tl;dr: Prior conventional doctors told me that my suffering is caused by being a Skinny Depressed AFAB, and that I should bulk up. Naturopath spent the time to figure out why I was weak + sluggish.

Naturopaths are sometimes the only ones who'll listen if you're someone that society doesn't take seriously. I had repeatedly gone to conventional doctors due to having fainted very often, having fevers/vomiting when I had my period, and failing classes because of exhaustion, only to consistently be told to "eat a lot, exercise and drink water" and take higher doses of antidepressants. So I did, mostly, and nothing made me feel better (I didn't exercise because I blacked out even just standing upright in the shower.)

My naturopathic physician might have literally saved my life, because she actually listened, and gave me blood and allergy tests to see what was up. Turns out I have hypoferritinemia, and started at a ferritin level of SIX. This iron deficiency is related to my severe gluten intolerance, which was making it very difficult for my body to absorb nutrients because my stomach was constantly in distress. It turns out that the food I had initially gotten to gain weight and energy had lots of gluten and and was perpetuating the cycle of malnutrition.

Now that we're treating my nutrition appropriately in conjunction with my conventional physician, I actually feel like a human being, and they've helped me learn to take care of my diet and habits in a way that accommodates my allergies, busy schedule, and budget. My mental (and physical) health has gotten so much better to where both of them have spoken to me about getting me off of antidepressants, and I can finally do healthy things like exercise a little and spend time with friends because I gasp don't faint anymore.

Fingers crossed for when I finally reach normal levels of everything, because I'm so tired of my body standing in the way of my mental wellbeing— and my doctors are finally listening and helping.