Resource Roundup: Integrative Interventions for Depression and Anxiety

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By Avery St. Onge

According to a 2023 Gallup poll, 29 percent of Americans report having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives. That’s up nearly ten percentage points since 2015, quantifying the national trend that many integrative practitioners are witnessing in their own practices.

Traditional treatments for depression include therapy and medication. However, those treatments are often ineffective, leaving patients feeling hopeless. In this article, we’ve rounded up our top resources on integrative interventions that work to fix the root cause of mental health issues and provide lasting symptom relief.

Read more to learn about how treatments like psychedelic therapy, ketamine, blood sugar management, tai chi and more could benefit your patients struggling with depression and anxiety.

Advising Patients About Ketamine Use in Clinical Practice

The psychedelic drug ketamine has received much media attention lately. But how much do integrative practitioners know about this medication? And how does its use compare to psilocybin, a natural psychedelic substance? 

Regarding ketamine, a recent systematic review and meta-analysis of 49 randomized clinical trials published in The Lancet found ketamine to be effective at treating depression, especially severe depression. In particular, the analysis found a moderate to high response within 24 hours of treatment, with more frequent, higher doses outperforming single, lower-dose treatments.

To read more, click here.

Key to Managing Mood Swings: Blood Sugar Regulation

According to Everest Goldstein, PMHNP-BC, APRN, M.Ed, MSN, IFMCP, there’s a significant connection between blood sugar levels and mental health. Blood sugar fluctuations, she said, can negatively affect mood and stress levels.

Goldstein, a functional Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner in Dallas, Texas, explained that blood sugar directly affects cortisol. Spikes or drops in blood sugar can lead to corresponding changes in cortisol levels, which can exacerbate anxiety, disrupt sleep, and contribute to overall stress.

To read more, click here.

Exploring the Future of Psychedelic Therapy in Clinical Practice

Emily Whinkin, ND, joins Integrative Practitioner Content Specialist Avery St. Onge to discuss how the Federal Drug Administration’s (FDA) rejection of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD impacts the future of psychedelic therapy in the United States.

Emily Whinkin, ND (she/they), is an integrative mental health practitioner, researcher, and psychonaut currently practicing at the Advanced Integrative Medical Science Institute in Seattle.

To listen now, click here.

Mental Health and Chronic Stress: An Integrative Medicine Case Study

Many patients struggle optimizing their mental health and managing chronic stress. Beyond the mental, emotional, and spiritual health implications are the many physical manifestations that can affect an individual’s ability to both function and thrive.

In this case report, we review a patient struggling with chronic stress. Featuring expert perspectives from Peter Bongiorno, ND, LAc, Julie Luzarraga, LCSW, and Bill Reddy, LAc, DiplAc, this report highlights integrative and natural approaches to evaluating and managing mental health and chronic stress, as well as strategies to promote long-term health.

To learn more, click here.

A Multiomics Approach to Anxiety, Depression, Stress

Not everyone responds to the same interventions, said David Brady, ND, at the 2023 Integrative Healthcare symposium in New York City. Therefore, practitioners must look to personalizing the treatment of depression, anxiety, hypervigilance, and post-traumatic stress disorder using microbiomics, metabolomics, and genomics.

It’s only recently been established that the gut communicates with the brain through the gut-brain axis, Brady said. In Victorian times, a syphilis-causing microbe was responsible for filling mental asylums, according to an article in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry. In another instance, a New Jersey hospital psychiatrist linked bacteria on his patient’s teeth to their psychoses. Now, we have started to connect gut bacteria to mood disorders and depression. 

To read more, click here.

A Growing Amount of New Research Confirms the Many and Diverse Health Benefits of Tai Chi

Some may wonder how the slow, methodical movements of tai chi can have any health advantages, let alone the variety of significant health effects that it does have. Just this year alone, the practice of tai chi has been shown to help everything from balance to blood pressure, back pain to depression, and even Parkinson’s.

“Tai chi is considered to be a moving meditation that works on balance, breath, and internal awareness,” explained Andrea Felix who has been practicing tai chi since 2006 and teaching it since 2016. “Tai chi relies on the balancing of opposites with both hard and soft movements that balance yang and yin energies to create harmony and peace leading to healthful longevity.”

To read more, click here.

Addressing Anxiety in Teenage Patients

Addressing anxiety in teenagers is a complicated, individualized process that cannot be fixed with a one-size-fits-all approach.

In this case report, experts work with a female teenage patient struggling with anxiety and acne. This report highlights nutrition, supplement, and lifestyle recommendations for balancing female hormones and improving mood, featuring expert perspectives from Jaquel Patterson, ND, MBA, IFMCP, Tara Scott, MD, FACOG, FAAFM, ABOIM, CNMP, and Everest Goldstein, M.Ed, MSN, APRN, PMHNP-BC, IFMCP.

To read more, click here.