I've experienced several periods of depression throughout my adult life, and while prescription drugs have proved helpful, I've been keen to explore drug-free ways to manage and treat my depression. I started this blog to share my personal experience battling this illness and the alternative treatment options I've tried, including dietary supplements, talking therapies, meditation, relaxation exercises, massage and acupuncture. I also post about current research on the effectiveness of holistic therapies at treating depression, and the blog contains guest posts written by others with depression who have tried drug-free treatments. I hope you find the information on this blog useful.
If you have an appointment scheduled with your doctor, it's good to ensure you take the time to ask questions about your health and especially about any condition you might have in particular. Maintaining a good dialogue with your doctor can mean knowing how to protect your health in between those medical centre visits. Note a few questions that many patients overlook but which you'll want to bring up with your doctor the next time you have an appointment.
1. Ask what would happen if you didn't get certain treatments
Doctors often assume that you want to get any and all treatments available for your condition or for your health in general, but this isn't always the case. You never want to overlook or ignore their advice or assume you can find better advice online, but you also need to be in full charge of your health. A doctor may tell you that there is a good chance that your body might heal from a certain virus or you may have certain symptoms that simply pass in time, like getting the flu and allowing it to just run its course. Be sure you know the risks involved with overlooking certain treatments, but don't assume that medication and such are always going to be necessary.
2. Ask what you can do to improve your overall health or a certain condition yourself
Doctors may not always give this advice to patients because many patients simply don't want to change their diet and lifestyle in order to improve their health or even fight a certain condition. However, if you're willing to make those changes, ask your doctor about what you can do on your own. This might include cutting out certain foods, doing certain exercises, investing in an air filter or other such apparatus, and the like. Let your doctor know you're willing to work with him or her to improve your health and your condition so you can get those personalized recommendations.
3. Ask about the purpose of certain tests
Your doctor may prescribe tests to find out why you're having certain symptoms, but some tests are merely to check on your overall health condition. If tests are being run because of your symptoms, ask the doctor what happens when the test results come back; will you need further testing, or will this tell him or her how to treat you? This can let you know if you'll understand your health condition with this one test or if you'll still need to wait for an answer, and if there is anything you need to do to prepare for additional testing.
Share31 May 2016
