To say that the last 18 months or so have changed my perspective as a naturopath, and human being, would be a massive understatement. Since the first announcement of Covid-19, my views around my role as a naturopath, how I treat and work with my clients and how I view conventional medicine have dramatically changed.
In the not too distant past, I would have referred to myself as ‘vaccine hesitant’. To be clear, I received all my childhood vaccinations, including an additional hepatitis vaccine/s as a teenager. My father was a nurse, and I can’t recall having been exposed to any anti-vaccine sentiment growing up.
When I was studying, I was young and impressionable. At that time, I saw naturopathy as an alternative to conventional medicine. I had felt dismissed and let down by doctors, being told there was nothing wrong with me when I was struggling with ongoing fatigue, debilitating period pain and mental health issues. Whilst I wouldn’t say I was anti-medicine, I felt very strongly about seeking alternatives to medication and medical intervention. I also suffer from generalised anxiety with what I like to refer to as a ‘dash’ of health anxiety (also known as hypochondria). It’s the health anxiety that made me susceptible to disinformation about vaccines.
I was about mid-way through my degree, when I was first exposed to the idea that vaccinations may be problematic and something to avoid or limit exposure to. I’m not sure how the topic came up (I need to be clear that this topic wasn’t part of the curriculum), but my clinical studies lecturer started talking about how in Japan childhood vaccinations didn’t occur until the age of 2 and that she had delayed vaccination for her child (who at the time was 8) and that if we had a healthy immune system we should be able to deal with whatever illness comes our way as is intended by ‘nature’.
As time went on, I heard bits and pieces about how vaccines at birth were traumatic for the baby. That vaccines contained preservatives and heavy metals that were toxic for babies, that if they’re breastfed and birthed vaginally, they will have the best protection against illness. At that time, I took this information on board as fairly gospel, after all, it was from the mouths of highly experienced and qualified practitioners, who was I to question their knowledge?
I never did my own research or questioned these ideas further but knew that when I had my own children, I would be pushing for delayed vaccination.
When I fell pregnant with my first son, a family member was also pregnant and we were discussing our concerns about vaccines. I was still nervous about my baby getting sick, so opted for my whooping cough booster post partum but didn’t get the flu shot and was adamant that I’d delay vaccination for my baby.
When my son was born, I initially refused the hepatitis B vaccine as I still felt conflicted about the possible adverse effects and heavy metals contained within, and again was reading information about the low risk of contraction of hep B in babies (therefore why would they need a vaccine?!). I spoke with several nurses and paediatricians about it, and they gave me detailed reasons as to why I should. As I spoke about my reasons for not allowing it, I started to realise that my convictions weren’t particularly strong and that I felt uncertain about the legitimacy of my ‘knowledge’ around vaccines.
My concern for protecting my newborn son against illness and disease kicked in, I consented to my son receiving the hepatitis vaccine and he was happily breastfeeding moments later. When I looked at the sticker placed in his green book, I was surprised to see that is said ‘preservative free’ (as in, free from thimerosal, the mercury containing preservative). This was the first indication that information I received about vaccines might have been incorrect.
I had 6 weeks to get my head around vaccines and whether I would push for delayed vaccination for my son. I started to ‘do my own research’, which I know sounds pretty cringeworthy given the current anti-vaxer sentiment, but I was (and still am) very experienced and knowledgeable about reading and interpreting research as this was a core component of my bachelor’s degree (and something I excelled at whilst doing my degree). To my shock, the research I did read about infant and childhood vaccines not only showed there was not only no link between vaccines and autism (a big concern of mine) there was also no mercury contained in them! I also found research that showed a decreased rate of asthma associated with whooping cough vaccination and a protective effect on lung and respiratory health. I was surprised and shocked and felt even more uncertain about my choice to delay vaccination.
I discussed these concerns with my doctor who I trusted and respected. I was met with a bit of exasperation (I’m not surprised to be honest!) but she very patiently went through all my concerns. The more we talked, the more I found, once again, that my convictions and belief in what I’d be told previously, weren’t very strong. I also acknowledged that whilst I have a Bachelor of Health Science and have a good understanding of the human body and disease, I do not know as much as my doctor! I chose to vaccinate my son without any delays.
Fast forward just over 2 and a half years, I didn’t even hesitate when it came to having my second son vaccinated at birth. When we found out at 9 days old that he had chronic kidney disease, I know that we needed to protect him at all costs and reduce his risk of sickness and followed the vaccination schedule to a T.
When news of Covid-19 hit Australia, I was unsure what it all meant. I was hearing information that it was ‘just the flu’ and didn’t feel too concerned. As things progressed and we headed into our first lockdown in March 2020, I felt more uncertain about what was up ahead. Information trickled through about a vaccination in the works and I felt my old fears and hesitancy kick in. This was worsened by information I was seeing shared by fellow naturopaths and nutritionists in online practitioner only groups. There was talk of the vaccine being rushed, an ‘experiment’, spike proteins and vaccine shedding, blood clots and information about the ‘true nature’ of vaccine being suppressed. Clients started asking me what I thought about it, and I was honest in saying that I was unsure about it.
