A women dealing with mental heath issues showing the different faces of dealing with personal issues.
solarseven/Shutterstock

Mental and Behavioral Well-Being

Article Abstracts
Dec 15, 2020

Mental and Behavioral Well-Being

Treating Depression with Functional Medicine

Article Abstracts
Oct 03, 2024

Though depression is a common psychiatric illness, its wide array of symptoms makes it difficult to diagnose and treat. Conventional treatment options are often accompanied by more side effects than benefits. The functional medicine model is trying to change how depression is treated, while identifying the root cause of the disorder for each patient.

Only about one-third of those suffering from depression start treatment, and those who do are normally prescribed a pharmaceutical regimen. Studies found that treating acute depression with antidepressants, however, led to a number of adverse reactions and falls, while a large number of individuals did not adhere to their prescribed regimen.

Recognizing the disconnect between available pharmaceutical treatments and actual patient needs, functional medicine offers an alternative to antidepressants. The approach is a doctor/patient-driven partnership that addresses an individual’s specific needs, while emphasizing lifestyle changes that may be more effective than antidepressants alone. Research has shown that certain balanced diets, weekly exercise, and even some supplements like vitamin D, vitamin K, and magnesium may help regulate emotions and alleviate depressive symptoms.

Since the functional medicine model tries to address the root cause of depressive symptoms, and tailors the clinical experience to an individual’s specific needs, prescribing lifestyle changes may greatly improve mental health outcomes.

REFERENCES

The Institute for Functional Medicine. (2020). Lifestyle alternative to antidepressants. https://www.ifm.org/news-insights/lifestyle-depression/

Advanced Search on this topic

Other Articles in this category

Nov 16, 2023 | Mental and Behavioral Well-Being
A recent study published in the American Psychological Association’s journal of Technology, Mind, and Behavior demonstrates that limiting social…
Feb 15, 2023 | Mental and Behavioral Well-Being
A new study published in Cell Reports Medicine has found that breathwork may be more effective than mindfulness meditation for stress reduction and a…
Jan 18, 2023 | Mental and Behavioral Well-Being
Parents are busy people, often juggling multiple commitments. Add a toddler meltdown into the mix, and it’s easy to understand why parents would…
Jan 09, 2023 | Mental and Behavioral Well-Being
The mental health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to linger, and researchers set out to study how to reduce these negative effects…

Customer Service

KnoWEwell News Updates