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Anxiety… prisoner of the metal collar

Stress and anxiety are helpful in life.

Imagine you’re hiking in Alaska, and you suddenly find yourself in front of a Kodiak bear that’s fresh out of hibernation and looking for his first meal. You can actually see drool coming out of his mouth, and the only defense you have is a spoon…

…Okay, bad example.

Let’s say you’re allergic to wasps. Stress is what tells you to be careful when they’re nearby. When you see a wasp, anxiety is what drives you to move in the opposite direction. These are normal defense mechanisms, and they’ve allowed human beings to evolve.

However, with evolution, the causes of anxiety changed in modern times: work, family, money, health, and so on. Cavemen didn’t care about all of that… but today, these are the things that stress us the most.

Today I’m going to talk about Generalized Anxiety Disorder, like I did before with depression.  Although it’s a really common disorder, few people easily accept it or feel comfortable talking about it.

Note: You might need a little effort and imagination to get into this comic strip… but you’ll definitely appreciate it more if you try to go along with my unusual analogies. Enjoy!

Translated by Ellie Rieber with edits by Patricia Rainville; proofread by Stéphanie Alcaraz-Robinson.

 

How the electric metal collar works

The anxiety thought experiment test

 

Panic attacks and real-life concerns

 

 

Going to the doctor and physical symptoms of anxiety

 

The psychological and chemical keys of the anxiety collar

 

The amygdala and the prefrontal cortex in the brain

Anxiety denial and how to test yourself and others

 

What to you for your family and friends and hope

 

 

CBT and a book recommendation

 

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Let’s put an end to the GLUTEN-FREE trend

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After toxins, vaccines, and milk, I’m ready to face another worthy opponent: Gluten.

Or rather the absence of gluten, as many people seem to believe that it’s a good idea to remove it from their diet. Truth be told, for some people, avoiding gluten is a necessity, especially for those who suffer from celiac disease.

Because celiac disease is strongly under-diagnosed, it would be cool to hear more about it… but nowadays, we constantly hear stuff like:

  • Gluten is a useless toxin
  • Eating gluten-free is healthier
  • Eating gluten-free makes you lose weight
  • Gluten causes digestive disorders in all people
  • Gluten-free food is more organic
  • Wheat was genetically modified, resulting in more gluten
  • Eating gluten-free is easy

Yet all of these statements are pretty much FALSE.

Do you want to hear more about the topic? You’re in luck: I made a comic that contradicts each of the aforementioned statements! What a coincidence.

To make this project possible, I have had the privilege of collaborating with dietitian Sarah Le, a nutrition scientist specializing in weight management and sports nutrition. She also taught me tons of new words, like “sorghum” and “manioc”!

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This comic strip is not intended for two types of people:

  • People suffering from celiac disease, as diagnosed by a physician. Gluten is toxic for you, so removing it completely is your only option.
  • People who have stopped eating gluten for any reason and deem their health is much better since. I don’t intend to change your mind; after all, you know your body better than anyone else.

This comic is rather intended for the vast majority of people who ask themselves:

‘‘Why is everyone tripping about gluten?!’’

Translation by Hadrien Laforest, proofreading by Lauren Knight.

 

Common statements about the gluten-free diet

 

 

Gluten is a useless toxin

 

 

Eating gluten-free is healthier

 

 

Eating gluten-free makes you lose weight

 

 

Gluten causes digestive disorders

Gluten vs FODMAPs

 

 

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Gluten GMO wheat and Monsanto

 

 

Eating gluten-free is easy

 

 

Conclusion if you're not celiac

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Cancer, chemo, radiation and … dandelions

Cancer chemo radiation and dandelions (header)

My initial idea was to write a cartoon titled “5 toxic beliefs about chemotherapy”. The goal was to take 5 myths about chemo and deconstruct them. In doing this, I wanted to challenge the false notions about chemotherapy that are perpetuated over the internet.

However, along the way something became obvious: it’s absolutely pointless to attack false beliefs on chemo… when the majority of people do not know what cancer really is.

Then, by pure chance, two oncologists appeared out of nowhere and proposed to help me make a comic on cancer! It’s great how things work out.

After reading this comic, you will have a better understanding of cancer, surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. And you will never see dandelions the same way.

Author’s notes:

I want to thank my two great collaborators for authoring this comic! They proposed to me the dandelion analogy, and told me they didn’t know where it came from (in short, we don’t really know where it comes from)… An ENORMOUS THANK YOU to you two for your massive help in the creation, preparation and improvements on this comic!

– Marc-Émile Plourde, MD, FRCPC (Radiation Oncology)

Marc-Émile is a radiation oncologist, meaning his specialty is radiotherapy. He is also the author of the blog radiotherapie.ca (in French) and he develops medical apps for mobile devices.

– Vincent Éthier, MD, FRCPC (Hematology Oncology)

Vincent is a hematologist and oncologist, meaning his specialty is chemotherapy.

– And the two generous doctors who translated this cartoon to English : Pierre-Yves McLaughlin, MD with the help of Martin Korzeniowski, MD.

 

* Note: This comic explains what cancer is, and how it is treated. I do not address prevention, not because it’s not important (to the contrary), but simply because it’s a very vast subject that I indirectly bring up all the time when I promote healthy living habits on this website.

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cancer03_EN cancer04_EN_01 cancer05_EN cancer06_EN cancer07_EN_01 cancer08_EN_01 cancer09_EN cancer10_EN

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