Ending Mood Disorders Without Drugs

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Ending Mood Disorders Without Drugs

Apr 06, 2007 14:26 PDT

 

 

By Gracelyn Guyol

 

Over the past 50 years, psychiatric drugs have become the major

tools for treating mental illness. The first tranquilizers,

introduced in 1952, have been followed nearly every decade since by

a new class of drugs, the latest being antidepressants. While drugs

were a godsend compared to the standard (and now seemingly barbaric)

therapies of the 1930s—induced insulin coma, electroshock, and

lobotomy—their shortcomings and dangers have become increasingly

clear.

 

Fifty percent of depressed and bipolar patients experience no

improvement with antidepressants. Of those who find relief, half go

off their " meds " because of the unbearable side effects: Psychiatric

drugs

often cause a 30- to 60-pound weight gain, 58 percent report some

level of sexual dysfunction,

40 percent develop tics or muscle spasms from

major tranquilizers, and significant numbers report increased

agitation, depression, mania, or suicidal urges.

 

Other unadvertised, potential dangers include increased risk of non-

Hodgkin's lymphoma, invasive

ovarian cancer, and lung and bladder cancers; doubled risk of heart

attack; elevated risk for developing Type 2 diabetes; and, in

children,

increased mania, suicide, and stunted or delayed growth.

 

And yet in the face of this prescription onslaught, mounting

evidence

indicates that depression, bipolar, and other mood disorders are

caused

by a combination of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors.

While

there's not much anyone can do to alter the genes they've inherited,

holistic approaches to the other two factors can lead to safer ways

of

managing these conditions.

Rule out Underlying Causes Finding relief from the symptoms

associated

with mood disorders is a process that starts with addressing various

physical issues. The biggest step many of us can take toward mental

health involves getting our bodies into the best shape possible.

This

requires skilled sleuthing by the patient and experienced

practitioners.

The goal? To identify and eliminate common underlying causes of

mental

illness, such as environmental toxins, medications, diseases, low or

imbalanced hormones, food allergies, parasites, and candida yeast.

 

* Get a complete physical, and ask your healthcare provider to

review

all your prescriptions and any illnesses you may have for mood

disorder

side effects. Order some or all of the tests below, using the

knowledge

of your history and symptoms to gauge which of them will most likely

identify potential culprits.

 

* Make sure you're taking the basics. These include high potency

vitamin, mineral, and amino acid supplements (see below) and fish

oils

to ensure the brain has adequate supplies of the raw materials it

needs

to function properly and override genetic errors or digestive flaws.

 

* Avoid unhealthy foods and lifestyle choices. Start by eliminating

the

" bad " fats. Fried foods, hydrogenated oils, and trans fats clog up

the

body's intricate systems and contribute to systemic inflammation.

Replace these bad actors with the " good " fats required for health,

such

as fish, olive, vegetable, nut, and seed oils.

 

* Cut out any and all substances that affect your mind. This may

sound

like a no-brainer, but stop using street drugs, alcohol, and

tobacco,

and either cut way back or eliminate caffeine, refined sugar,

chocolate,

artificial sweeteners, and monosodium glutamate.

 

Some mood disorders, those triggered by emotional trauma or produced

by

abnormal brain-wave patterns, remain immune to biological remedies.

However, two nondrug therapies, Eye Movement Desensitization &

Reprocessing (EMDR) and neurofeedback have shown remarkable rates of

success.

 

The Eyes Have It Traumatic experiences, such as rape, sexual or

physical

abuse, war experiences, or being the victim of a violent crime or

terrifying accident may cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Symptoms may include depression, anxiety attacks, rage or aggressive

behavior, suicidal tendencies, substance abuse, terrifying

nightmares,

and visual flashbacks in which the person re-experiences some of the

emotions and sensations from the original trauma.

 

Francine Shapiro, PhD, a senior research fellow at the Mental

Research

Institute in Palo Alto, California, developed EMDR after she noticed

her

own stress reactions diminish when her eyes swept back and forth

while

walking through a park. During treatment, a therapist asks patients

to

identify a vivid visual image related to the incident, along with

related emotions and body sensations. While focusing on the image,

negative thoughts, or sensations, patients simultaneously move their

eyes back and forth, following the therapist's fingers across their

field of vision, for 20 to 30 seconds.

 

Patients are next told to " let their mind go, " observing whatever

thought, feeling, image, memory, or sensation surfaces. The

therapist

helps them " process the association " —and deal with any distress the

images may cause—before moving on to the next focus. The primary

objective is to " reprogram " the emotional brain so it stops

continuing

to react based on past experiences.

