Recently, I search for non-drug based treatment of anxiety and it drives me into the fascinating (sometimes strange) world of complementary and alternative medicine. In France, where I'm living, these practices are on the rise. I first thought it to be limited to a small group of people looking for non-mainstream health procedure. Unexpectedly, I found that even doctors tend to perform it in addition to their conventional treatments.
In my opinion, the most significant case was a very old woman operated for resection of breast cancer under hypnosis, barely with injection of local anesthetic. As a medical student, I felt so disturbed but also so admiring of such a non-conventional and hopeful procedure. I think people (me first) should apprehend alternative medicine as an extension of today's sophisticated medicine.
So, what do you think of complementary and alternative medicine ? Please don't hesitate to share your experience!
Thanks for reading :D
If I had an operation I would ask for double the propofol! I think alternative medicine is useful for many ailments, but I would only use it as complementary if I had a major disease, like cancer.
I can't remember the source, but I read somewhere and opinion piece saying that labeling things as "alternative medicine" is often counterproductive. There are many forms of "alternative medicine" that are well established to be helpful (mindfulness therapies are the ones that I know best, but many others). What is helpful is identifying what works for people and weighing the efficacy, risks, etc. of any treatment no matter whether it was discovered in a high-tech lab in 2021 or under (or in) a tree thousands of years ago.
and having health insurance cover all the treatments ...not just standard kinds.