Innovative Psychiatry
The microbiome is the genetic material of a vast community of microorganisms such as bacteria, protozoa, viruses, and fungi that live in the gastrointestinal tract of your body. The combined genetic factors in this environment make up more than 200 times the genetic material in your own DNA. As such, this collection of microbes provide a strong influence over your digestion, immunity, and overall health.
In fact, for you to be at optimum health and wellbeing, these organisms must be in balance. When they are, they assist your digestion and strengthen your immunity.
There are harmful bacteria and other microbes as well as beneficial ones. As long as the “good” bacteria keep the “bad” bacteria from taking over, you can enjoy health and wellbeing. But if the good guys and bad guys shift out of balance, it can cause you to become very ill from a variety of diseases.
And along with diseases, depression and anxiety can also become unmanageable.
To strengthen your microbiome, you can
These articles about the microbiome are offered to improve your understanding of the beneficial properties it possesses.
Eat a diet that supports your positive mood and mental health. We’ve talked about the microbiome, or “second brain,” and how we can weaken or strengthen it with what we eat. We’ve talked about eating fresh vegetables of all colors. And how fermented foods like sauerkraut, pickles, kimchee, and kombucha introduce healthful organisms into our […]
A new study finds that a nasal spray formulated from the anesthetic ketamine is a safe, fast-acting and effective treatment for treatment-resistant depression. Researchers presented the findings this week at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association. Esketamine, the intranasal formulation of ketamine, recently received FDA approval as a depression treatment when used with an oral antidepressant, based […]
Johnson & Johnson patented a form of the psychedelic with less research and a ridiculous price tag. In a popular and public move, the United States’ Federal Drug Administration recently approved intranasal esketamine, one of the components of the psychedelic ketamine, for treatment-resistant depression. The nasal spray costs nearly $900 per dose—or roughly $7,000 for the first month […]
I just returned from the American Psychiatric Association’s 2019 Conference in San Francisco. This is the 175th Anniversary of the APA, and look how far we’ve come. The theme this year was: Revitalize Psychiatry – Disrupt – Include – Engage – Innovate. and it certainly provided fodder toward those goals. It was an informative and […]
“Though I am often in the depth of misery, there is still calmness, pure harmony, and music inside me.” —Vincent Van Gogh May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and I’ve been thinking about how to disrupt the stigma of “mental illness.” It’s a term I don’t like – but it’s still used throughout the world, […]
We celebrated Mother’s Day yesterday. What was it like for you? We truly hope you enjoyed a day of love and hugs as you celebrated with your children. But if you’re a mom who has lost a child, and especially if you’ve lost a child by suicide, this is a day that reminds you of […]
Originally published in Brain & Behavior Magazine, July 2017 An important discovery has been made at the University of Pittsburgh. It raises the prospect that there may be an entirely new way of relieving major depression in people who repeatedly have failed to respond to existing treatments—people at elevated risk for suicide whose lives are often unrelentingly dark […]
No Wonder Treatment Resistance Has Been Such a Mystery! Clue: Look in the Cerebral Spinal Fluid! A man in his forties, Greg had never experienced life without depression. Treating mood disorders didn’t seem to be his psychiatrist’s forte. (Oh boy…) At least not in his case. Every accomplishment, every failure, struggled for expression beneath the […]
In a world where things go wrong and people get sick, every once in awhile something comes along that makes things right again. I’m talking about something that’s so dramatic in its solutions we’re tempted to call it a “miracle.” But we won’t. We’ll call it a game-changer. Because IV ketamine treatment is changing history. […]
The anesthetic-cum-party drug restores the ability to make connections among brain cells. The Food and Drug Administration’s approval last month of a depression treatment based on ketamine generated headlines, in part, because the drug represents a completely new approach for dealing with a condition the World Health Organisation has labelled the leading cause of disability […]