Complementary and Alternative Medicine Therapies to Promote Healthy Moods
Section snippets
Health: physical and mental
Mental health is closely tied to physical health. A successful athlete exhibits strength, flexibility, endurance, coordination, focus, resilience, teamwork, and sport-specific skills. Similarly, a mentally healthy person exhibits confidence, courage, cheerfulness, coping abilities, hardiness, and focused attention. It's not that the fit athlete never stumbles or that he/she always hits a home run, but that, barring a catastrophe, he/she can get up and try again. Similarly, a mentally healthy
Lifestyle essentials: the fundamentals for healthy moods
Successful athletic coaches emphasize the fundamental skills of their sport. When it comes to mental and physical health, the fundamentals are excellent nutrition (including avoiding toxic ingestions and inhalations while optimizing the intake of essential nutrients); exercise balanced with restful sleep; a healthy environment (such as plenty of sunshine; mood-boosting music; minimal environmental and psychosocial toxins; and supportive family, friends, and community); and mind–body therapies
Biochemical therapies
Because of our individual uniqueness (genomic variability), diet, and environment, some individuals require additional nutrients or benefit from specific biochemical therapies to achieve healthy moods. For example, simple nucleotide polymorphisms represent a significant factor in biochemical individuality. The enzyme delta-5-desaturase converts omega-3 fatty acids such as alpha linolenic acid into eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). If a simple nucleotide polymorphism
Biomechanical therapies: massage
Massage is used widely to improve mood. In fact, therapeutic massage struggles to overcome an historical connection with the “entertainment” industry. Despite its marketing problems, massage has many medical uses. Therapeutic massage contributes to increased blood flow and lymphatic drainage; muscle relaxation; stress reduction; and social support. Physiologically, massage balances right and left prefrontal cortex activity in those with right dominance [143]. The left prefrontal cortex has been
Bioenergetic therapies: acupuncture
Acupuncture involves the stimulation (using pressure, heat, needles, and magnets) of specific points on the body, with the intention of promoting healing. RCTs suggest that acupuncture has significant benefits for depressed adults and may be comparable in effectiveness to prescription antidepressant medications [151]. For example, in an RCT of true acupuncture, sham acupuncture, and massage provided to 61 pregnant women with major depressive disorder, response rates were statistically
Resources
Research in this area is growing constantly. It is helpful to have a list of resources to address common questions and concerns and to keep abreast of emerging knowledge about the safety and effectiveness of therapies and approaches to promote healthy moods. See Appendix 1.
Summary
Depression is the second-leading cause of illness and disability among young people worldwide. A healthy lifestyle and healthy environment are the cornerstones for promoting positive moods. In addition, several complementary therapies, including nutritional supplements, herbs, mind–body therapies, massage, and acupuncture can be helpful. Various resources are available to clinicians to help patients and families promote mental health.
References (154)
- et al.
Course and outcome of child and adolescent major depressive disorder
Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am
(2002) - et al.
Depressive disorders in childhood and adolescence: an overview: epidemiology, clinical manifestation and risk factors
Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am
(2006) - et al.
Treatment guidelines for children and adolescents with bipolar disorder
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry
(2005) - et al.
Pediatric bipolar disorder: a review of the past 10 years
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry
(2005) Clinical update: the low-glycaemic-index diet
Lancet
(2007)- et al.
Depressive symptoms and adolescent eating and health behaviors: a multifaceted view in a population-based sample
Prev Med
(2004) - et al.
Food allergies in children affect nutrient intake and growth
J Am Diet Assoc
(2002) - et al.
Yoga for depression: the research evidence
J Affect Disord
(2005) - et al.
