Optimal Mental Health and Integrative Therapies

For people who suffer from mental health issues, modern therapies and medicine have felt like a miracle for some of them while others regret trying them. Some people feel like they get complete relief from Western medicine and/or therapies, while some people get partial relief, and some people feel like they get no relief from these more “traditional” practices.

Integrative Medicine

Integrative medicine for mental health supports a whole body approach to mental health difficulties and disorders. This approach utilizes multiple fields of medicine and nutritional sciences. Practitioners of integrative medicine for mental health, help patients regain mental wellness through metabolic testing, nutritional therapies and dietary intervention, to name the more typical approaches that are often applied. These are often in conjunction with traditional medical approaches such as different forms of talk therapy and/or medicines. Integrative medicine for mental health often includes treating biomedical issues that include but are not limited to: food allergies, infections, genetic disorders, nutritional deficiencies, and toxicities.

Integrative Therapies

Integrative therapies, often referred to as, complementary and alternative therapies (CAM) can be described as a new paradigm because it is a new way of thinking about psychotherapy (often referred to as, talk therapy), psychiatry and alternative medicine, It has developed into a new, integrated paradigm of how we now look at reaching and maintaining optimal health. These newer and innovative approaches to understanding and treating mental illness have emerged into the mainstream. It is more and more common for mental health care to include psychotherapy, a wide range of CAM, prescription medications, highly purified natural products, and other sorts of physical therapies that are applied to the body (such as acupuncture, massage, etc.)

Holistic Therapies for Anxiety and Depression

There are many different holistic integrative mental health medicine and therapies that people use to help with anxiety and depression.
These include but are not limited to:

  • Mind-Body Practices

    Meditation, hypnosis, relaxation training, imagery, etc.

  • Mindfulness and Movement

    Yoga, pilates, tai chi, qigong, etc.

  • Nutritional Supplements

    In addition to nutrition-dense organic foods, basic nutritional supplement recommendations may include multivitamins, multi-minerals, B-vitamins, folic acid, Gaba, Inositol, Magnesium Glycinate, Omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin D-3, probiotics, N-Acetyl-Cysteine, S-Adenosylmethionine, amino acids, etc.

  • Herbal Medicines

    St. John’s Wort, Valerian root, Rhodiola, CBD, lavender oil, Kava root, Ashwagandha, chamomile, ginkgo biloba, maca, rosemary, thyme, etc.

  • Essential Oils / Aromatherapy

    Basil, chamomile, cinnamon, clary sage, eucalyptus, Frankincense, lavender, lemon, lemongrass, peppermint, rosemary, sweet orange, tea tree, Ylang Ylang, etc.

Other holistic therapies that are being explored to aid in the treatment of anxiety and depression include but are not limited to, nature-based therapies, therapy animals, and music therapy. As more and more empirical research is done on holistic, integrative, and complementary and alternative medicine, it is likely that this new paradigm will continue to shift and become a stronger foundation from which to seek optimal physical and mental health.