Integrative Psychiatry

From herbal medicine for psychiatrists to the psychiatric implications of the Parkland School massing shooting, here are highlights from the week in Psychiatric Times.

"Among adults living in the United States, 38% to 40% use complementary and alternative medicine therapies, yet only 42% have told their primary physician that they do so."

"Rooted in ancient meditative traditions, mind-body practices can offer simple and scalable tools of self-regulation that incorporate controlled paced breathing, which is therapeutic in alleviating symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain disorders."

Herbal medicines have been used to treat mental health disorders since ancient times, and continue to be useful today.

This Special Report contains concise reviews of selected CAM modalities and what these modalities can offer patients with a variety of mental health issues.

How can a refocus on relationships, connections, and dialogue improve the overall patient experience?

How can you use the 4 perspectives and 4 pathways to flourishing for practical and personalized patient care?

How can mindfulness-based intervention be used as an effective treatment option for psychiatric patients?

A daily serving of almonds improved depressive symptoms in diabetes, but will it work in non-diabetic depression?

The psychiatrist's armamentarium to treat depression holds promise with a growing arsenal of integrative and pharmacologic options.

A myriad of neuropsychiatric symptoms result from folate deficiency, including cognitive impairment, insomnia, psychosis, depression, peripheral sensory deficits, and weakness. Treatment and prevention strategies are discussed.

Although supported by basic science, it’s still a sea change to think that diet can treat depression. Some research puts that idea to the test.

Psychiatrists are uniquely suited to help patients with and without heart disease feel more positive and hopeful. This, in turn, can have substantial effects not just on mental health, but on health behaviors and physical health outcomes as well.

Three new trials suggest a novel antidepressant hides inside the blue-skinned fruit.

As physicians first, psychiatrists must consider the big picture, without reflexive and thoughtless prescriptions for psychotropics—even if many, including medical professionals, assume that is all we do.

Women should be provided with multiple options for treatment if they decide to engage in mental health care during this critical period.

For the millions of patients whose pain is being treated with opioids, mind-body interventions are proving to be important considerations to ease suffering.

The pandemic has brought about uneasy feelings that can exacerbate mental illness and cause further mental health issues. In its current state, our mental health system is not prepared to deal with what may become a global mental health pandemic, but there are ways to address it.

Dr Jud Brewer discusses the benevolent effects of altruism during the coronavirus pandemic in this brief podcast.

In what seem like ancient times “BCV” (before coronavirus), there was a more slowly growing scourge for physicians and other health care workers: burnout.

Medicine and psychology have integrated the basic principles of mindfulness into many diverse treatment modalities. Seven are listed here.

In our role as clinicians, we participate in the practice of medicine because there is always more to learn, and more experience to be gained. Such is the case with mindfulness...

An integrative integrative psychiatrist provides practical guidance for incorporating complementary and alternative medicine into psychiatric practice in the treatment of severe mental illness.

What is a common reason individuals cite for using complementary and integrative health approaches? Take the quiz.

As we shift from treating disease and toward supporting health, medication is merely one possible intervention in a spectrum of possible ones.

Although efficacious treatments for PTSD have been established, many individuals remain symptomatic after treatment or never seek empirically supported therapies. This is where complementary and alternative medicine comes in.

A novel protocol lights the way for a promising treatment for bipolar depression.

How might a better understanding of the mind enhance someone’s life and optimize a clinical encounter?

In this pilot study, older adults who practiced yoga did better on measures of verbal and visual memory and executive function than those in memory training classes.

What is integrated care anyway?