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Editors note: We should preface this information on 5-HTP with suggesting you either read Julia Ross, M. A. 's book The Mood Cure or consult with your health care practitioner if you have serious mood problems. The following is excerpted from an article in this issue of totalhealth and can be accessed in its entirety at totalhealthmagazine.com after May 15, 2003.
It is clear that our moods are deteriorating at unprecedented rates. What is not clear is why. What is this tidal wave of emotional malaise all about? Are our lives so much more unhappy than they were one hundred years ago or even 10 years ago? It is true that we arc facing some unprecedented adversity in the 21st century. Even if it is the high pressure or the absence of family support or the terrorist threat, for example, why are we now so unresponsive to traditionally reliable remedies like long vacations, psychotherapy and spiritual counsel? Why are we forced to turn more and more to medication for solace?
I propose that much of our increasing emotional distress stems from easily correctable malfunctions in our brain and body...