Q. I have always enjoyed salty snacks: corn chips, pretzels, French fries… Lately, though, I feel like I have just been out of control. I’m sneaking a few snacks here and there when my wife is home, eating whole bags of chips by myself when I’m alone—it’s like I can’t stop. I feel like I have a dirty secret, and I’m starting to put on weight. Help!
A. The first thing you need to figure out is why you’re doing this. Is it because you are “feeding your feelings” somehow? How do you feel right before you eat salty snacks? Anxious? Bored? Sad? Could it be that you are eating rather than dealing with some other problem? If so, that’s an easy problem to fix. Just don’t eat salty snacks when you feel that way.
It’s also possible your problem may be physiological. For example, our bodies need some sodium to function properly—it helps regulate blood pressure, among other things (which is why physicians tend to advise cutting back on salt for people with high blood pressure). An active lifestyle can require more sodium, however, and sodium requirements vary from person to person. Maybe your salt cravings come from a legitimate need for more salt—in which case, you’d be doing the right thing by giving in to them.
Q. I’m concerned about what’s going on with my neighbor across the hall. People seem to be coming and going there at all kinds of crazy hours, and sometimes it smells really terrible over there. My neighbor has been known to be really loud and erratic. I think maybe he’s cooking drugs over there, but I’m afraid to call the police. If I’m wrong, I’m afraid of what he might do. Even if I’m right, I don’t have much faith in the justice system, and I’m afraid he’ll get out and come after me. It seems better just to look the other way.
So on the one hand, I want whatever is going on over there to stop, and if it’s illegal and/or dangerous, I really want it to stop. On the other hand, I’m worried about what will happen if I try to do something about it. I can’t afford to move right now, either, and I like my apartment—I don’t want to leave. What should I do? Call the cops and take my chances? Just shut up and deal, and try to wait him out? Try to make it look like someone else called the cops?
A. It’s nice to get questions from someone who has thought things out so thoroughly beforehand. Is there one of those options that seems particularly good to you? It’s possible that any one of them might work.
Here’s another idea to consider: posing as a potential drug customer and seeing what’s going on in there. You will need to do a few different things for that. You will want to watch the people coming and going over there somewhat closely, so you can capture their clothing styles and mannerisms. If your neighbor has seen you, you will also need some sort of a disguise so as not to be recognized. You may also want to do a little research on the kinds of mannerisms you see from the existing customers, because that will make it easier to figure out how to behave yourself when you try it. Finally, practice a little before you go over there, and be sure you’ve brought it all together. You don’t want to make your neighbor suspicious.
When you’re ready, put on your disguise and go knock on your neighbor’s door. You should be able to get a good look around when he opens it, and see what’s happening. It may be necessary to actually buy some drugs to make your disguise seem authentic, but then you’ll also be buying evidence for the police, and you’ll know just what to do when you call them. You’ll be helping the investigation.
Of course, if you find out nothing is going on, or it’s something fairly benign, you haven’t burned that bridge with your neighbor or called the police, and you’re in disguise, so your neighbor shouldn’t even know it was you checking up on him.
Q. I have been out of work for nearly a year now. I’m also separated from my wife, and I seem to be experiencing symptoms of depression. I’ve been trying to find some help, but because I don’t have much in the way of income, it’s not easy. And there’s no way I’d be able to afford medication, even if any doctor I might actually find decided I needed it. Can you, as a member of the wellness industry, give some guidance for how to go about getting help, or something I can try?
A. Sure. One thing that the “medical establishment” doesn’t want you to know is that there are a number of things you can treat with home, over-the-counter, and alternative treatments, inexpensively, and without setting foot in a doctor’s office—and thereby incurring a great deal of expense. In your case, some people swear by St. John’s Wort (which is an herbal supplement), or even goji berries (which are berries), for depression.
Another option is, of course, homeopathic medicine. Watch some really sad movies, for example, or consider ingesting an inexpensive, over-the-counter depressant, like alcohol. If you just consider some alternative forms of treatment, I’m sure you can snap yourself out of it soon.
