Is Compromised Digestive Health Causing Your Depression?
Is Compromised Digestive Health Causing Your Depression?
When you suffer with a mental illness like depression or anxiety, you may struggle to find the right balance of lifestyle choices, therapy, and medication to get you to a functional state of being. Has any doctor ever suggested, however, that some of your suffering could be alleviated by taking time to consider your digestive health? There are holistic, effective ways to address depression that are long-lasting and don’t involve more prescriptions.
The Debilitating Effects of Depression
Depression is a serious psychiatric condition that goes far beyond feeling sad. Symptoms and side effects of depression include feeling tired, hopeless, guilty, and achy. You may have appetite problems, thoughts of suicide, or a loss of self-worth.
No one is immune to depression. An imbalance in brain chemicals plays a role in whether you develop depression, but heredity, environmental conditions, life events, and lifestyle all contribute to your mental health.
We all experience different levels of stress at different times in our lives. Having coping mechanisms to manage the stress helps us deal. Many people turn to comfort food and drink during times of stress, when what would be most beneficial are the right foods, the right kind of exercise, the right kind of mindfulness. Making the healthiest choices for your mind and gut can help ease depression and potentially even eliminate it.
The Gut’s Role in Mental Health
Mental illness can be debilitating. You may be aware that your life is full and wonderful – food to eat, clothes to wear, a job to support you, a home to keep you and your family safe, and so much more – but knowing and appreciating are two different things. Sufferers of depression have a difficult time being grateful for the beauty that is right in front of them, even if they can acknowledge its wonder.
Holistic digestive health focuses on helping your body – and mind – learn how to heal itself. For that, you must learn how to guide yourself to wellness and be willing to take the steps to get there. A comprehensive holistic approach to facilitating the natural and instinctive healing process of the human body includes:
Identifying sources of stress and inflammation, like food allergies, medications, antibiotics, infections, and life stress.
Replacing digestive enzymes to nourish organs and tissues.
Using probiotics to support the immune system in your GI tract.
Following a customized nutrition plan to repair inflammation in the GI system lining.
Removing the body’s accumulated waste.
The only thing stopping your body from finding the path to healing is you. If you’re tired of being depressed or having your mood hijack the good things in your life, dig deep to find the motivation to change your suffering. You can change how you feel. Give yourself the opportunity to find happiness and joy with holistic healing.
Contact Ann Arbor Holistic Health in Ann Arbor, Michigan to schedule your consultation and learn more about targeted holistic health treatments for depression and other kinds of mental illness.