The Importance of Mental Health in Overall Well-being

Mental health myths and facts are important to understand in order to promote better understanding and support for individuals struggling with mental health issues. People commonly believe that mental illness is a personal weakness, but the facts show that medical professionals can treat it as a medical condition. Mental health is a crucial aspect of our overall well-being. Unfortunately, myths and misconceptions about mental health still persist, leading to stigma, discrimination, and inadequate treatment for people living with mental illnesses.

Some people believe common myths that suggest mental illness is a sign of weakness, therapy or medication is only needed by weak people, or a lack of willpower causes mental illness. These myths are not only untrue but also harmful as they discourage people from seeking help and perpetuate negative stereotypes.

Historic Background of Myths and Facts bout Mental Health

Misunderstandings of mental health span centuries, including humoral theory in ancient Greece, and stigmatization as a character weakness in the 20th century. Psychiatry advancements improved treatment and understanding.

Breaking Down the Stigma Surrounding Mental Health

In this post we separate the myths from the facts about the causes of (so called) mental illness and depression and discuss the most effective ways to optimise your mind and body to keep you healthy on all levels. Firstly, in reality you cannot separate Mental Health from Your Emotional Health, Physical Health and Your Spiritual Health.

Who was the genius who named it “Mental Health”?

Hmmm…

Unfortunately, we have really negative associations to the word, ‘Mental’.

We automatically associate it with negative words like Madness, Weirdo, Plot Loss, Unpredictability or Unsafe.

And who wants to admit that they are associated with a mental health problem like this, which only adds to the stress!

Apparently less than 10% of employees who feel they have ‘mental health’ issues tell their employer !

Mindset Health

It would be more accurate to call it Mindset Health, which is more inclusive of emotions and not just mental processes.

Professor Keith-Scott Mumby’s Quotes about Myths and Facts about Mental Health

BUT as Professor Keith-Scott Mumby tells us in his book – ‘Psychiatry Without Drugs’. Most so-called “mental illness” (call it psychological distress, psychiatric disorder or whatever you will) has simple but undetected physical causes. The person is not really mentally deranged; just behaving strangely and feeling upset, because the mind is disordered by the physical problem.

So, let’s Explore…

 ‘The Myths and Facts’  about Depression and so called, Mental Illness.

Psychiatry is a complete and utter SCAM !

Why do I think this ?

Psychiatrists, use a book called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The DSM. The amount of so called mental disorders grows every time they launch a new edition. In the first edition there were about 20 disorders. The latest edition now has over 300 disorders listed in this infamous manual.

Its an infamous manual because, these 300 + diagnoses have NO objective tests.

No blood tests, x-rays, scans or any other way of confirming the diagnosis of a mental illness.

It is just pure opinion.

Your probably thinking, this cannot be so.

The reality is, a group of psychiatrists sitting around a table added these so-called disorders into the book while trying to agree on common names for symptoms that they turn into syndromes or disorders.

Again, you probably think this is nonsense…

Dr Robert Spitzer has been in charge of the DSM since the 1970s.

Let me quote him here;

‘There are only a handful of mental disorders that have a clear biological cause. These are known as the ‘organic disorders’ ( things like Epilepsy, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s Disease).

One cannot identify ANY biological markers for ANY of the other disorders’

Depression is a great example !

Do you know how a Psychiatrist diagnoses you with Depression ?

If you have been experiencing just 5 symptoms, for two weeks, they class you as depressed.

This is Utter hogwash !

In an interview in 2010, a psychiatrist Dr Daniel Carlat, asked Dr Robert Spitzer;

Dr Carlat:

How did you decide on the 5 criteria as being your minimum threshold for depression ?

Dr Spitzer:

It was just consensus. We would ask clinicians and researchers,

‘How many symptoms do you think patients ought to have before you give them a diagnosis of depression ?

And we came up the arbitrary number of 5.

Dr Carlat:

Why 5 and not 4 or 6 ?

Dr Spitzer:

Because 4 just seemed like not enough and 6 seemed too much.

Dr Carlat:

Weren’t there any studies done to establish the threshold ?

Dr Spitzer:

You cannot confidently state a perfect number of symptoms required to diagnose depression because there is no sharp dividing line…

We cannot have a biological gold standard for depression because we do not yet understand the neurobiology of depression’

This is Not Science ! This is Belief !

