ended up becoming a thing here and I don't recall what was said in the documentary on how it came to be used in a sexual nature here in the states but it definitely can be a little eccentric, especially the gurus that teach it. More power to them, but not my personal choice.

I do find there were some definitely interesting concepts of alternative medicine in these episodes. The one I was intrigued the most by was the use of ayahuasca. Now, I have always been someone who has been afraid of trying anything hallucinogenic because I'm terrified of having a bad trip, but I thought it was very interesting that people were partaking in these rituals and using it as a way to heal from past trauma, depression, PTSD, and other ailments. No, it was not said to cure these illnesses and ailments, but it gave people the ability to expand their own minds and thinking and it helped open the door processing and healing. It did also show that it helped one woman regain some physical abilities to walk and function while suffering from a debilitating disease that I can't remember the name of at the moment. It got me wondering if that was something that would be helpful for me. Whether I would actually do it is a whole other story, but I was curious enough about it that I looked up whether it would be something that could be useful to someone with Bipolar and unfortunately it wouldn't. Due to the nature of Bipolar where it has the lows of depression and the highs of mania, it could cause psychosis and can cause people to swing into intense bouts of mania and that wouldn't be good. I have heard that would be similar to those that were to try ketamine treatment for depression too. Why do all the cool treatments get excluded for people with Bipolar???? So rude....... Jokes aside, it does add to the ultimate complexity that Bipolar is and how difficult it can be to treat. It honestly kind of depressed me to realize that, but again, this isn't something that I necessarily would be inclined to do personally.

Well, I think that will conclude my Ted Talk for the day. If anyone is looking for any Netflix recommendations, "Explained" is amazingly informative in a condensed episode format, "(Un)Well" was incredibly interesting and entertaining, and I'm currently work on watching "Broken." I just started this one but it is so far talking about the beauty industry and the first episode it talking about how horrible the creation of counterfeit cosmetics is and how disturbingly widespread the sales of them are and how destructive and harmful it can be for consumers to unknowingly buy counterfeit product.

I think I have exhausted my word limit for the day. If you made it to the end of this article, you deserve a prize and a gold star. Good job, friends.

-A