Lifestyle Choices and Mental Health
A healthy lifestyle can promote mental health and reduce mental problems. A study of German and Chinese students published in 2018 evaluated a broad range of lifestyle choices to enhance mental well-being. In this and other studies, physical activity was a crucial lifestyle habit for positive mental health, while smoking was correlated to mental health problems.
One Size Does Not Fit All
People struggling with depression and anxiety commonly receive mental healthcare based on a traditional or allopathic medical model. Treatment-resistant major depression (TRD), defined as an insufficient response to at least two antidepressant treatments, is usually treated with antidepressants, psychotherapy, electroconvulsive therapy, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, and vagus nerve stimulation or combinations of these. But what if this doesn’t work?
Research shows young adults have a preference for alternative holistic options that are tailored to the individual. A drug-free mental healthcare study of mood-related distress in young adults was started in 2018. It includes education, peer support, nutrition and lifestyle counseling, and recreation-based social networking, and grew around the idea that what really matters for mental health includes self-care, feeling heard and validated, connection and support, self-exploration, activity, and empowerment.
Homeopathy for Mental Health
Homeopathy is a holistic approach that harnesses the body’s natural self-healing abilities. A review of studies on homeopathy for mental health which was published in 2019 showed promising results. Improved levels of mental health in cases of depression, anxiety and mood disorders, OCD and sleep disorders were found, with no harmful side-effects.
The following is a case study of a 19 year old woman with a history of depression for which she was treated since she was five years old. Her symptoms were resistant to fluoxetine, escitalopram, atomoxetine, and psychotherapy. Individualized homeopathic treatment with Staphisagria, Nux vomica, Arsenicum album, and Lachesis trigonocephalus was started. This led to an immediate improvement in mood and a sustained and gradual reduction of depressive symptoms and, consequently, a reduction and then cessation of medication with antidepressants and psychotherapy. At follow-up eight months later, the patient is free of depression and medication.
Another study on the effects of homeopathy in eating disorders conducted in 2016 showed a decrease in severity and frequency of binging, along with concurrent improvements in general health. Still another study on the effects of homeopathic medicine on anxiety and depression published in 2014 showed statistically significant reduction in anxiety and depression.
Conclusion
How we treat mental health is a lifestyle choice. Educating people into how a healthy lifestyle including homeopathy can help them during times of stress is key to physical, emotional and mental well-being. Homeopathic medicine works as an adjunct to a healthy and holistic lifestyle.
If you are struggling with anxiety or depression, click here to find out more about services at Full Circle Healing can help you help yourself.
