There is most definitely a link between your diet and your depression although many psychiatrists are not going to tell you that. Not all psychiatrists are legal drug pushers; some do believe in treating psychiatric disorders by seeing the symptoms as what they really are- a sign from your body that something is wrong.
Instead of just diagnosing a disorder, they will look at factors such as your diet and what your blood shows. A thyroid disorder could be why you are experiencing symptoms of depression. If your doctor just writes you a prescription for an anti-depressant, the real problem is not being solved.
This is a problem that happens not just with psychiatry but with Western medicine. Especially in the United States, our health care system is run by pharmaceutical companies whose main purpose is to make money off of the general public using their drugs.
I could easily write several articles telling personal stories that I know of about people whose doctors put a band-aid on complaints that could be changed by the patient adapting a healthier lifestyle, evaluating their blood to check for deficiencies or learning stress reduction techniques that do not involve going to the local pharmacy. But this post is about looking for the “reasons” for symptoms that indicate mental illnesses.
Omega 3 is a supplement that researchers have been studying for some time now. It is beneficial in helping people to deal with symptoms of depression but how many doctors do you know suggest taking it instead of Zoloft?
I am not suggesting that you should ignore what your doctor says; I am only saying that there are other ways to treat mental illnesses. Many times a psychiatrist will prescribe first and diagnose later. “Let’s wait and see how the medication makes you feel before I give you a diagnosis” is something that I have heard before. Other times I have gotten quick diagnoses based upon one visit; that is frightening also.
For a person with bipolar, if the doctor is only seeing the depression, prescribes an anti-depressant and sends the patient on their way, they could be missing the mania that can follow. Many patients don’t complain about mania- why should they? Often it feels so good; who would complain? Many bipolar patients do not react well to taking an anti-depressant; it can bring on more severe manic episodes. A rush to diagnosis is harmful for just that reason.
There is also controversy about patients (children included) who are overly diagnosed with disorders such as ADHD. There are natural treatments for treating ADHD symptoms. Parents who try them often do not need to give their children any pharmaceutical medications at all. Although doctors and the pharmaceutical companies claim that these stimulant medications are safe and the FDA approves their use, how safe are they really?
Is it child-like thinking to feel that putting something man-made and artificial into your body is wrong and could potentially cause your body damage? I don’t care what a doctor says or a pharmaceutical company says…the truth is that it is their business to sell these drugs.
Long-term use of psychiatric medications could damage your liver. Patients are supposed to have their liver function tested by getting their blood checked at least once a year. And when your blood work shows that the long-term use of an anti-depressant has caused liver damage- then what?
Alternative medicine and treatments for true psychiatric conditions that cannot be explained by other medical conditions can be treated by methods other than pharmaceutical fixes. The problem is that access to orthomolecular psychiatrists is not common for the masses. Traditional psychiatry teaches that you use these medications that have side effects and can cause long-term damage to your body. It takes money to search for practitioners who use more natural methods.
Personally, I wish it was more commonplace to use alternative methods. Unfortunately, until the pharmaceutical companies stop running our health care system, a patient’s options will be limited.
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