Thirteen years ago I was misdiagnosed as having an unknown mental illness and treated with 15 different psychiatric drugs. It is only with the wisdom of hindsight that I am now, at the age of 50, able to see that I was only experiencing the early symptoms of hormone change. Yet I was never given a simple hormone test!

My physical and mental health was slowly reduced until all I could do was lie on the floor and cry. I have, with research, found that some people's bodies cannot metabolise psychiatric drugs thus causing side-effects that are mistaken as further symptoms of mental illness thus compounding the diagnosis! The deficient metabolic enzymes are known as the Cytochrome effect and the side effects caused by the drugs are known as the Iatrogenic effect.

It is very disturbing to observe how extensive this treatment is. I recently joined some online chat groups specifically for women experiencing menopause and most of their topics concern all the different drugs they have been prescribed and the side effects caused by them.

The key to the gradual recovery of my whole health was Dianetic therapy, delivered by my husband. That was where we addressed, for the first time, the mental side of myself. We contacted the painful - emotional and physical - moments in my past that were manifesting in my present life as symptoms of high emotional stress. These symptoms were triggered by hormone change.

Hormone change is a natural event which can be managed "naturally". I see no necessity for the intervention of drugs. The physical condition can be improved by modifying the diet to minimise food sensitivities. Specific herbs and extra vitamins can supplement the diet for a little while. But most especially the "mental" condition can be remedied with the added bonus of restoring an even better "you" than before the change!

I have, since first receiving Dianetics, learnt a lot about myself through further study. And this is how I found myself talking with Peter Shepherd - by inquiring about his The Insight Project course. From my preliminary reading of his book Transforming the Mind, and starting The Positive Approach, I certainly feel that it has "got the lot" and look forward to working my way through the whole of it.

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