It is becoming crystal clear that mental health is something that needs attention and is just as critical as any medical diagnosis. The impact on the individual and society as a whole is tremendous.
Recently, the White House brought attention to the dire state of our struggling nation. According to the government website:
Our country faces an unprecedented mental health crisis among people of all ages. Two out of five adults report symptoms of anxiety or depression. And, Black and Brown communities are disproportionately undertreated – even as their burden of mental illness has continued to rise. Even before the pandemic, rates of depression and anxiety were inching higher. But the grief, trauma, and physical isolation of the last two years have driven Americans to a breaking point. Our youth have been particularly impacted as losses…
What has been predicted and feared by many health experts over the previous two years has now come to fruition.
The United States is officially in a mental health crisis.
This has led the federal government to outline a strategic plan in an attempt to confront the problem. Although increasing access to mental health services, providing more education to health professionals, funding more mental health research, and decreasing stigma are imperative, I have a large concern we may be missing a vital component to the solution.
Conventional care, therapy, and medication (when needed) are imperative for addressing mental health, but do they go far enough?
They will likely move the needle, but we need to do more. Furthermore, all discussion on proper treatment is void if people don’t seek it out.
Recently, I have been focusing on a holistic approach to wellness. Integrating the body, mind, spirit, lifestyle, genetics, environment, and socioeconomics and offering holistic resources to support these areas has been the recent theme within my naturopathic blogs. Just as in in modern medicine, this holistic approach of treating the individual is lacking in psychiatric care.
We need to address all aspects of health that are important to a person by incorporating all the wellness factors mentioned above. Otherwise, we could be just band aiding the situation with incomplete treatment.
Furthermore, we also need to continue to educate the population that mental health is not a willpower issue or a weakness, but a brain health imbalance. We could have the best treatments available, but with no one to use them it is a moot attempt.
In my latest post, I cover these topics in more detail:
-I discuss the current mental health crisis and the latest national strategies to alleviate it.
-I highlight how a more holistic approach to mental health is needed.
-Finally, I review the barriers to mental health care treatment and the importance of getting proper support.
I strongly believe you cannot treat the physical without looking at the emotional. Furthermore, you cannot treat the emotional without peering into what physiologically and biochemically impacts brain health.
Please click here to read this article and share it with others.
When the brain itself is misfiring and unbalanced, without proper treatment, it can be glossed over as a painful, invisible wound by the sufferer. It’s time to end the hurt.
We need to stop the stigma of mental health and ensure people are not suffering in silence.
If you struggle with mental health, please reach out for support.
You may also wish to consider implementing holistic resources and partnering with a naturopathic doctor.
For example, I offer mind-body support for general mood issues using a functional medicine and wellness-oriented approach.
Please see below for more information and resources.
Resources for Learning More about Essential Oils & Naturopathic Medicine
- If you’d like to learn more about essential oils’ properties and their use for whole-body support, view my database here.
- You can discover the five reasons essential oils and naturopathic medicine make a great team here.
- Feel free to explore my dedicated essential oils website which features the brand of essential oils I use with clients and information on specific products for healthy living.
- Finally, grab my free essential oils guide! It contains all the information you need to get started with essential oils! Even if your a seasoned oiler, signing up to get the guide will provide access to future education on essential oils and wellness topics. Click here.
Book an essential oils consult here.
This material is for information purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prescribe for any illness. You should check with your doctor regarding implementing any new strategies into your wellness regime. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. (Affiliation link.)
This information is applicable ONLY for therapeutic quality essential oils. This information DOES NOT apply to essential oils that have not been tested for purity and standardized constituents. There is no quality control in the United States, and oils labeled as “100% pure” need only to contain 5% of the actual oil. The rest of the bottle can be filled with fillers and sometimes toxic ingredients that can irritate the skin. The studies are not based solely on a specific brand of an essential oil, unless stated. Please read the full study for more information.
