Drugs, alcohol, teens, and homeopathy

Last night I spoke at the Vashon PTSA meeting about being a teenager in a small town: isolation, limited access to teen-friendly clubs and events, raging hormones, and plain old confusion around "who am I now?"

Not an easy time. I remember when I was 16 growing up in a small town near Boston in a similar situation. I had an eating disorder nobody knew about. In fact unless you were paying attention, I looked like a normal straight-A student, member of the French club and Track team, a dancer and artist.

Inside was a struggling young woman with huge self-image issues that I hid fairly well - like many teens. My parents, like most, wanted the best for me. But their own marital issues cast a fog over my teen years.

If I had known a non-toxic, non-addictive, inexpensive form of medicine existed that could have helped me with my changing body and my low self-confidence? I would have jumped at the opportunity.

Flash forward to 2008. Many teens are on SSRIs, Adderol, birth control pills, painkillers, speed, pot, and now crystal meth to deal with their mental, emotional, and physical pain. Most parents, nevermind teens, have no idea that homeopathy can treat these isses: painful periods, depression, anxiety, ADHD, acne, and insecurities. This medicine can help ease the transition of hormones, gently support the development of an adult identity, decrease the pain that physical changes can create.

I'd like to imagine a world where the teen years didn't have to create so much pain, where people had access to more resources and felt part of a community that sincerely cared about the quality of their young adults' lives.