Suggestions normally come from a good place. We want people to feel better, we think we know a way to help, so we share. But lets be real here, every mental or physical illness can not be healed by the latest fad diet or the new “it” supplement and offering them as a cure all can honestly be very rude and condescending.

Of course I’ve tried to heal from Lyme Disease, of course I’m still working on it actively. I’m not better yet, I’m not just going to give in and submit to it. I’ve found that there are some things that seriously work, but they normally aren’t the things suggested to me by everyday people. They are things my doctor suggested or things that other people with this disease had work for them. They aren’t things that your best friend sells (hello oils) or diets that your mother in law did for her energy (hello keto).

Having an endless line of suggestions that probably won’t do anything aren’t helpful, they’re just saying ‘you clearly aren’t trying everything to get better.” That’s normally not what people mean when they suggest them, but that is normally how it comes off. It also comes off as people thinking they know a lot more than your doctors about science and yourself about your body. Neither of these is true.

That’s not to say that all suggestions are rubbish, some of them might help. How does one pick which ones to try and which ones not to?

Well for starters pay attention to who is suggesting them. If anyone is selling anything, no matter how good a friend, then I’d say pass. There is a reason there are guidelines to keep our doctors from profiting off our prescriptions. The same should go for your friends and their detox teas, essential oils, or miracle vitamins. The same should go for your homeopathic doctor and in house medications.

I also think you should be hyper aware of trendy words. It doesn’t mean that any detox or anti-inflammatory wouldn’t help, but more often than not those labels are stuck on everything because they make diet books and products sell. If you know you need something along those lines you really need to do your research and not run off of the things the people in your life tell you as fact.

Another thing? Really listen to your doctor. Really look for people who have the same mental or physical illness as you. Listen carefully to what they say helped. Compare and contrast it with what you know from listening to your own body. Don’t get so caught up in peoples suggestions that you spend money you shouldn’t spend or you make your body more weak than it already is.

Your body and mind probably does need help to heal, but what we aid it with can make a big difference. So don’t give it just anything.