‘Healing Your Brain With Food’ presentation at The Commons    

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Depression and anxiety can be treated for short periods of time with pharmaceuticals to relieve symptoms. Indeed, it is particularly important with a depression diagnosis that some pharmaceutical intervention be used short-term until symptoms have abated because of the risk of suicide.

Eric Kandel, MD, and recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, relates in his 2018 book, “The Disordered Mind,” that “depression accounts for more than half of the 43,000 suicides that occur in the United States each year.” Dr. Kandel points to the use of accompanying “talk therapy,” particularly Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), since research has shown positive brain change with psychotherapy intervention.

Over use of the commonly used SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) can cause unwelcomed side-effects. Ketamine used in severe depression causes nausea, vomiting and disorientation and can only be used for a period of two weeks for suicide prevention.  Benzodiazepines used in very severe cases of anxiety disorder are addictive and can cause cognitive impairment in people over 65. Benzodiazepines should be used for only a very short period of time and probably not at all for older people.

Following the short-term use and perhaps along with the use of pharmaceuticals, alternative approaches to wellness provide another way towards continued healing and stabilization.  Alternative approaches include acupuncture, massage, essential oils, exercise, meditation, herbs, nutritional supplements, and nutrient-dense vegetables, fruits, gluten-free grains and seeds.

Some of the alternative interventions are free and easy to obtain in the community or online. Food isn’t necessarily free, but we need it to live. It is the choice of healing foods that needs attention. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains contain vitamins, minerals, bioflavonoids, antioxidants, essential fatty acids and amino acid proteins that not only heal the brain but heal the entire body. Changing your diet along with other natural activities can help keep a person depression and anxiety free.

At 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at The Commons at Central Hall, NAMI Piscataquis County will present the video “Healing Your Brain With Food.”  You can learn how sugar-laden food can cause inflammation in the brain from Dr. Daniel Nuzum, DO. From Dr. William Davis, MD, you can learn about the evolution of wheat in the United States from the 4.5-foot tall “amber waves of grain” to the now 18-inch tall plant with different nutritional properties that may be the cause of some gluten sensitivities.

Dr. Neil Nedley, DO, explains why a plant-based diet can start to reverse depression and anxiety symptoms in a few weeks. When a whole-food plant-based diet along with meditation and other life-style changes were adopted in his studies, “depression scores were cut by 50 percent,” remarks Dr. Dean Ornish, MD, in this presentation. 

“That’s better than Prozac or any of the other antidepressants,” Ornish said, following his research. You can also hear well-known Dr. Joel Fuhrman, MD, and Dr. Mary Newport, MD, who reversed her husband’s early-stage dementia with her coconut oil protocol.

If you would like to view this informative video presentation, please register at 207-924-7903 or nami.piscataquis@gmail.com.