I mean, c'mon. isn't the whole reason we take anti-depressant drugs centered around NOT wanting to give up, check out, commit suicide, stop living, etc.? So, we take a drug that makes us more bummed? To the point of suicide?

When are we going to stop running to a doctor every time we (or our children) have sniffle or pang to get that 'magic pill' that somehow ALWAYS manages to have a side effect worse than the original symptom??

Don't tell me about the marvels of modern medicine, I know about an awful lot of them. And, in case you're getting the wrong idea, I have immense respect for scientists and researchers who have devoted lifetimes to try and find ways to overcome modern man's illnesses.

I have immense respect for most medical doctors and practitioners who have devoted their lives to trying to help and heal their fellow man.

However, the insurance companies, the pharmaceutical companies, the 'big business' of medicine - they can go away any day now. When the almighty dollar supercedes the importance of life, it's time to do something.

Also, why in the heck can't we learn to stop throwing the baby out with the bathwater??? With the advent of 'science', all of a sudden everything our ancestors did and believed in the realm of healing was all of a sudden labeled 'superstition' and ineffective 'folk medicine.'

Isn't it funny that now we're realizing how right much of that folk medicine was. Mistletoe is being researched for its effect on Cancer - with astounding results. St John's Wort is now known to be a very effective anti-depressant (without making you want to kill yourself!), light - that's right, light - is being used to treat ulcers, infections, carpal tunnel syndrome, and a host of other ailments - successfully.

Therapeutic touch is being used in hospitals for surgery and heart patients, successfully. The power of prayer - dubbed ineffective by the so-called scientific experts for decades upon decades - has now been proven to have a measurable positive effect on the ill.

So, is the pendulum finally swinging back to center? I sure as heck hope so. But, more than that, I hope it doesn't completely swing in the opposite direction.

If I feel my children need medical attention, I do NOT HESITATE to get it for them. But, if I can keep my children healthy in the first place with natural therapies, herbs, vitamins, good nutrition and treat them at home in the same manner successfully, I do that.

We need that ever-elusive balance. Science, allopathic and 'alternative' medicine working TOGETHER for the good of the people. In my humble opinion, THAT is what 'holistic' should mean. Everything working together as a whole to help the whole of the person. The new buzz term for this is 'Integrative Medicine'.