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Mental Health & Mood Disorders
When it Comes to Treating Mood Disorders, Go With Your Gut
If you still watch cable TV, you’ve invariably seen the endless prescription drug commercials and advertisements for ‘antidepressants’ promising to help relieve the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorders.
They invariably depict a tortured human/patient - with sad eyes, an impossible job, and a miserable marriage - enshrouded in a gloomy filter, muddling through a field of clashing colors. The grim music underpinning the tragic message changes key when the patient finally makes his way into a medical office and talks with ‘his doctor’. Wearing a white coat, not manufactured since the mid-70s, the doctor nods, inexplicably understands, and recommends 'Insert Wonder Mood Altering Drug Here'. Suddenly the music changes, lightens – our patient takes a pill, and his life is changed. The screen colors are vibrant again, the tone of the music is uplifting. Our patient happily moves on with his life all while the narrator quickly and quietly lists the horrifying possible side-effects of this magic pill…
Which include but are not limited to the following:
-worsening depression
-feelings of anxiety
-difficulty falling asleep
-difficulty staying asleep
-difficulty waking up
-diarrhea
-constipation
-weight gain
-weight loss
-loss of appetite
-loss of libido
-difficulties achieving orgasm
-difficulties achieving erections
-agitation
-fatigue
-stomach pain
-lightheadedness
-headaches
-dry mouth
-blurred vision
-difficulty urinating
-excessive sweating
-heart rhythm problems (palpitations, arrhythmias)
And the worst of all - 'increased thoughts of suicide'– the worst possible side effect someone with a mood disorder could possibly have.
Pharmaceutical companies make it very easy for doctors to throw medications at symptoms, especially when patients are self-diagnosing and requesting drugs they saw advertised on TV.
A large percentage of the American population is currently prescribed some type of mood-altering medication, simply because they believe or were told that it is the only way to help them.
In a small percentage of cases, medication is an incredibly effective tool to help correct mood disorders.
But largely this type of treatment is at best useless, and at worst, devastating. More often than not, drugs treating mood disorders are nothing more than slapping a bandage onto an untreated wound. Mood altering drugs not only mask symptoms, they do nothing to treat the cause of the problem.
To get to the root cause of mood disorders, we must understand what has caused them in the first place.
There are definitely cases where some type of trauma has created psychological causes for mood disorders, and those should be worked on with a qualified professional counselor.
In other instances, mood and emotional disturbances are caused by hormonal imbalance, nutritional or digestive issues, intestinal permeability, chronic inflammation, medications, genetic and epigenetic influences, or any number of internal and external factors. Your mood fluctuations may have been present for as long as you can remember, or it can appear suddenly. In either case, there is almost always an underlying cause that is often overlooked.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE POSSIBLE CAUSES OF MY MOOD DISORDER?
You may be surprised to find that in most cases, a large percentage of mood disorders originate in the gut.
Functional medicine often refers to the gut as the ‘second brain'.
The vast majority of neurotransmitters guiding mood and anxiety are made here. If your brain is struggling, you can bet your gut is sick too. The overwhelming percentage of dopamine and serotonin – molecules required to maintain a positive mood and mitigate anxiety symptoms - are made by your GI tract. If your gut is inflamed and leaky, guess what’s going on in your brain.
Your microbiome speaks directly to your gut wall, and it is acutely aware of what you eat, the medications you take, the stress burden you have, and the amount of toxins you expose it to.
-Clean up diet (stop eating garbage)
-Eat probiotics and fermented foods
-Regulate bowel motility
Bottom line: If you need to treat a mood disorder, do yourself a favor by fixing your gut first.
How can I get my microbiome back in balance?
With the proper testing and diagnosis, we can determine what factors are causing your mood disorder, and design a treatment plan that will allow you to begin to heal and free yourself from anti-depressants or mood controlling medications.
Lindgren Functional Medicine can help determine the cause of the imbalance and remove it. Then once the gut has had a chance to recover, we re-introduce good probiotic bacteria to repopulate the gut. Then through lifestyle and diet changes, we can ensure you are keeping your microbiome healthy, and it in turn keeps you healthy and in control of your emotions.
DID YOU KNOW?
Mood disorders like depression and anxiety can be caused by hormonal imbalances which are a direct result of a lack of good bacteria in your gut.
THINGS YOU CAN DO TRO IMPROVE YOUR MOOD
You don't have to accept that this is the way you are. There are quite a few small things you can do, simple changes that will have a lasting and positive effect on your overall mood and emotional wellbeing.
DON'T SKIP THE CHOCOLATE
Chocolate is a great way to enhance serotonin levels, which in turn will make you feel better. Treat yourself to a square of high quality dark chocolate daily, and really savor the experience.
GET OUTSIDE
Surrounding yourself in nature has positive effects on mood, and the exposure to Vitamin D will help to keep the blues in check.
CHANGE THINGS UP
Often when we get stuck in a rut, the best
way to break out of that is to change perspective. So move your furniture around, get a new piece of art, or take a different way to work.
SEE IT AND BELIEVE IT
Engaging in visualization exercises where you picture the person you wish to be—calm and confident can elevate your mood.
MORE INFORMATION REGARDING LOW DOSE NALTREXONE (LDN)
