Gary Craig is the founder of EFT. This is one of the most exciting healing techniques I know of. If you want to know more about it please go to the Emotional Freedom Technique Book and DVD Page. Gary and I recently had an e-mail exchange that he shared with his e-mail group. I thought many of you would enjoy seeing it.

Hi Everyone,

In this second installment of Conversations with Dr. Mercola, we focus on Depression... its causes and cures.

Hugs, Gary

Dr. Mercola,

I noted in your recent newsletter an article entitled....

"Treatment for Depression More Than Triples in the US in the Last 10 Years - Discover the staggering increase in depression in the US, and how one can treat it with a simple, non-drug method."

In this article, you discuss your successful experience using EFT with Depression and how it often disappears without the use of drugs or conventional means.

Perhaps you can comment on a non-medical observation of mine about Depression. In simplified terms, the medical model considers Depression to be a chemical problem. It is found, for example, that people with Depression have certain chemical imbalances that appear to cause the ailment. Thus, this presumed chemical problem is treated with chemicals such as Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft and the like. Interestingly, these chemicals don't cure the ailment. Rather, they serve to mask the symptoms so that one feels better -- at least temporarily.

Speaking as an engineer, and not as a medically trained person, I must wonder if Depression is truly CAUSED by chemical imbalances. After all, if the chemical treatment doesn't cure the ailment, then can we really conclude that these chemical imbalances are the cause? If we are looking for a true cause, shouldn't we go up the causal ladder a rung or two and ask the question, "What causes the chemical imbalance?"

This question is particularly important in light of the fact that I've seen many people, as have you, come completely out of Depression by either (1) using EFT or (2) shifting their diet. Since no drugs were necessary in these numerous improvements, it doesn't take a genius to question whether or not drugs are truly addressing the cause.

In my observation, some people experience the symptoms of Depression because of an allergic type reaction to certain foods or substances. Eliminate those foods or substances and the Depression simply fades... apparently because the cause is gone. No cause, no symptom. In other cases, merely doing EFT (either with persistence or sometimes as one of our "one minute wonders") gets the job done quite nicely.

So, Dr. Mercola, that's my observation. I'm hoping you can comment on it,
shoot it down, or add something to it.

Respects,

Gary

Gary,

I couldn't agree more.

I have a particular fondness for helping those with depression since it is pervasive and such a devastating health problem. There are not many diseases that people actually kill themselves over, but this is one of them. Left untreated, it can be every bit as fatal as cancer.

In the late 80s, I was one of the first primary care physicians to widely adopt the second generation antidepressants. I put more than two thousand patients on these drugs during that time. Many of the patients improved; but there were a fair number of patients in whom they stopped working. The traditional solution would be to find a different drug to address the problem.

During those days, I attended many lectures from some of the top academic psychiatrists and would always ask them the question, "What percent of people placed on antidepressants need to stay on them?" Their consistent response was that one-third of the people need to be on the drugs for the rest of their lives or they run the risk of a severe relapse.

That just never seemed right to me.

Unfortunately at that time, I never had a better option. Eventually I learned that sugar is a major contributing factor for depression. The book, "Potatoes Not Prozac," addresses this topic although I don't totally agree with the author's diet recommendations. I have found that grains and most underground vegetables are very similar to sugar and most, but certainly not all, depressed patients benefit by avoiding them.

Having said that, I have certainly seen many patients who were following a nearly perfect diet and were seriously depressed. Prior to EFT, I did not have many good options for these people. I am very grateful for this valuable tool which I now regularly use to facilitate a permanent resolution.

Earlier this week I saw a patient who was a classic example. She was following my eating plan nearly flawlessly, but was suffering from depression that resulted in crippling neck pain that had not improved with seeing a large number of alternative and traditional therapists. Unfortunately, no one had addressed the emotional traumas she experienced as a child from an emotionally abusive mother and an alcoholic Navy father who was not there for her. She felt that she was "not good enough" as a result of being raised in this environment.

She then wound up marrying someone seven years her senior, who rushed her into having children long before she was ready, and she had developed complications from this. We did a large number of EFT rounds and a great deal of her emotional stress lifted along with nearly all of her neck and shoulder pain.

I never cease to be amazed by the healing potential of EFT. It seems that with the proper diet and EFT there are very few patients who need antidepressants any more in my practice.

Dr. Joseph Mercola

This is but one of seven total e-mail exchanges that took place between myself and Gary Craig.

[ Part: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 ]