“Many women I work with know something feels off in their bodies, yet they’ve just had their annual physical and been told everything looks fine.”
Brooke Bearden is an integrative psychiatric PA-C bridging conventional medicine and holistic care. Her work explores how individual lifestyle as well as broader systemic and environmental factors influence our health.
TAKEAWAYS
Advocate for Yourself
When you’re juggling work and a busy life, as many of my patients are, it can be difficult to achieve optimal health. Primary care and routine screenings focus on identifying disease, but results within the normal range don’t necessarily mean your body is functioning at its best.
Unless you spend a lot of time outdoors, which is hard for working women, it’s rare these days to see people at optimal levels without supplementations. Vitamin D, iron and ferritin deficiencies are three common ones that show up.
Normal Labs. Real Symptoms.
I look at burnout, chronic stress, and anxiety through the biology of our nervous system. It’s important to understand that these systems were designed for a world that allowed us to switch from our parasympathetic (resting) and sympathetic (fight or flight) often.
In the modern world, we’re constantly on demand — and we are strong. We endure pressure for years until the body starts to shut down.
I encourage you to find the easiest points of entry for relief, it’s hard and different for everyone. Be honest with yourself about your quality of life, and make time to unwind before bed and meals. These simple yet impactful habits can help regulate your nervous system and mitigate the downstream effects of stress.
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