If you would like to know more on this subject, I recommend a book called;

The standard ‘story’ is that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain.

But what does that actually mean ?

The Truth About the ‘Chemical Imbalance’ Theory…

Most people, including doctors, have been informed that depression and mental illness occur as a result of a chemical imbalance in the brain.

Then we are prescribed drugs that supposedly are designed to correct this imbalance.

“Unfortunately for anyone who has ever swallowed this marketing ploy, this is a belief NOT a scientific statement.”

Dr John Grohol about “The Myths and Facts about Mental Health”

Dr. John Grohol, Author, researcher into mental health says;

‘One of the leading myths that unfortunately still circulates about clinical depression is that it’s caused by low serotonin levels in the brain (or a “biochemical imbalance”). This is a myth because countless scientific studies have specifically examined this theory and have come back universally rejecting it.’

The serotonin theory is simply not a scientific statement. It’s a botched theory—a hypothesis that was proven incorrect.

David Healy, a Professor of Psychiatry at Bangor University in Wales and author of Let Them Eat Prozac, published an article in The British Medical Journal, that the link between serotonin and depression is a “myth” that continues to be perpetrated by the pharmaceutical industry.

Glaring question

So the glaring question is…

Well if its not a chemical imbalance in the brain, what causes depression and mental illness and what can you do to avoid it?

The first thing to note is that the body cannot be separated from the mind, and what’s going on in the head cannot be separated from the body. The brain, mind, and body form a single system in which everything influences and affects each other.

“Dr. George Slavich, a clinical psychologist at the University of California in Los Angeles, has spent years studying depression, and has come to the conclusion that it has as much to do with the body as the mind.

“I don’t even talk about it as a psychiatric condition anymore,’ he says. ‘It does involve psychology, but it also involves equal parts of biology and physical health.’

The basis of this new view is blindingly obvious once it is pointed out: everyone feels miserable when they are ill. That feeling of being too tired, bored and fed up to move off the sofa and get on with life is known among psychologists as sickness behaviour.

It happens for a good reason, helping us avoid doing more damage or spreading an infection any further. It also looks a lot like depression.”

The Link Between Foods and Depression.

One essential component is to eliminate all food intolerances. This is such a huge yet mostly hidden problem that stresses the body and creates brain chaos, draining you of energy.

Eating foods that you have an intolerance too can have the same reaction to the body as being physically in danger, a stress response results, your immune systems is compromised, and you lose energy and the ability to think clearly and stay emotionally balanced.

Everyone has food intolerances, they are much more common than most of us are aware of.  When you remove the foods that rob your energy, you gain physical energy, think clearer and are more emotionally positive. 

Myths and Facts about Mental Health and Sugar

Sugar is the dark side…

Studies have found significant links between high-sugar diets and mental health problems such as a 2004 study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry found that a higher dietary intake of refined sugar and dairy products links with depression and schizophrenia.

Dr. Russell Blaylock explains;

‘High sugar content and starchy carbohydrates lead to excessive insulin release, which can lead to falling blood sugar levels, or hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia, in turn, causes your brain to secrete chemicals that can cause agitation, depression, anger, anxiety, panic attacks and an increase in suicide risk.

A 1985 study published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology found that reducing sugar intake had a positive impact on emotions:

“… Subjects reported many symptoms and/or presented a distressed profile during baseline assessment. However, following a 2-week dietary change symptoms declined, and reflected a more stable and less distressed individual.

Results showed that a dietary change can change the emotional distress exhibited by individuals…”

The dietary change consisted of a high protein, low carbohydrate diet void of processed sugar and caffeine’.

Grains can lead to depression…

Gluten is the protein part of wheat, barley, rye and other grains and it has been linked to depression. Leading neurologist, and the author of ‘Grain Brain’ Dr David Perlmutter, says;

‘We should avoid grains altogether, as they are contributing to some serious conditions and illnesses such as dementia depression and chronic headaches’.

From UniversityHealthNews.com;

The ingestion of gluten significantly increased depression symptoms compared to placebo, according to the investigators from the Department of Gastroenterology at Monash University and The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, Australia.

The researchers concluded that gluten specifically induces feelings of depression.

