Here we are in a new year, which can be a time for new resolutions for ongoing issues and situations.  One thing I definitely learned this winter? Wear a hat.  Especially at night while sleeping in cold bedrooms.  The simple act of keeping your head warm prevents loss of body heat and can help guard against sinus headaches, coughs, and respiratory problems.  The essential oils of peppermint, rosemary and thyme, once again, when diffused in a room, can help resolve existing sinus and respiratory discomforts and restore freer breathing in a few minutes.  No decongestants or chemicals needed.  One does need to be alert for mucus buildup of course, and OTC remedies available for that are effective.  If taken in a timely way, the combination of the OTC mucus medicines, the essential oil diffusion, and warmth on the head, can help prevent respiratory infections.

The other night I saw an advertisement on television for a drug rehabilitation program.  The presenter said that people would be "cured" of their addiction issues by using his system, and also that he does not use a "disease model."  While I think a move away from a disease model is a positive step, the use of the world cure is a major red flag for me.  Cure implies a complete removal of not just symptoms but the condition in its entirety.  End of that story. It seems like a rather inflated claim for any treatment model, but it is one that is heard quite frequently.  It makes me skeptical and I have a strong feeling that it contributes to the pervasive feeling of skepticism that people have about alternative healing in general.  While allopathic medicine  does not always "cure", people at least have a sense of what to expect and are familiar with it.  An alternative approach is unfamiliar, and if it is preceded by claims that are not fulfilled, it is likely to be discarded immediately and not investigated again in any form. 

The issue of not using a disease model for addiction is also worth investigating.  Addictive processes are, more and more, being shown to be intimately and inextricably linked to brain chemistry.  You can balance that chemistry and do things to aid more positive function.  The fact that one's brain chemistry is variable in a way that tends toward addiction doesn't, in my opinion, equate to "disease" as it is thought of in this time.  Something "wrong", something that has to go away altogether and can be made to do so.  In the case of addictions, also, there is a value judgement attached to recovery which turns very sour if a person does not "recover".  It seems to me, however, that if the underlying conditions of the body are not addressed in this situation, recovery will not truly be possible.  And, we are talking about recovery and balance, not cure which implies that nothing further of the condition exists.   My sense of this is that one can be restored to balance and a level of harmony with the proper approaches, including alternative ones.  The big piece of this that doesn't get addressed in claims of cure? The individual takes responsibility for their own progress and learns from what has gone before, understanding that parts of that "before" will always be with them.  Those parts just don't have to be in control.

It is very difficult to know who to believe and what to think about many things.  It is possible to make an informed decision, however, and this is coming to be one of the most important steps anyone can take in maintaining their health.  You have to decide for yourself who to listen to.