7 reasons why you should work with a holistic psychiatrist (or doctor)

and 7 reasons why you should ditch your current mainstream psychiatrist ;)

Hey everyone! Dr Aruna, holistic psychiatrist, here. Welcome to my substack! Even though this article may seem a bit self-serving, I decided to write it to draw a contrast between mainstream and holistic psychiatrists. So, here we go:

1. Holistic psychiatrists have gone the extra mile for your sake: Yes, we all choose medicine as a way to serve humanity. But as we go through med school and residency, somewhere along the line, we are encouraged to follow and not to think or question much. Critical thinking gets sacrificed because of insane patient load, charting on computers, insurance review (I think they keep us very busy so we do not have time to think outside the box), and also at the altar of “evidence based medicine” which stands for “the medicine blessed by the powers that be” aka medical organizations (AMA, APA) which seem to be under undue influence of Big Pharma, Big Insurance and Big Medicine. So, when a doctor is taking her/his time to delve into the field of holistic medicine/psychiatry, spending money and time on getting more education because it speaks to their soul and now they are ready to “fight the system” so they can truly help you, even taking on personal risk! In doing so, they have demonstrated their integrity, ethics, passion and love for their profession…why would you not choose such a doctor!?

2. Holistic doctors have typically suffered health issues and have walked the path, healed themselves and then realize they can do the same for their patients: So many holistic doctors I met in my life all had a personal transformational experience (health related or otherwise) which gave them deep insights about life/health which then inspires them to do better for their patients. This certainly was my case. My health was a mess since my teenage years - I was diagnosed with PCOS (severe menstrual irregularities), Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and low thyroid function, ADD, infertility, weight issues, severe acid reflux (I thought I was having a heart attack at age 40!) and in my early 30’s I was developing symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. I felt so hopeless and powerless, a victim of my genes, and was told that I will be on meds for the rest of my life. Only when I discovered functional medicine and Ayurveda, was I able to reverse all these health issues. And it was ONE comprehensive treatment to cure all health issues. The transformation I have seen in my own health inspired me to offer the same for my patients.

3. Holistic psychiatrists will look for root causes: yep, this is what I do. There is no chemical imbalance causing mental illness and so, most psych meds provide temporary symptom relief at best, and can cause serious side effects at its worst. For one patient’s depression, it was leaky gut. Another patient’s OCD was from fungal gut dysbiosis, a third patient’s bipolar was from methylation gene polymorphisms and detox deficiencies, 4th patient’s addiction, anxiety and depression were mainly from early life trauma; and so on. I take the time to get the whole story, sometimes from birth literally and look for clues pointing to your specific root causes. Because when we address these root causes, we pave the path for healing and recovery.

4. Holistic Psychiatry heals the whole mind-body-spirit system because we are looking for and treating the root causes which may not even be in the brain! When we find these root causes in the gut or immune system or hormonal system; all these systems are treated and healed. So co-morbid diagnoses such as acid reflux, fatigue and fibromyalgia, acne, hormonal issues, asthma, weight issues, auto-immunity, etc all improve with just ONE comprehensive treatment designed for the chief complaint (eg: anxiety) that you came to be treated for. In my practice, we observed that our patients heal from so many of their co-occurring diseases begin to heal and my patients are able to come off of their non-psychiatric medicines as well.

5. Holistic Psychiatry is empowering and liberating. In mainstream psychiatry, you ae dependent on an external factor - a pill, or a therapist, etc to address your illness. With a holistic approach, the emphasis is on what you can do to help yourself in terms of your everyday choices (and its not just about popping a pill or pills). There is no knight in shining armor who will swoop you out of your misery. This is your journey, your soul’s chosen path, and only you can become the ‘Hero’ of this journey; only you can save yourself. This sense of self agency brings self empowerment with it. Defeats the victim consciousness. My goal is to teach all that I know about health creation to you so one day soon, you will not even need me!

6. Holistic psychiatry is safe and effective. Speaking from my own clinical (and personal experience), I see that many more patients (those that follow my directions diligently) are able to find healing and vitality with holistic approaches than with mainstream approach. Moreover, our natural mind-body-spirit systems have co-evolved with all the other species on earth and so when we use natural herbs and supplements, our bodies tolerate them better than psychiatric medicines which are lifeless and “energy-less.” Our systems do not recognize or understand these man made chemicals and so invariable treat them as toxins that need to be detoxed and excreted.

7. Finally, I have to reiterate that there is no chemical imbalance causing any mental illness. 70 years of research have given us nothing to support this theory. Yet, the big intervention in mainstream psychiatry is psychiatric meds which are all based on an unproven theory. We are learning more and more of the toxicity of these agents. There is one other big problem with the use of these meds. It gives a false sense of security especially when there is some symptom relief. However, because the root causes are not addressed, the disease process continues uninterrupted and can lead to worsening of the disease. Hence, even though I may prescribe psych meds sometimes, I always do it within the context of a comprehensive root cause intervention.

I am hoping that the contrast I have drawn here will give you some “food for thought.” Let me know your thoughts. What will you add or remove from this list?