The nervous system seems to be particularly susceptible in the case of gluten sensitivity. Nervous system-related symptoms may include mental/emotional symptoms as well as muscle aches and pains and neuropathy symptoms (pain, numbness, tingling) in the hands and/or feet.

Scientific literature has linked celiac disease and/or gluten sensitivity with mental health manifestations, such as psychosis, schizophrenia, mood swings, and autism.

Removal of gluten has resulted in complete resolution of symptoms in many of these cases.

Clearly, there is more to the gluten story than celiac disease and digestive issues; mental health is part of the gluten story, too.

If you’re suffering from depression, eliminating gluten by strictly avoiding all foods containing wheat, barley, rye, and oats (unless they are certified gluten-free oats) is just one of many dietary changes you can do.

Studies have found that a variety of nutritional and dietary issues, including gluten intolerance, blood sugar imbalances, and vitamin and mineral deficiencies, are underlying causes of depression.

.

Achieving Optimal Health Through a Balanced Diet

When your nutrition is finely tuned to optimise your body and mind you feel energised and well.

So much of how we feel is controlled by our nutrients and when we know what robs us of energy and puts the body in stress we can stay away from it. We then give the body exactly what it needs to increase vitality and well being.

By fine tuning the exact nutrients your body needs you are fueling and energising your brain, mind and body and when this is done optimally you feel well.

Of course nutrition is a vast subject but to cut to the chase what we need to do is take out the things that rob energy and add in the things that our unique body wants to function optimally.

With good testing you can do that today pretty easily. Check out my 1:1 programs is this interest you.

The Link Between Your Teeth Fillings and Depression…

There is evidence that depression and anxiety can be a symptom of mercury poisoning from your teeth fillings.

A 1994 study by Siblerud, Motl and Kienholz compared 25 women who had amalgam fillings with 23 women who had no amalgam fillings.

The researchers scored these women for levels of anxiety, depression, and excessive anger.

The women with amalgam fillings demonstrated higher levels of these than the women without amalgams.

The study concluded that “amalgam mercury may be a causal factor in depression, excessive anger, and anxiety”.

A 2006 study by Wojcik, Godfrey and Haley found that in a group of 465 patients diagnosed as having chronic mercury toxicity, almost 30% had depression.

Once the patients safely removed their amalgam fillings and received the appropriate treatment for mercury toxicity, their depression symptoms decreased to levels comparable to those of healthy people.

.

The Link Between Toxins and Depression…

Depression has been linked to a relatively new phenomenon: exposure to a wide array of toxins.

Studies demonstrated that certain environmental and chemical toxins can modify the brain in ways that trigger depression.

Toxins can come from insecticides, herbicides, personal care products and thousands of other industrial and household chemicals.

The reality today is that we are bombarded by 100’s of environmental toxins and chemicals that get into our bodies that should not be in there.

Our ability to detox these toxins and get them out of our bodies is essential if we want to be healthy and have a good sense of well being.

Toxins can cause havoc with our thought processes, which can make us feel depressed, lethargic, and ‘not ourselves’. Our inner self-talk can become very critical and negative in such situations.

How to treat Depression?

Dr. James S. Gordon, a world-renowned expert in using mind-body medicine to heal depression, uses exercise extensively when treating depression.

“What we’re finding in the research on physical exercise is that physical exercise is at least as good as antidepressants for helping people who are depressed. And that it’s even more important for older people,” Dr. Gordon says.

Physical exercise can increase the number of cells in your brain, in the region of the brain called the hippocampus.

These studies have been first done on animals, and it’s very important because sometimes in depression, there are fewer of those cells in the hippocampus, but you can actually change your brain with exercise. So it’s got to be part of everybody’s treatment, everybody’s plan.”

Professor Irvin Kirsch Analysis

Professor Irvin Kirsch from Harvard University analysed the existing published results over 19 randomised controlled trials with over 2300 patients.

He compared the results of the anti-depressants to those receiving placebo pills.

He found that in mild and moderate depression (whatever that means) the placebo effect accounted for 75% of the reduction of depressive symptoms.

75 % !

Only 25% of the reduction could be attributed to active drugs.

Of course, the drug companies don’t want you to hear this !

We also have data in the UK showing similar findings…

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence have reported the difference between drugs and placebos is clinically insignificant !

