Depression Remedies NYC - Dr. Alicia Armitstead

If the hypothalamus is not regulating the stress response or the hormone system well, then brain inflammation occurs. Brain inflammation is what causes depression. 

-Dr. Alicia Armitstead

Natural Remedies for Severe or Chronic Depression at the Healing Arts NYC Health and Wellness Center in Manhattan NY 10017 and Connecticut

Feeling blue or having depressive thoughts may not just be a feeling or a state of mind but a biochemistry in the body that can be helped through the right nutrition and detox. As soon as you start to feel a lack of motivation, I suggest making sure you eat healthier to prevent further depression from settling in. We customize food plans, supplements, and exercise to get you feeling better and to heal your biochemistry once and for all.

If anxiety is high for long periods of time, depression can creep in because the hormones are off balance. When someone complains of anxiety with depression, I do not look at them as two separate symptoms but as a way of the body telling me that the nervous system is off and needs support. To help, I may do an emotional release to get the stress off the body and/or support the hypothalamus gland with the right nutrition.

The hypothalamus gland is a gland in the brain that is in charge of secreting hormones to the thyroid, adrenals, and sex organs. The hypothalamus gland is in charge of the stress response of the body and the whole hormonal system. If the hypothalamus is not regulating the stress response or the hormone system well, then brain inflammation occurs. Brain inflammation is what causes depression. 

Other signs and symptoms of depression include:

• Sleep can either be early waking, insomnia, restless or excessive
• Lack of motivation 
• Lack of sex drive
• Change in appetite, either low or high
• Being less social 
• Persistent sad feeling
• Excessive crying
• Lack of concentration 
• Weight loss or gain
• Repeated going over thoughts 

If depression is not due to toxins or a stress response in the body, then I look at the gut for answers. The gut-brain axis is a network of nerves that allow the brain and gut to communicate with each other in both directions. The gut-brain axis is being increasingly studied to help with inflammatory bowel disease, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Yes, depression and PTSD can be helped if you heal the gut because certain neurotransmitters are made in the gut. For a healthy concentration of neurotransmitters to be made in the gut, you need healthy gut flora. With the right healthy bacteria, the gut makes dopamine, serotonin, GABA, and acetylcholine. These neurotransmitters can signal at the local gut level or travel to the brain, where they affect signaling and function in brain cells. Serotonin and dopamine are specifically important in helping with depression. 

Tight junctions are critical to the maintenance of intestinal permeability, preventing pathogens from entering the bloodstream and causing immune and inflammatory responses, including nerve and brain inflammation.

In our office, we do a lot to help heal the intestinal wall. When it leaks, we call it leaky gut, and a lot can be done naturally by eating the right type of foods to heal it. This is why we muscle test foods to see what specific foods to eat and not eat for you to heal your gut. 

Besides a leaky gut, one can get a leaky brain. The brain has a specific protective layer called the blood-brain barrier where only certain, very small things can come in and go out. It helps to keep toxins out and let nutrition in. However, the barrier can break down due to a leaky gut, autoimmune disease, gut infections, mental health conditions, and stress. All five of these situations cause inflammation in the brain and lead to a leaky brain, which allows toxins to enter and cause depression. We may need to help you detox from the brain and give you the right supplements to heal the blood-brain barrier.

Additional References

• PSYCH-K® is a form of energy psychology that uses energy-balancing techniques to help individuals transform their conscious and subconscious beliefs.