As someone who considered themselves anti-authoritarian and at times, even anti-government, I think I had trouble distinguishing between this and trusting science/medicine. I have since learned that you can have a distrust of authority and believe/trust in science/medicine. Whilst I may not agree with the way the government have handled COVID, the vaccine rollout and lockdowns, I do believe that most measures have been necessary to protect the vulnerable in our community and prevent widespread infection and deaths like we’ve seen in other countries.
I am a huge user of social media, so naturally more information about covid and the vaccines started trickling through. I started to see a massive disparity between the information from medical professionals and those in the wellness industry. The information from medical professionals was clear, evidence based and often referenced, whereas the information from the wellness industry was aggressive, with fear driven language and vague references. I started to notice a strong ableist tone to this information as well, with a focus on covid only affecting a small minority and the mortality rate being very low (which is categorically untrue).
Information shared by my peers was getting increasingly suspect as well, with many links to conspiracy theories and so-called censoring of legitimate information. I started clicking links and reading the ‘research’ that my peers where sharing and felt very concerned. Many of the so called ‘research’ papers weren’t legitimate or from peer reviewed sources or they were case studies or studies performed on very small groups. Sometimes only a link with the abstract was shared and when I read the full paper, I would find that the report did not even support what this practitioner was claiming!
Throughout all of this, I started to learn more about covid (reading actual research papers), and the risks associated with it. I realised that my 5 year old with his kidneys functioning at only 50% may be at increased risk of kidney failure if he were to contract covid. Since we found out about his condition at 9 days old, we’ve always banked on his kidneys holding on until he was a teenager (before needing dialysis and a transplant) and I’ve worked hard to keep his health in tip top form with good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle, so the idea that this virus might derail this ‘plan’ had me worried.
I started to feel concerned about my clients, friends and family members who have autoimmune disease, cancer, respiratory illness, compromised immune systems and other serious health conditions and the risk for them if they contracted covid.
My mental health was also under severe strain after a good year of lockdowns and stress about covid. When we went into our 5th lockdown in Victoria, I knew that the moment the vaccine was available to me I would be getting it as I wanted out from lockdowns and isolation. I also wanted to protect my vulnerable son at all costs. When my clients asked me what I thought about the vaccine, after advising that they should speak with their doctors and specialists, I told them that I believed that the risk of covid, as well as things like long covid, far outweighed any risk associated with the vaccine. I also started debunking some of the information my clients had heard about the vaccine.
Over the last 10 months, I have experienced a HUGE shift in my beliefs around health and wellbeing and preventative medicine. I have come to understand how I let my anxiety and fear cloud my thinking. I have always prided myself on my strong critical thinking skills and I feel ashamed that I almost allowed disinformation and fear prevent me from being the best possible practitioner, parent, family member, friend and member of my community. I realised that beliefs I’d previously had about health and disease prevention were black and white, with tones of ableism.
The penny dropped that all vaccinations aren’t just about protecting individuals but also everyone in the community (obvious I know!). I felt a huge amount of shame at the prospect that if I had not been vaccinated and contracted the virus that it would impact my family as well as feeling emotional when I thought about the prospect of a member of my community contracting Covid from me and becoming gravely ill or even dying. This is not the kind of person (or practitioner) that I want to be.
Covid and the debate around vaccinations solidified my belief in preventative medicine. At its core, naturopathy is a model of preventative medicine, prevention is the best cure. Yes, we can eat the best foods, support our bodies with herbs and nutritional supplements, sleep well and stress less and all of this may prevent disease. But this is not a reason to play Russian roulette with a virus like covid. I know, based on my understanding of the human body, particularly the immune system, that you literally cannot predict how the body will respond to illness and disease.
I firmly believe that vaccinations play an important role in preventative medicine and a naturopathic model of health, along with all the wonderful tools we use to improve health and prevent/manage disease. Of course, I am still working with my clients to educate them about how they may improve their health through dietary and lifestyle changes. I still want to empower people to be in charge of their own health and to arm them with information that makes them better advocates for themselves.
It’s been confronting to realise that I (a qualified healthcare practitioner) had been duped by disinformation. It’s taken a lot for me to be able to open up about my vaccine hesitancy and fall down the rabbit hole of misinformation and fear, but I share my story in the hope that even just a few people will see familiarity in what I’ve said and their own hesitancy.
By re-connecting with my critical thinker self, I also realised that I want to be part of the solution to dispel and debunk misinformation. Because of my own experience, I feel so passionate about helping others to navigate the information that is out there and to improve their own critical thinking skills. I have gone from vaccine hesitant to being so bloody pro-vax that I felt a sense of pride when I had my first and second Pfizer vaccine.
I am also intent on improving the perception of naturopathy and complementary medicine and reduce the damage that the wellness industry has inflicted on the public. I understand that it may have decreased the trust the public have in complementary medicine practitioners. I will be blogging and posting more on social media in the coming weeks with more information about what naturopathy is and how I practice, and I hope that I can regain your trust in complementary medicine.