These findings tell us that our minds can reduce depression far more effectively than any drug !

Over and above the last 2 years of the Covid debacle, where we’ve all gone a little mad…

Causes of Mental Health Issues:

When we look at the body and mind as one whole system, we can say that, almost all so called Mental Health issues are caused by:

Inflammation,

Food Allergies and Intolerance,

Chemical Intolerance,

Airborne Allergens,

Candida and Yeast Overgrowth,

Leaky Gut,

Pyrroluria, (a condition that leads to depleting your Zinc and Vitamin B6. If these nutrients are missing or low in your diet, you feel anxious and depressed and even feel like you are schizophrenic !)

Hyperglycaemia,

Hormone Imbalances,

EMF’s – Electro Magnetic Frequencies – Wi-Fi / 5G,

Post-Vaccination Syndrome,

Low Testosterone in Men,

And more…

Anxiety is a prime example…

Very often anxiousness is caused by the above. The cause is physiological, yet we can start linking this anxiety to things in our life; work, relationships, money etc as if life events cause the anxiety, but they are not.

Remove the physical cause and all of a sudden, we are not as anxious about ‘life’ as we thought we were.

We all know that when we are ill,  sick or out of balance, our thoughts and feelings are not so positive, or we could say are much more negative.

As I’m writing this, I’m just getting over a stomach bug caught from a BBQ. I have felt anxious and borderline depressed for a week now ! This is caused by a stomach ‘bug’ and not something in my ‘mind’.

To be clear, I’m not saying that ALL anxiety, depression etc has a physical cause.

Of course not, life is life and dealing with negative emotional states is part of it, and sometimes life events are the cause of a negative state of being.

NOTE on KIDS:

This is mainly an article about adult mental health, however, I felt that this piece needs to be included:

Research by Professor Jonathan Haidt of the New York University Stern School of Business has shown that children that have mobile phones and are on social media from the ages of 7-11 suffer more anxiety and depression in their teenage years then do children who do not get phones and are on social media until after 12 years old !

There are many studies now, showing the negative effects on children from social media.

Life isn’t always easy, and often we have to navigate the ups and downs.

Sometimes, we struggle and feel down, depressed, anxious and full of worry.

Life events can get to us and we can feel pretty crappy (technical term).

Adverse Childhood Events (ACE)

Adverse Childhood Events (ACE) such as abuse, neglect, trauma, and many other forms of a ‘rough childhood’,  can hugely impact the type of person you will become and the life you will create.

Indeed, research shows that ACEs can lead to health problems such as autoimmune or pulmonary diseases, and mental health problems such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety disorders.

Besides these mental health problems, ACEs can also result in social or behavioural problems, such as increased use of illicit drugs, tobacco, and alcohol, risky sexual behaviour, antisocial behaviour , increased risk of attempting suicide . It is therefore really important that we try to help children cope with their traumatic experiences and prevent these negative outcomes.

Remember though…

Having ‘ACE’ in life can build very resilient people.

Positive experiences in early life can help build resilience and protect a child from the effects of trauma. Having a grandparent who loves you, a teacher who understands and believes in you, or a trusted friend you can confide in may mitigate the long-term effects of early trauma.

 “There are people with high ACE scores who do remarkably well,”

says Jack Shonkoff, a pediatrician and director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.

I know a lot about this myself, as an adult, I was diagnosed with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, CPTSD, after an unsavoury childhood.

This is no joke, and it took me a long  time to get this one sorted.

However…

You can get it sorted, along with any other mindset issue. You can heal from it, I have done it myself and with 1000’s of clients who have ‘old stuff’ lingering away in their mind.

It doesn’t need to be traumatic to have a negative impact on you…

Let’s face it, it can be a challenge for most of us to manage our mind and emotions.

Unresolved emotional issues and limiting beliefs can be bubbling away in our subconscious causing us stress, negative emotions, and limitation.

The Gamma Mindset Programs are Specifically Designed to:

Eliminate any Anxiety, Fear, Limiting Beliefs and Self-Doubt and Reprogram Your Subconscious Mind for Rock Solid Self-Belief and Confidence so You Maximise Your Results and Success.

Optimise Your Health, Energy Resilience and Well-Being.

If this interests you, then check out the Free Masterclass below…