NBS #122: They Spent $1M on Mental Health Care… and She Never Got Better

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Many people are told their symptoms are “normal,” psychosomatic, or simply stress-related, even when they know something deeper is wrong.

In this episode of Never Been Sicker, Michael Rubino sits down with Miriam Putnam, a board-certified health and wellness coach and freedom-from-stress counselor, to talk about the connection between body health, mental health, and environmental triggers.

They discuss why so many people end up on prescription medication before finding the true root cause, how mold, Lyme, allergies, and other hidden stressors can affect both the body and mind, and why self-advocacy matters so much in today’s healthcare system.

Miriam also shares her own story of a traumatic accident, neurological Lyme symptoms, and the long path toward finding answers outside the standard medical box.

Timestamps
00:00 Intro: Meet Miriam Putnam
00:41 What Miriam does: body health, stress counseling, and holistic support
01:14 Have we “never been sicker”?
02:04 Why so many people are on prescription medication
03:40 What could really be underneath the symptoms
05:16 How Miriam’s journey began through her mother’s struggles
07:14 Medical gaslighting and being told symptoms are “all in your head”
08:42 Insurance limitations and why testing often falls short
09:51 Is healthcare designed to create wellness or profit from sickness?
11:24 Why mental health care often masks symptoms instead of solving them
15:56 Michael’s story about nearly being medicated as a child
16:55 Parenting, school systems, and how quickly kids can be labeled
18:34 PANS, PANDAS, and environmental triggers behind behavioral symptoms
20:30 Why real care is often only accessible to those who can afford it
21:48 How Miriam helps people get to the root cause
24:24 Informed consent and learning to advocate for yourself
26:39 The biggest lies in mental health and medicine
27:03 Miriam’s family’s experience spending nearly $1 million seeking answers
30:10 Why fixing body health is foundational to mental health
31:05 The need for more comprehensive blood testing
32:57 Why the U.S. approach to wellness is falling behind
34:06 Miriam shares her personal Lyme disease story
35:33 The airboat accident that changed everything
37:56 Hospitalization, worsening symptoms, and neurological Lyme
39:07 Getting real answers through integrative testing
40:12 The healing modalities Miriam explored
42:38 Trauma, immunity, and what may activate deeper health issues
45:05 How many doctors it took before she found answers
47:17 Why personal advocacy matters for everyone
48:41 How to connect with Miriam and get her wellness checklist
50:09 Final thoughts

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🔵 About Miriam:
Fueled by a desire to share a clear path to freedom from stress while bringing about desirable changes in the condition of your life—and to help others avoid the same misery her family experienced—Miriam created the Freedom from Stress Course after years of study on the body, mind and soul, lived experience, and passionate advocacy.

Miriam Putnam is a Certified Wellness Coach, Freedom from Stress Counselor, Holistic Mental Health Advocate with over 25 years of experience helping individuals achieve mental well-being without pharmaceuticals while pursuing a masters in Public Health at University of South Florida.

Coming from a family of pioneers, Putnam Publishing, Crayola Crayons, and aviation legend Amelia Earhart, Miriam has always been inspired by a spirit of innovation and resilience. She carries this legacy forward in her mission to “revolutionize” mental health treatment by inspiring natural, effective solutions for well-bein