Testimonials

My family has a history of depression. In fact both of my parents were prescribed anti-depressants. My father had been taking valium the year before I was born and has needed something for depression, stress & anxiety since. So I guess you could say I was genetically programmed to attempt suicide at 15. Looking back, it would seem I had a whole world of possibilities in front of me. But to me life wasn’t worth anything. There was no optimistic rainbow. I just wanted to hide in my room and not talk to anyone. I was tired of pretending to be happy, social and fun to be around. In fact, I was so sick and tired of it I decided to end the pain. I consumed ½ a bottle of aspirin, went into my sister’s bedroom and said goodbye. I told her I love her but I just couldn’t do this “life thing” anymore. As the toxicity took over my body, I got very tired and weak. I felt as if I was floating over my body and finally felt peace. Then my mother’s slap across my face brought me back down to earth. I was admitted to the hospital, fed liquid charcoal and sent to psych evaluation. When I was in college I still felt the depression, but I didn’t have mom to feed me. So I ate lots of pasta, fast food and candy as well as drank tons of sweet coffee, soda & beer- the All America College diet. I proceeded to have a few grand mal seizures within 2 years of feeding myself. This is when your body drops to the ground and flops around like a fish while you are mentally in another place and completely out of it. I was first found having a seizure in the doorway of my dorm room and was sent to the emergency room in an ambulance, where I had 2 more smaller seizures. The hospital had no idea what was going on so I was sent home to talk with a neurologist. I was sent to NYU medical for testing after my neurologist couldn’t come to a conclusion from his own tests. None of the doctors had answers for me- or should I say my mother, because even though I was now 20, no one explained to me what was going on. I was talked around, and everyone discussed my condition with my mother and not me. I was eventually put on seizure medication even though they concluded that I wasn’t epileptic and all my driving privileges were taken away. In fact my medications kept changing over the course of several months until I finally had enough of feeling like a guinea pig, and not having the ability to mentally focus on anything, or see objects without cosmic trails following behind them. So I took myself off the medication. Something inside me, call it intuition, said it was something simple to fix. So, I began practicing something I learned in High School-creative visualization. It helped immensely. I still felt depressed, but at least some of the anxiety that was creating the seizures was controlled…at least for a little while. It wasn’t until 8 years later, after being my own guinea pig that I discovered the foods I was eating was creating the depression, the seizures and the anxiety and irrational Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde behavior that ruined so many friendships. I’ve always been a person who sees the world from a different view point. In fact, this is what led to a lot of my depression as a teen and followed me into my twenties. I didn’t enjoy being different. But when I was 28 I hit the wall. I got to a point where I was so sick and tired of feeling stressed out, anxious, depressed and out of control in my own life that I made a change. A big change, at least to me at the time. The process of what transpired was nothing short of amazing. By gradually changing the foods I was eating and paying attention to which foods best helped me personally, not just from what statistics or general guideline say, but really made a difference for me, along with the right physical activity and basically giving my entire life a do-over, I transformed my health, my mental state, my emotional state as well as the quality of my life-naturally, with no drugs. I wasn’t fortunate enough to have a professional help me in this process so it took me longer than it takes many of my clients now. But if it weren’t for my personal experience I wouldn’t be where I am today. My ability to naturally beat my own depression, anxiety and stress empowered me to know how to help other women in the same painful place. I’ve helped so many women become empowered and in control of their own lives, that I look back and am grateful that I never succeeded in any of my suicide attempts. It’s a blessing to have had the experience, but an even great blessing to change and save a life. Dina Hansen is a Board Certified Doctor of Natural Health, Certified Integrative Nutrition Counselor and Stress Management Consultant residing in Florida with her daughter, her husband and three cats. For information about how she can help you recover just like she did, please visit her website at AHealthyLifeCoach.com or email her at 4HealthyLifeCoaching@gmail.com.