Lifestyle Change was simply Vital

Whilst the pharmaceutical industry is a vital one, it is not known for being the most ethical; those working in the sector rarely question it, happy with their large pay cheques. However every year a few are motivated to leave behind the lucrative salary and follow a different path...

That is exactly what Janice Wilson did by starting her company Simply Vital, and judging from some of her plaudits she is doing a great job of showing consumers an alternative way of thinking when it comes to medicine and healing.

After training in medicine and pharmacy at university, Janice built up an impressive CV, which included working for pharmaceutical giants Glaxo and Pharmacia, as well as a notable list of private consultancy clients. Her experience spanned product/process development, manufacturing and quality control and she was involved in the launch of several high profile pharmaceuticals.

After years of working with a passion, that had begun in her teens, for health and healing, Janice became increasingly disillusioned with the way that the large pharmaceutical companies and the medical fraternity as a whole treat people - churning out drugs and prescriptions like there is no tomorrow, with no consideration of alternative treatments, and offering a pill as an answer to every problem.

However it wasn't until Janice became ill herself that she decided to do something about her nagging doubts. As a busy executive she found herself working 70 hour weeks, travelling a lot and had very little time with her family and friends. As a consequence she became over-stressed and a bout of depression followed.

A trip to her GP resulted in the usual prescription for an anti-depressant, similar to that produced by the company she worked for. However, she stopped short of taking them and decided instead to seek help from a personal development therapist. Over time and much soul searching she discovered there were aspects of "her" that were being denied, not actively but subconsciously.

As Janice's self awareness grew, her depression started to lift without the need for drugs and she began to feel better than she ever had done in her life. She also questioned that if she, as a high achiever, had been completely unaware of these hidden parts of herself, then how many of her high achieving colleagues, many of whom were also suffering stress related illnesses, were also "living in the dark" as it were?

It was the complete lack of understanding amongst medical professionals about the real causes of emotional and mental angst, the dismissal that the emotions have little or no bearing on physical health and the ease with which drugs are handed out to an unsuspecting public that finally triggered Janice to make the change.

"I guess I had my mid-life crisis early" says Janice. "Many people consider a new direction mid-career, but usually they are quite fearful of giving up their comfortable lifestyles and routines for the unknown. However, my frustration grew to the point where I felt I really had to follow my instincts and do what I could to offer people an alternative way to find better health."

With her enquiring mind Janice began researching not only mental illnesses but physical ones too, exploring the emotional causes of both and investigating the power of nutritional and herbal medicine. She discovered ways to help people with depression in a much more gentle and effective way than the standard prescription of an SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) drug. Janice believes these drugs effectively prevent a person from feeling any of their feelings, not just the painful, uncomfortable ones that make people seek help in the first place.

The current medical system needs an entire overhaul according to Janice: "Medics are not trained to create health but to diagnose and treat symptoms, and pharmacists are paid according to the number of items they dispense. This approach, and the system that supports, it encourage a quick fix mentality and guarantee a steadily increasing percentage of the population are medicated."

"This approach is entirely wrong." says Janice. "No one fully understands how the brain and nervous system function, and raising serotonin levels to avoid feelings is simply anaesthetising people and preventing them from genuine health and personal growth."

The whole experience and the results of her research opened up an entirely new area of medicine for Janice. She realised that "health'' can only be achieved when body, mind and emotions are fully functioning and fully integrated with one another. In this state our physiology can function as it should, we can access our true "self" and then fulfil our potential as human beings. Never having studied a jot of philosophy in her entire life, she now found that her own conclusions aligned with much of the traditional wisdom that has been passed through the ages.

"Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food." Hippocrates (460-377 BC)

"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood." Marie Curie

This new found awareness allied with her previous experience, spurred her to make a difference to the practice of medicine and she established Simply Vital Ltd. The name reflects both her vision of health and approach:

"When you achieve whole health, you will feel "simply vital" and you don't need hundreds of different products to get there. You need an approach that I hope will be described as "elegant simplicity". Good medicine should ensure a person receives a "holistic" prescription according to their individual needs. This should take into account their nutritional status, emotional balance and encourage the replacement of bad habits with good ones!"

Simply Vital sets out to provide you with the starting blocks to nourish and nurture body, mind and emotions. Alongside nutritional products that aim to provide you with the right nutrients to help you help yourself (which have already won high profile praise), you'll find articles on why love is important, flower essences to help you become aware of and balance your emotions and books on the ‘biology of belief'.

If all this sounds like hippy mumbo jumbo, it's important to remember Janice's background. This company hasn't been set up by someone without medical training, but a highly qualified professional who believes the industry she once worked so passionately for has got it wrong by putting profits before people.

Janice and Simply Vital are an example of how an ethical healthcare business can and does work. So if you are not feeling right, by all means go and visit your GP, but have at look at the alternative too at www.simplyvital.com