This practitioner continues: “Please could you help me understand what’s happened and how I can get through this? Two weeks ago, I started taking the mood stabilizer Depakine Chrono again which I stopped taking in 2016. Is this the right thing to do?” What can we tell her?

We do not give medical advice. As a general position, we are not in favor of such medications because they are a stopgap when there is a need for deeper healing. But if you are attending to the deeper healing and find a medication to be helpful in moderating the severity of your symptoms, we would not condemn this. Our concern is for your long-term welfare and benefit and it is because medication is more akin to a band-aid than a cure that we do not champion such things, but we do understand it is you who must live with the suffering and there are times when symptom relief is not only welcome but even lifesaving. So this needs to be your decision.