At Living Well Dallas, we use the Functional Medicine approach to psychiatry which is based on the principles that the body systems all contribute to health or disease. Uncovering the imbalances may alleviate current symptoms and may address the cause of the disease.
Diagnosis of depression, anxiety and bipolar disease and other emotional and mental disorders is currently based on a list of symptoms. As a matter of fact, psychiatry is the only specialty that treats the symptoms of a disorder without any diagnostic testing to determine the underlying cause. Luckily, things are changing and the current research and Functional Medicine are starting to change the landscape of diagnosing and treating disorders of the brain and emotions.
Addressing the symptoms of the disease is the primary concern of conventional psychiatric treatment and psychotropic medication may only tackle the symptoms and are not designed to address the real cause of the imbalance. In many instances, the underlying cause has not been addressed; therefore, once the patient stops taking medication, the symptoms will come back. Similarly, patients may experience the same symptoms for a certain mental disorder yet the root cause is diverse. Personalized treatment for each patient is therefore important, and this can be achieved through functional medicine.
Functional Medicine considers how the mind is affected by the different organs, inflammation, genetics and even the gut microbiome of the body and vice versa. There is growing evidence that toxicity, nutritional deficiency, blood sugar control, and other dietary factors are highly associated with brain dysfunction. Recognizing this complex connection, Functional Medicine examines all the factors that may have an impact on the patient’s condition as opposed to conventional medicine that only concentrates on the disease itself.
How Living Well Dallas Implements Functional Medicine for Psychiatry
We take a holistic approach that focuses on the underlying causes of your health concern, rather than the symptoms. This approach involves the assessment of clinical imbalances through the patient’s medical history, physical examination and laboratory tests. Functional medicine also looks into the genetic makeup of a patient and environmental factors such as diet, physical activities, traumatic experience, and exposure to toxic substances.
To fully understand the condition of a patient, Functional Medicine practitioners consider the psychological, spiritual and social elements that influence the patient’s health.
Our team of experts will explore a wide array of interventions that are customized according to the individual needs of the patient. Functional medicine incorporates therapeutic diet, detoxification programs, counseling, lifestyle change, stress management, mind-body therapies, and nutritional supplementation as part of the treatment. The aim of this treatment is not only to relieve the symptoms but to cure the illness and improve the overall health of the patient.
With the increasing epidemic of psychiatric disorders adversely affecting the lives of millions of people, Functional Medicine holds the promise of a more natural, holistic and effective treatment for mental illness.
If you are experiencing symptoms affecting your mental or physical health and want to get to the root of the problem once and for all our Brain Health program is designed to address the underlying imbalances that may be affecting you and combine the best of current medical technology with mind-body programs to help you live, feel and be well.
