Posted by janejane on February 14, 2010, at 11:57:30
In reply to Question Mental Health Med + Physical Ilnesses, posted by Phillipa on February 13, 2010, at 13:03:38
I think it's impossible to separate mind from body. Thyroid for instance. This should be one of the first things to check for when someone is depressed. It's a no-brainer. Yet it is often overlooked, and sometimes psych meds are given while a thyroid problem is ignored.
There can be so many causes of the symptoms we have, from nutritional deficiencies (e.g. iron deficiency anemia) to food intolerance (e.g. coeliac disease) to infection (e.g. lyme, candida) to heavy metal toxicity (e.g. from mercury or lead), etc. People may consider CFS or fibro to be physical illnesses yet they clearly have mental/emotional components.
As far as I'm concerned, everything in the body is interrelated and if we limit ourselves to DSM diagnoses, we run the risk of closing ourselves off from many treatment options. It may be scary to look at all the possible causes of our illnesses, but I think a comprehensive approach is most likely to lead to the best outcomes. It doesn't make sense to pretend that the brain is somehow closed off from the rest of the body, because it really isn't.
I think that probably a good portion of people with mental illness do have a problem that can be treated with psych meds, but many of us are here are treatment resistant, and I think it's likely because our problems are more complex. One of the best things about babble, for me, has been learning about all the possible causes of my depression. It makes me feel more empowered.
poster:janejane
thread:936938
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100204/msgs/936997.html