Personal Health
I am not a big fan of drugs, by that I am referring to pharmaceutical drugs. Granted some of them are very beneficial for dealing with situations for short periods of time.
All of these drugs are not naturally occurring, if they were they could not be patented. The problem as I see it is that the majority of these drugs are prescribed for extended periods of time and therefore the side effects to them can build and be very unpleasant to the person taking them and in some cases cause addictions.
My preference is to use alternative more natural solutions where appropriate. If someone is injured and in major pain, then pain killer meds are definitely in order for a period of time while the injury is being taken care of. Once the body in in the repair state, pain meds can be reduced and replaced with hypnotic pain control and then the pain meds can usually be eliminated.
I have had friends who died as a result of pain med addiction. It was not pretty.
On television we constantly see advertisements for the latest drug to loose weight, sleep well, get over anxieties, generally feel good. As the pitch for the drug is being made there is the disclaimer for side effects. The description to me is not appealing at all. I do not want to trade my situation for the side effects that they list as well as the other ones that they do not mention.
I want to feel good in my body therefore I choose to eat a healthy diet and add vitamin and mineral supplements to insure that my body has all the necessary building blocks to maintain the body in top condition.
Active use of the body is beneficial too, it is not necessary to go to the gym if you are not so inclined, though some kind of activity like walking the dog (you will both benefit), taking a scenic hike, swimming, riding a bicycle, most any kind of active use of the body will help maintain good muscle tone. Plus you will feel better as a result. Beats depression completely.
When we keep our bodies in good shape, then our mental state will have a better opportunity to be positive and we are more able to do fine tuning in this area. This allows us to help and serve those around us.