Let's Talk Mental Health... Shall We?

Written By: Kalea Christman
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Pull up a chair and settle in for a cup of tea. I personally just had popcorn sprinkled with nutritional yeast and if you were sitting with me having this chat I would share it with you. That is, if I hadn't just eaten the entire honkin' huge bowl. 

Today I have the privilege of telling you about one of our Products, the “Focus Herbal Mix” which also happens to be the mix for May in our, “Herb of the Month Club”. The people that will most be interested in this particular mix are people who either have these challenges themselves or have children who:

• Have trouble sitting still for very long
• Considered fidgety
• Seem to have no “off” button
• Have trouble getting organized
• Get distracted easily
• Seem forgetful
• Lose things easily
• Have a hard time listening
• Have a hard time finishing things
• Hardly ever sit still
• Talks incessantly
• Have difficulty being patient
• Other mental health concerns, etc.

This happens to be something with which we at Natural Medicine Mamas have personal experience. Paula, Mama of the Mamas relates her experience:

     “I have always had a hard time sitting still though school church or at home. I blundered my way through grade,       middle and high school. I went to college and able to be more focused there because I wanted to be there. I found out my IQ accidentally and was shocked at how high it was because I always thought of myself as not very bright because I had such a hard time focusing in a school room setting. 
      Time goes on and we have children. I took care of them, sleeping at night because of sheer exhaustion, but still having a hard time sitting still during church, and easily distracted having a zillion things happening at once. 
     One of my friends went to a conference in SLC about children with ADD because they were having such a hard time with their son and trying to find some answers. She called me and said, 'I figured out how come you have so much energy and get so much done, you make everyone around you tired because you never stop moving.' I had no idea she thought I did that, she went on to walk me through this list of 15 items of behaviors. I had all of them. 
      Over the years I had learned how to manage a lot of the behaviors. Some are still a challenge - that is why I set a buzzer to get me back on task every 10 minutes as I clean our house!
      The positive side of things is that I am able to accomplish a lot, my mind is always creating and figuring things out as well as other behaviors. If I had been born 30 years later I would have been a primary Ritalin candidate. I'm so grateful I have never used chemical meds to take care of these issues. Because I haven't I have learned how to manage instead of mask them and good things in my life have happened because of learning skills and making them work to my benefit.”

My mom also wondered if I had this issue because I displayed so many of the same behaviors but she refused to have me tested because she didn't want to give me a label. I'm very grateful for that. I finally figured out that I had it when I was an adult when I was doing research about it for my own kids. Personally, medication has never been an option for myself or for my children. Medication can be a blessing in certain circumstances but it is something that I have tried to avoid. I recently came across this article which is great and had so many good references that I had to share them here as well:

     “No one explains where this disease came from, why it didn’t exist 50 years ago. No one is able to diagnose it with objective tests. It is diagnosed by a complaining teacher or a complaining parent. People are referring to the fact that they don’t like misbehaving children, mainly boys, in the schools. The diagnosis helps tranquilize the parent, tranquilize the school system. It offers them the sense that they are doing something about the problem; that they are dealing with it in a rational, scientific way. It’s a kind of pharmacological magic.” [Thomas Szasz, Former President of the American Psychological Association and Professor at New York University; From and interview in Reason, July 2000, p. 32]
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     “If a parent forced a child to take alcohol, a depressant, in the mistaken belief that he was curing a “chemical imbalance” in the child’s brain, we would not hesitate to have the child removed from the home. Yet millions of children are forced to take mind-altering drugs in the equally mistaken belief that depression and other mental illnesses are biologically caused, for which there is not a shred of scientific evidence.” Keith Hoeller, editor in chief, Review of Existential Psychology and Psychiatry, 1997.

     “There is either a strange plague of hyperactivity in the U.S., or we’ve got a lot of folks prescribing Ritalin as a psycho-pharmacological nanny.” Arthur Caplan, director, Center for Bioethics, U of Pennsylvania.

To me, those are some powerful quotes from powerful people. I am not here to tell you whether or not you should put yourself or your child on medication or judge you if you do or don't. I'm just here to show you another side of the issue and offer some alternatives.

Through some trial and error, my sisters and I (who also exhibit and have children with similar behaviors) have come across some ways that have really benefited our family and are excited to see them benefit yours as well. One of them is the Focus Herbal Mix. I will go over each ingredient one by one to introduce you to this wonderful little tool.