Sunny hospital rooms expedite recovery from severe and refractory depressions
J Affect Disord
(1996) Beyond toxicity: human health and the natural environment
Am J Prev Med
(2001)
Urban neighborhood poverty and the incidence of depression in a population-based cohort study
Ann Epidemiol
Self-reported health, perceived racial discrimination, and skin color in African Americans in the CARDIA study
Soc Sci Med
Adolescent suicidal behavior: associations with preadolescent physical abuse and selected risk and protective factors
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry
Feasibility of dialectical behavior therapy for suicidal adolescent inpatients
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry
A modified DBT skills training program for oppositional defiant adolescents: promising preliminary findings
Behav Res Ther
Dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents with bipolar disorder: a 1-year open trial
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry
Tai Chi and mindfulness-based stress reduction in a Boston public middle school
J Pediatr Health Care
Correlation of folate, vitamin B12 and homocysteine plasma levels with depression in an elderly Greek population
Clin Biochem
Dietary folate and depressive symptoms are associated in middle-aged Finnish men
J Nutr
Enhancement of recovery from psychiatric illness by methylfolate
Lancet
Enhancement of the antidepressant action of fluoxetine by folic acid: a randomised, placebo controlled trial
J Affect Disord
Assessment of bone and mineral metabolism in inflammatory bowel disease: case series and review
Endocr Pract
Vitamin D deficiency and secondary hyperparathyroidism among patients with chronic kidney disease
Am J Med Sci
Risk factors for low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations in otherwise healthy children and adolescents
Am J Clin Nutr
Vitamin D fortification in the United States and Canada: current status and data needs
Am J Clin Nutr
Treatment of severe mania with intravenous magnesium sulphate as a supplementary therapy
Psychiatry Res
Magnesium oxide augmentation of verapamil maintenance therapy in mania
Psychiatry Res
Effectiveness of chromium in atypical depression: a placebo-controlled trial
Biol Psychiatry
The cognitive development of 5-year-old children of postnatally depressed mothers
J Child Psychol Psychiatry
Older adults' use of complementary and alternative medicine for mental health: findings from the 2002 National Health Interview Survey
J Altern Complement Med
Positive health practices and depressive symptoms among high school adolescents in Oman
Singapore Med J
Anthroposophic therapy for chronic depression: a four-year prospective cohort study
BMC Psychiatry
Diet, breakfast, and academic performance in children
Ann Nutr Metab
Depressive symptoms, social support, and personal health behaviors in young men and women
Health Psychol
Pediatric food allergy update
Curr Allergy Asthma Rep
Role of mast cells in allergic and non-allergic immune responses: comparison of human and murine data
Nat Rev Immunol
Psychological burden of food allergy
World J Gastroenterol
Exercise and mental health in the pediatric population
Clin Sports Med
Association of depression with body mass index, sedentary behavior, and maladaptive eating attitudes and behaviors in 11 to 13-year old children
Eat Weight Disord
Health-related quality of life in physically active and sedentary obese women
Am J Hum Biol
Sleep and depression
J Clin Psychiatry
Solar flair
Environ Health Perspect
The Can-SAD study: a randomized controlled trial of the effectiveness of light therapy and fluoxetine in patients with winter seasonal affective disorder
Am J Psychiatry
Randomized clinical trial of bright light therapy for antepartum depression: preliminary findings
J Clin Psychiatry
The efficacy of light therapy in the treatment of mood disorders: a review and meta-analysis of the evidence
Am J Psychiatry
Adjunctive bright light in non-seasonal major depression
Acta Psychiatr Scand Suppl
Randomised controlled trial of animal facilitated therapy with dolphins in the treatment of depression
BMJ
Specificity of psychiatric manifestations in relation to neurotoxic chemicals
Acta Psychiatr Scand Suppl
Organic affective illness associated with lead intoxication
Am J Psychiatry
Neurobehavioural and molecular changes induced by methylmercury exposure during development
Neurotox Res
Cited by (26)
Pilot study of a lifestyle intervention for bipolar disorder: Nutrition exercise wellness treatment (NEW Tx)
2019, Journal of Affective DisordersCitation Excerpt :One of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder (BD) is cardiovascular disease (Angst et al., 2002). Efforts have been made to address medical burden in treatments for this population (Kilbourne et al., 2008; Soreca et al., 2009) and serious mental illness in general (Naslund et al., 2017), which have produced better mental health outcomes for both clinical (Lakhan and Vieira, 2008) and non-clinical (Kemper and Shannon, 2007) populations. Evidence suggests that reducing medical burden requires an integrated approach, given that several factors (i.e., body mass index (BMI), exercise) impact BD individuals’ outcomes in a weight loss program (Stauffer et al., 2009).
An Individualized Approach to Treatment-Resistant Bipolar Disorder: A Case Series
2016, Explore: The Journal of Science and HealingCitation Excerpt :Integrative treatment of BD is not well studied, however, and the few reports that have been published focus on specific supplements prescribed in addition to traditional pharmaceutical medications.20 Commonly applied integrative therapies for BD include nutritional programs, herbs and supplements, exercise, detoxification, mind–body therapies, and acupuncture.21–25 Clinically, many of these therapies are used in combination with one another, not as stand-alone treatments.
Chamomile: A Herbal Agent for Treatment of Diseases of the Elderly.
2015, Foods and Dietary Supplements in the Prevention and Treatment of Disease in Older AdultsFocus and interpretation of the manifestations of depressive syndrome from the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine
2012, Revista Internacional de AcupunturaAlternative Treatments in Pediatric Bipolar Disorder
2009, Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North AmericaCitation Excerpt :Some insurance carriers will cover acupuncture. There has been special interest in the role of exercise, massage, diet, and nutrients to address mood symptoms.156 Although there are limited data in adult patients and minimal (if any) data in pediatric bipolar patients supporting the use of these interventions, given the low risk associated with their use, they warrant consideration for use as complementary/augmentation treatments.
Health Promoting Benefits of Chamomile in the Elderly Population
2009, Complementary and Alternative Therapies and the Aging Population
Dr. Kemper is supported in part by the Kohlberg Foundation, by NIH NCCAM K24 AT002207 and NIH NCAM R21 AT001901, and by the Caryl Guth Fund for Holistic and Integrative Medicine. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Kohlberg Foundation, the NIH, or Dr. Guth.