Depression & Anxiety
Natural medicine offers
many safe and effective
treatments for depression
and anxiety
Over 28 million Americans take antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications. Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S. with 19.1 million (13.3%) of the adult U.S. population (ages 18-54) affected. Depressive disorders affect approximately 18.8 million American adults or about 9.5% of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year. This includes major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder, and bipolar disorder. Pre-schoolers are the fastest-growing market for antidepressants. At least four percent of preschoolers — over a million — are clinically depressed. 80% of depressed people are not currently having any treatment.
Naturopathic and Homeopathic Psychiatry can be very effective in treating a variety of mental/emotional illnesses such as:
• Generalized anxiety
• Depression
• Seasonal affective disorder
• ADD/ADHD
• Autism / Asperger’s syndrome
• PTSD
• Phobias
• Bipolar disorder
• OCD
• Schizophrenia
The primary goal of naturopathic and homeopathic psychiatry is to discover and treat all possible underlying causes which may predispose the individual to a mental/emotional illness. These causes include factors such as:
• Diet/Lifestyle
• Medications
• Nutrient deficiencies/excesses/imbalances
• Food and environmental allergies
• Chemical toxicity/Heavy metal toxicity
• Hormonal imbalances
• Digestive disorders
• Chronic stress / Adrenal exhaustion
• Psychological factors (helplessness, pessimism, behavioral patterning, etc)
What is the problem with standard drug treatment?
Natural medicine strives to treat
the underlying causes of illness
in order for patients to live free
from anxiety and depression
Currently, the goal of modern medical psychiatry is to utilize medications that manipulate neurotransmitter levels in the brain in order to rid the individual of their psychological symptoms. Often these medications are prescribed with no concern about identifying or eliminating the factors that created the imbalances in the first place. In many cases, when the medication is discontinued the symptoms return. Typically, it can take many months before the correct combination of medication and dosage is found – if it ever is found. In many cases, psychiatric medications provide little to no relief in symptoms while greatly increasing side effects such as loss of libido, impotence, weight gain, emotional flatness, and insomnia. Although psychiatric medications can be of utmost importance for acute crises, they should not be mistaken as a long term solution for mental/emotional illnesses.
The key to the effective treatment of mental/emotional illnesses lies in the understanding that each individual can express the same symptoms for entirely different reasons and that it is far too simplistic to believe that a single treatment will be effective for everyone. Each treatment plan that Dr. Bryan Skinner, ND creates is thoroughly researched and tailored to address the individual needs of each patient.