LEMON BALM – Calming, reduces restlessness, enhances concentration, improves sleep, lessens impulsiveness.
OATSRAW – Nervous system tonic, rich in vitamins and minerals, boosts circulation, anti-inflammatory.
ST. JOHN'S WORT – Helps to lift spirits, relieves irritability, Settles nervousness and anxiety, increases focus.
PASSIONFLOWER – Settles excitability and nervous behavior, helps insomnia, relieves muscle spasms. 
CHAMOMILE – Reduces anxiety, soothes nervous stomach, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-irritant. 
RHODIOLA – Improves alertness, vigorous adaptogen, provides energy w/o jitters, improves concentration. 
OREGON GRAPE – Anti-microbial, liver builder, stomach soother, promotes healthy digestion. 
VALERIAN ROOT – Calming, relaxes nerves, beautifully helps insomnia, sedative. 
GOTU KOLA – Improves memory and concentration, combats mental and physical fatigue. 
BACOPA (BRAHMI) – Wonderful Ayurvedic herb. Excellent adaptogen, reduces depression and anxiety, improves memory, sharpen brain communication, regulates brain chemicals, brain tonic, helps long and short-term memory, slows aging. 
DANDELION LEAVES – Loaded with vitamin and minerals, Liver builder, balances blood sugar,anti-inflammatory
ROSEMARY – Excellent herb for brain, increases memory, sharpens focus and concentration. 
ELEUTHERO – Powerful adaptogen, fights fatigue, regulates blood sugar, stress reliever, protects brain cells,
GINGKO BILOBA – reduces irritability, boosts attention, enhances memory, (MAY NOT be taken with blood thinning medications)

I feel calmer already just thinking about those herbs. Many of them have such a wonderfully soothing energy just to be around them. Each of them alone are incredible at calming, soothing, settling and relieving stress, but put all of them together and BAM.  Focus mix. We personally like to make it into a glycerite for ourselves and our kids but it can also be made into a syrup, tea, or tincture.

Along with taking the Focus Herbal mix, we recommend that you also try one or more of these Fun Challenges:
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• Eliminate sugars, artificial sweeteners and food dyes from diet for a solid 2 weeks (or forever, that would be great too :) )and re-evaluate. 
• Watch the sunset (or with your child, if they are the ones taking the focus mix) every night for 1 week.
• Get your bare feet on the ground and while you sit and watch. Stay at least 20 minutes with nothing else to do.
• Talk to your child about their day and just listen. Re-evaluate behavior at the end of the week to see if it helped. If your child goes to bed before the sunset, do the same thing but while cloud-watching.
• Exercise every day for 1 week and re-evaluate.
• Eliminate screen time (or reduce it significantly) for 2 weeks and re-evaluate.
• Journal (or have your child journal) every day for 2 weeks and re-evaluate.
• Change your (or your child's) diet to intentionally include foods high in magnesium, vitamin B6 and essential fatty acids, and probiotics (fermented foods) for 2 weeks and re-evaluate.
• Set up and go to appointment with an allergist (natural or otherwise) to find out if you or your child have an allergy that may be contributing. 
• Make a list of the positive attributes that go along with your symptoms. There are two sides to every coin after all. Look at the list often and have gratitude that you are the way you are (or your child).
• Sign up for the Herb fairies class with your child. Dedicate a set amount of time with them to do this and do not allow interruptions. Nature has shown to be a powerful treatment for those having trouble focusing. You can find it here: http://www.herbfairies.com/herb-fairies-waiting-list/
• Buy, “Exploring Nature with Children” it is a complete year-long, once-a-week curriculum for nature study with your child and it is excellent! It works beautifully for homeschooling families as well as families who use public school. Again, (and this cannot be reiterated enough) children have so much to gain in EVERY area of their lives by spending time outside. You can find it here: https://raisinglittleshoots.com/buy-exploring-nature-with-…/
• For your children, consider changing your disciplinary tactics. They have some great ideas over at focus on the family. Scroll down a little for a list of ideas: http://www.focusonthefamily.com/…/adhd/how-to-help-an-adhd-…

So give the Focus mix (and these other suggestions!) a try and let us know how it goes for you. We pray for your success and your health (We really do!).

Much love,
The Mama's