Our Western medical system is set up to divide the brain from body. We treat mental and cognitive health, by addressing issues from our past, by seeing counselors, psychiatrists or neurologists. They focus either on psychological or the chemical, and occasionally the anatomical aspects of the brain that drive our pathology. But is that enough to make us mentally healthy? Sometimes, but I would argue that in order for the problem to go away (without a lifelong dependence on pharmaceutical drugs), the underlying causes need to be considered, and that they are rarely being examined through traditional Western medical care.
We need to look at a Holistic Approach to Mental Health.
As an epidemiologist who specialized in determining the risk factors that contribute or protect us from mental or cognitive disorders, I’ve always known that the Western medical approach of separating the brain from the body would be insufficient to help many people who suffer with psychiatric disorders and mental health challenges. After all, we are made up of more than just our head. There are both signals that go towards and away from the brain described both by Eastern and Western medicine. Furthermore, we often identify feelings peripherally, in our stomach or heart for example, rather than our brain!
Those of us who exercise are keenly aware that both cardiovascular exercise and weight lifting increase can increase our self-esteem and elevate our mood. Many of us know that we get more cranky when we haven’t eaten, when we are tired or sick, or even at certain times of the month.
So here are just a few underlying causes that can affect brain health that are not typically considered, but should be, when you are struggling with any mental or psychiatric illness.
1. Chronic diseases
When people are diagnosed with a chronic illness, they can find it tough to cope with the limitations they now have to face. With less energy, more pain and discomfort, or having to make severe adjustments in diet or lifestyle, people often want to withdraw from the world, and become depressed.
2. Pain & Injury
For those who have been injured, it is not surprising that pain increases our risk for depression. I mention it here because it is yet another demonstration of how our mind and body are connected. To learn more about the reciprocal relationship between pain and depression, check out my article “How the Mind Shapes Your Pain”.
3. Pathogens
While many infectious disease specialists recognize that many pathogens result in psychiatric symptoms, psychiatrists often do not. For example, the parasite toxoplasmosis is associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. It also makes men more reckless! While there are other pathogens that are directly implicated in psychiatric disturbances, pathogens can also indirectly affect our brain functioning. How? By depleting our brain of the vital nutrients it needs, and leaving toxic by-products behind.
4. Allergies/food intolerances
While not well known in modern medicine, the link between allergies or food intolerances and psychiatric symptoms has been known for centuries. In fact, a paper by Newbold, Philpott and Mandell in Orthomolecular Psychiatry shows that 92.2% of schizophrenics had food allergies, and there was a high prevalence of other psychiatric symptoms with food intolerances. They have found that removal of the offending food has cleared the psychotic symptoms!
5. Toxins
High levels of heavy metals such as mercury and lead lead to an increased risk of depression and anxiety. Neurotoxins tend to deplete the brain of vital nutrients, enhance oxidative stress and free radical production, increase inflammation and excitotoxicity, which is a form of neuronal cell death.
Other neurotoxins in our food include MSG, aspartame, sodium benzoate and red and yellow food coloring.
In working with clients, and with my own anxiety, I have found more often than not that anxiety has been linked to either a magnetic field imbalance or excess exposure to EMFs. I had a client who at age 11 regularly hid under his bed for hours because he was too afraid to go to school. After getting him a magnetic comforter to properly shield him, the problem completely went away.
6. Lack of sleep
You probably have noticed that lack of sleep causes increases in irritability. Sleep problems can also increase your risk for depression and anxiety.
7. Lack of Exercise:
A 2006 meta-analysis of studies showed that exercise is just as effective as SSRIs. While this may not be true for everyone, for many, exercise is sufficient to help people overcome depression. Plus it helps protect memory and thinking skills. For a thorough article on how to incorporate exercise into your day, check out a bunch of no-gym workout methods here.
8. Nutrition:
How we eat can impact our emotional and cognitive health. If we aren’t getting the nutrients we need from diet or if they aren’t getting to our brain, our brain will struggle to do its job. While vitamin D, the B vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids deficiencies are often associated with depression, stress, or dementia, this is partly due to the standard American diet. In truth, a nutrient deficiency of any kind is likely to make your brain susceptible to mental or cognitive challenges.
I have given you a shortened list of the underlying factors that are not being considered by your traditional Western doctors, but I will provide you with more information and vital tips in my Top 10 Tips for Happy and Healthy Brain, which you can get here. If you’ve been struggling with your mental health for years, and you aren’t finding steady progress, then you owe it to yourself to at least find out what I have to say about a Holistic Approach to Mental Health.
Holistic Approach to Mental Health: How I can help you
Do you know anyone struggling with depression, anxiety, or any other mental health issue? They probably believe what their doctors have told them, that their only hope for relief is through medication and all the side effects that come with it. But that is not true. While I can’t make any promises, I’ve gotten rid of my own life long depression, and anxiety. I have helped many others with their struggles and heard plenty of great stories of transformation from other practitioners that address underlying causes.
So please help me help them, and share this article with your network. And if you are ready to work on your mental health and transform yourself, contact me for a complimentary consultation.
“Health is wealth” is courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
“It’s too painful to walk” is courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
“Sandwich with smoked salmon” is courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