 

In 2002, The Journal of Clinical Psychology reported that 70 percent

of

EMDR participants achieved results in three active treatment

sessions.

It is one of four therapies given the highest recommendation by the

US

Department of Veterans Affairs guidelines for PTSD.

 

Retraining Brain Waves D. Corydon Hammond, PhD, professor and

psychologist at the University of Utah School of Medicine, says

neuroscientists have discovered a brain-wave pattern that identifies

people with a " biological predisposition for developing depression. "

An

excess of slow alpha brain-wave activity in the left frontal area of

the

brain signals this predisposition. According to Hammond, research

has

found that antidepressants have only an 18 percent effect over and

above

a placebo and appear " to still leave intact the biological

predisposition for becoming more easily depressed. " By retraining

the

brain, it is possible to produce an enduring change.

 

Using electroencephalograms (EEGs) to measure brain-wave activity,

neurofeedback teaches patients how to alter the flow of electrical

impulses in their brains. The patient sits in front of a computer

screen

that's connected to a very small EEG recorder, which registers

brain-wave patterns via electrodes pasted to the patient's scalp.

The

therapist uses computer readings to assess " normal " or " abnormal "

levels

of brain waves at any frequency and sets up a program that rewards

desirable frequencies and discourages damaging ones with sounds and

visuals.

 

Learning to control the mind and giving the body a clean bill of

health

can help people with mood disorders avoid an often life-long

reliance on

psychiatric drugs—and save them from the damage those pharmaceutical

can

wreak havoc on mind and body alike.

 

Amino Acid Supplements

Check with your practitioner (or therapist) about taking the

following

between meals (without food):

 

* Tryptophan (sold as 5-Http), 50 to 150 mg for depression, stress,

and

to curb carbohydrate cravings.

* Tyrosine or Phenylalanine (or a combo, since tyrosine is made from

phenylalanine), 500 mg two or three times a day (too much can

trigger

mania) to lift depression, aid in stress management, promote memory,

and

suppress appetite.

* GABA, 500 mg as needed to calm down or for sleep (sometimes

blended

with taurine and glycine for calming).

* Glutamine, 1,000 mg three times a day to make more GABA and to

promote

intelligence or memory while healing leaky gut and reducing alcohol

or

sugar cravings.

* Methionine, 500 mg twice a day to lower blood histamine, which,

when

elevated, contributes to mania and anxiety.

* Cysteine and cystine, methionine, and glutamic acid, all of which

are

sulfur-containing amino acids that aid in detoxification.

* Taurine, methionine, and glutamine to improve fat digestion and

absorption of fat-soluble vitamins.

* Balanced amino acids. If you are a vegan, vegetarian, or do not

like

or digest protein well, try taking a balanced amino acid formulation.

 

Making Mental Waves

The four types of brain waves linked to mood disorders—beta, SMR

(sensorimotor rhythm), alpha, and theta—correspond to different

problems

and conditions.

 

Beta waves (15-18 Hz) occur when fully awake, with eyes open and our

concentration fixed on something. Considered a measure of arousal,

higher frequencies (21-30 Hz) indicate anxiety and obsessions.

Therapists often reward beta-wave activity to relieve depression or

to

improve concentration in individuals with ADHD.

 

SMR waves (12-15 Hz) indicate calm attention with physical

inactivity.

Hyperactive children learn to calm down by increasing their ability

to

generate SMR waves.

 

Alpha waves (8-12 Hz), when recorded with eyes closed, are an

indicator

of relaxed wakefulness and meditative states. Excessive alpha

activity

on the left side of the brain may indicate depression. Treatment

focuses

on reducing left frontal alpha wave activity while increasing left

frontal beta wave activity.

 

Theta waves (4-7 Hz) are associated with light, healthy sleep.

Although

the normal adult produces no theta rhythm while awake, these

frequencies

are important in infancy, childhood, and young adults, and they

indicate

pleasure. Children with concentration problems often have excessive

theta activity in the front of their brains. They appear awake in

class,

trying to concentrate, but their brain is literally half-asleep.

Neurofeedback corrects this by teaching the child how to reduce

theta

waves.

 

Emotional Transformation Therapy (ETT) is a new accelerated form of

psychotherapy developed by Steven Vazquez, PhD, a practicing

therapist

for 25 years. It combines the use of colored lights, eye movement

and

stimulation, and brain-wave entrainment with psychotherapy for rapid

relief of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and physical pain. Relatively

new,

the best source of information on ETT is

www.lightworkassociates.com.

www.alternativemedicine.com

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets