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Doing Mental Health Yourself

Updated: Apr 10, 2024

By: Matthew Fantazzi


None would argue that Western civilization is in the midst of a mental health crisis, with America leading the way, spending the most on pharmaceuticals by over $500 per individual above the runner up Germany. By just about any metric this is true with Americans spending over $4 Trillion a year in health care, despite modern medicines advances the country is sicker than ever. The cause of these problems is vast and nuanced and to pick through them would take something more along the lines of a book than a blog post. Most are aware of the problems of for-profit medicine, especially in the field of psychiatry, with the standard of care has become a drug first, if not a drug only model with some therapy and talking through the problems. What people are less aware of, if at all, is the natural and non-pharma solutions that exist and have had great success in treating a variety of mental health conditions, and we're all about solutions here, so let's get familiar with these treatment options and hopefully they can help lead you or someone you know break free from pharma dependance. Drugs that I would say, have had their "safe and effective" label called into question, of course not after decades of mass distribution.


The Problems with Standard Psychiatric Care are Getting Hard to Ignore


Last year a shocking study started making headlines, the study found that there was no link between serotonin and depression, and yet the go-to medication for depression in America is the SSRI drug class, or Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor. For many this may come as a surprise, for anyone following this blog, I'd imagine less so. The effectiveness of SSRI meds has been in question by many for some time, after a full review of the literature siting the effectiveness of these medications found 14 controlled trials and found that, "Most of the studies were supported by funds from pharmaceutical companies and were of short duration." This led to a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of SSRI drugs in treating depression, the review found, “no consistent evidence of there being an association between serotonin and depression or that depression is caused by lowered serotonin activity or concentrations.” Of course, the articles will still argue that SSRIs are still effective and work but forgive me if I'm a skeptic given the pharma reputation.

The psych docs treatment of most patients makes me wonder if they even really know what they're doing to people with these medications. Many patients experience goes something like this, "here's an antidepressant, let's see how you do on this one, if you're not liking it, we can try something else, or even combine it with something like abilify." In my opinion, this is an outrageous method of treatment for anyone let alone the standard of care in most practices. Mainly because these drugs have such a lengthy list of serious side effects, what are they doing to people anyway? What does altering serotonin reuptake do if serotonin isn't linked to depression? Why are we using medications that can increase thoughts of suicide and homicide if that is the primary reason for taking them in the first place? Why is it that so many mass shooting events are carried out by people on these types of medications? These are all questions of course, that no media or scientific outfits care to answer with any sort of inquiry, let alone a scientific one. Some have suggested that any efficacy seen from SSRIs may be attributed to a placebo effect, a risk hardly worth the many possible side effects, including the recent rise of online groups stating the libido issues that have resulted from extended use of these drugs, a convenient problem for producers of drugs like Viagra. A quick search of antidepressants effect on libido, gives you a host of articles that try and offer solutions to deal with the decreased libido, they don't ever include, stopping the medication causing the problem, incredible. Lack of sex drive and affection also likely would have a negative effect on someone's depressive symptoms.

The problems again, are widely known despite pharma's best efforts, but when people are struggling with their happiness, understandably they eventually are willing to do anything to get some relief, unfortunately the natural solutions are never even presented to them. I think one of the problems with the modern medical model, is that it jumps so far ahead in the level of invasiveness of treatment to drugs and surgery, skipping over the behavioral, nutrition, supplemental, or natural protocols entirely. One disclaimer before going into these options, I am not suggesting that there are any easy answers, nor that these will work for everyone, but they should be considered because the risk of trying them is typically so low especially when compared to the common drugs used.


Lifestyle Medicine as a Treatment for Mental Health


In many cases the patient has developed symptoms of a mental health disorder due to some sort of traumatic event, I believe nothing will be more helpful for such cases than talking with a therapist or close friend and working through this trauma and processing it and learning coping mechanisms to deal with hard times. These strategies range from meditation, talking with loved ones, exercise which is one of the most effective antidepressants available. Again, there is no substitute for a good therapist or friend to help you work through the traumatic event and I'm not trying to simplify or minimize anyone's suffering by implying this will be enough to overcome a tragedy, but pointing out these things should be part of any treatment plan.

A recent paper from BCM psychiatry examined just these types of lifestyle modifications and their impact on mental health and concluded they would be helpful. The article states, "consisting of the evidence-based adoption of physical activity or exercise, dietary modification, adequate relaxation/sleep and social interaction, use of mindfulness-based meditation techniques, and the reduction of recreational substances such as nicotine, drugs, and alcohol. We also discuss other potential lifestyle factors that have a more nascent evidence base, such as environmental issues (e.g. urbanization, and exposure to air, water, noise, and chemical pollution), and the increasing human interface with technology." In my personal experience, exercise is the best antidepressant there is, every time I exercise whether something is bothering me or not, I will feel better. The "runners-high", or the good feeling that comes from exercise as a result of the endorphins that get released during physical activity.

That last part of the quote about human interfacing with technology also should not go understated, the constant stimulation and dopamine hits that come from social media, and consumption of internet content is something I think will be attributed to many of the mental health woe's that face us.

A 2020 article from Nature examines many of the factors that I think technology contributes to the rise of mental health problems in the modern world. It points out a statistic made popular in the documentary the social dilemma showing that cases of depression in teens spike in 2012, the same time apps such as Facebook became so pervasive, Facebook launched in 2011. This is focused more on the social aspects and how it effects our personal relationships negatively, as well as the image it makes people create of themselves, and their peers, especially teens. Studies have shown that the number one factor in an individual's overall happiness, the quality of their personal relationships.



Screen time also exposes us to blue light, this signals to our brain that it is daytime, and extended exposure at night can disrupt circadian rhythm and lead to poor sleep which is critical to general and mental health. It is suggested that you should stop blue light exposure after sundown, if you can't then use blue blocking glasses, and try to limit screen exposure ideally two hours before bed. Therefore, it is a fairly safe assumption that if we can reduce our time on social media, the mental health benefits would be considerable.

There is more and more evidence mounting suggesting that EMF exposure can have negative impacts on overall health and brain function as well. This is a field of study that has yet to get a ton of academic attention unless it is from independent researchers due to intense opposition from the telecom companies, but it is gaining attention in the field of autism and its potential impact on autism even possibly as a cause. Mitigating EMF exposure is difficult in the modern age, but it is possible, I will link to resources on this topic as well.


Another part of the lifestyle medicine approach is environmental exposures to toxins and other substances that could impact mental health. Modernity comes with many conveniences but has also exposed us to many toxins, leading to many chronic health conditions, and more and more among children having been exposed to these their whole lives. Things like PCBs, parabens, phthalates, and other endocrine disrupting chemicals can lead to hormonal imbalances that can cascade into a number of different conditions. Heavy metal toxicity is another pervasive issue, metals like aluminum and mercury are used in vaccines to generate an immune response and have been shown to have very harmful effects on the brain. The vaccine schedule has increased from 12 immunizations to now over 70 with more increases being proposed all the time. There are many practitioners who have seen dramatic improvements in their autistic patients after doing heavy metal detox protocols. Mainstream medicine has yet to come around on this idea, but like with most natural remedies, the risk is very low, and the potential rewards are considerable. I will link resources below.

Another source of toxic exposure most don't consider is building materials, the spaces we spend our time in can be releasing toxic chemicals that cause a number of health conditions. One company that sells non-toxic building supplies was renovating a school, while not a scientific study they got behavioral reports from the school on classes that had the non-toxic supplies used versus the old materials and the improvement was substantial, while anecdotal, this raises the questions about ADHD meds being over prescribed to the youth. In many cases these meds are a form of amphetamine and in my opinion is something that should not be given to any children. In our resources page there is an ADHD diet protocol that I will link below. The diet focuses on eliminating processed foods as so many of these foods are inflammatory and this inflammation eventually will get to the brain, reducing these stresses can bring great results for ADHD symptoms and overall health.


Nutrition and Mental Health


The role of proper nutrition is beginning to get attention as well considering the malnutrition that is part of the Standard American Diet. Nutrients like magnesium, amino acids, and fatty acids all play key roles in brain function and development or mitochondrial function that as many contend, will cascade into many different health conditions, including mental health. These things are starting to get more attention as to the impact deficiencies in key areas may have on mental health. These key nutrients play a role in production of neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin that have a significant impact on our mood and emotional state. There are doctors like Julia Ross, who has had great success in treating patients with amino acid therapy. She has a whole system she lays out in her book, "The Mood Cure", where she identifies a series of questions to identify which neurotransmitters you are deficient in, and that will guide which amino acids would help you, because amino acids are the precursors your body needs to produce neurotransmitters. She reports that clients have a very quick response to the amino acids and have left her counseling sessions saying that they no longer want to take their antidepressants due to symptom relief they experienced from the amino acids as little as 30min to an hour after amino acid dose.


Magnesium is a mineral that plays a role in over 300 bodily processes, many of which effect mental health. Magnesium helps stimulate GABA, a neurotransmitter that slows brain activity and helps the brain relax. Magnesium also inhibits stress hormone production, mainly cortisol which is the bodies primary stress hormone. It also has anti-inflammatory effects on the brain and can help with a number of mental health disorders like depression, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and more. Here is an article with a full list of the positive effects of magnesium on the brain.

When taking magnesium most oral forms are only about 2% absorbable and the best route of administration is transdermal or through the skin, here is a great brand of transdermal magnesium that you do a 30-45min foot soak in warm water, for 30 days and your cells should be fully saturated with magnesium if you're interested.


The role of the microbiome in mental health is another area that has started to get more attention as it is being found to play a key role in the gut-brain axis. There are so many aspects of our modern lifestyle that erode our microbiome including overuse of antibiotics, herbicides and pesticides like glyphosate, and a diet of ultra-processed foods. A book that delves deep into the many different roles that bacteria play in our bodily function is "Super Gut" by Dr. Williams Davis. In the book he talks about patients who experience huge improvements in their mental health over the course of his 4-week plan to restore the microbiome. These microbes influence many different bodily functions most of which were thought to be digestive, but we are finding more and more functions that they facilitate, including hormone and neurotransmitter production, also immune system functions.

Dr. Davis has worked closely with one of the featured brands in the Health Yourself shop, Cultured Food Life, to develop cultures that focus on rebuilding bacteria groups that our modern world has been specifically hard on and believes that treating conditions through the microbiome is the future of medicine we are just beginning to scratch the surface of. It's one of the reasons I promote them despite no official partnership, having read his book Super Gut, he demonstrates a level of knowledge of the microbes and their function that is truly impressive and gives me confidence in recommending it to friends, family, and clients. Having made my own yogurt for 2 months (they recommend 3, but progress not perfection!), I can say there was definitely a noticeable increase in positive mood and empathy, as well as lower irritability, which I initially wasn't thinking the yogurt had much to do with because I didn't think that was even possible but after reading his book and looking at the timeline of different changes I was making, it is the best explanation.


These are all interventions that I would personally try before any pharmaceutical, some of the natural methods seem so simple that the first inclination is that there's no way they could help that much. The only way to know is to try them yourself, everyone is different and what works for one person may not work for another. Many times, with healthy habits it isn't one in particular but stacking lots of small new habits on top of each other that lead to big results. Aristotle said, “We are the sum of our actions, and therefore our habits make all the difference.”

Never alter a prescription medication without consulting your doctor beforehand, but hopefully the information here is a good place to start having the conversation with them about alternatives to medications, especially if you experience unwanted side effects. There are links to all the doctors and studies mentioned in the article if you are interested in them specifically. Whether you are taking medications or not, everyone can start implementing many of the nutritional and behavioral approaches and see how you respond to stacking those healthy habits! If you need a little guidance shoot me an email or schedule a consultation to see if one of the Health Yourself coaching programs is right for you.

This is part of the new paradigm that Health Yourself seeks to provide and promote, where we implement these less invasive treatments and preventative measures on our own before going to the doctor for more invasive medications, surgeries, or procedures. I hope you found this helpful and gives you some new ideas and possibilities for you to do Mental Health Yourself.



Sources: Articles, Studies, Videos










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Living the Good Life Naturally | Homepage - Transdermal Magnesium brand



 
 
 

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