If you were hoping for conventional medicine to honor the “holistic” in holistic health, prepare for disappointment. Despite the word’s emphasis on the whole person—body, mind, and soul—the playbook rarely strays from the old faithful solution: pharmaceuticals. Got chronic fatigue? Here’s an antidepressant. Struggling to manage stress? How about a round of anti-anxiety meds—don’t bother mentioning mindfulness or yoga. Instead of acknowledging the complexity of human health, the system bulldozes past nuance to prioritize pills, courtesy of a pharmaceutical industry that thrives on this single-minded focus.

The problem is, medications often act like band-aids slapped on internal issues caused by stress, poor diet, or lack of balance. Struggling with digestion issues and constant bloating? Instead of investigating potential food sensitivities or the havoc stress plays on gut health, you might walk away from your doctor’s office with antacids or other meds that mask symptoms while the root problems fester. Unsurprisingly, this approach isn’t designed to heal, but to manage—a distinction conveniently profitable for pharmaceutical giants. After all, a holistic recovery doesn’t result in monthly prescriptions, does it?

Take Kim, for example, who couldn’t shake her chronic headaches. Her doctor offered migraine medication, but little to no curiosity about her high-stress job, sleep deprivation, or overly processed diet. It wasn’t until Kim sought a holistic practitioner that she identified her triggers and reduced her symptoms with stress management techniques, hydration, and regular meals. The result? Fewer migraines and a new sense of balance—something that no medication had been able to provide, or was even trying to.

The possible side effects of these “solutions” are hard to ignore, either. From mood swings and weight gain to worse mental health over time, the “cures” sometimes create their own set of problems, ensnaring patients further in a cycle of new prescriptions. Tackling dietary habits, mental health, or physical activity costs nothing, yet plays second fiddle to the profit-fueled pharmaceutical steamroller.

This isn’t to say medication doesn’t have its place—it certainly can save lives or provide vital relief when there’s no other option. But when the default response to any ailment is to reach for the prescription pad rather than looking at the whole human in front of you, it’s hard not to imagine pharmaceutical executives rubbing their hands gleefully. Holistic health, as it turns out, is only holistic if there’s space for more than just a pill bottle on the table.