Orthomolecular Medicine – The Best Treatment Model for Mental Health Care

Where do we derive our health care views on mental health treatment?

Health care views on mental health can be broadly segregated into three categories: 1) family and friends; 2) the pharmaceutical drug industry or conventional medical professionals; and 3) complementary alternative medical professionals. With respect to the latter, for the purpose of this brief discussion, we will focus on the nutritional therapy of orthomolecular medicine as it offers a dominant alternative complementary medicine mental health care model that is internationally recognized.

Our Toronto clinic focuses on nutritional therapy with orthomolecular assessment and treatment for schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, ADD and OCD.

Hopefully you have had the benefit of looking at orthomolecular health care as a viable treatment option but if not, read on … 

Part 1: Influence of Family and Friends on Mental Health Care Views

Friends, family, spouses, children, co-workers, communities, historical figures, and contemporary role models are all ‘role models’ in a sense and they influence our thinking on health. With cultural and family dynamics we tend to adopt a degree of ownership to these viewpoints.

When family, friends or associates are struck down by mental illnesses we look at their outcome and log that in the back of our mind. When mental illness happens in a family unit it starts a cascade of emotional responses along with stigma, denial, and hopelessness. Proactive families and significant others talk things out and sometimes this helps. Good listening skills help us build a story line of our experiences, a narrative, and this is a therapeutic technique (narrative therapy) is used by counsellors.

When talk therapy has marginal benefits in reducing symptoms we entertain the likelihood that a biochemical imbalance is at the root of the problem. Many look to modern medicine, others deny symptoms and hope for the best, and others research diagnostic labels to help understand at least in part, what’s going on. Fear often enters after patients and families as educated consumers, read up on diagnosis and drug treatment options. If symptoms become severe and some incident(s) requires family unit remediation (or police get involved), families are impelled to look outside the box of conventional understanding.

Read Part 2 for info on the pharmaceutical mental health treatment model.

Read Part 3 for info on the orthomolecular mental health treatment model