MENTAL HEALTH OPTIMIZATION

“MENTAL HEALTH IS A STATE OF WELL-BEING IN WHICH THE INDIVIDUAL REALIZES THEIR OWN ABILITIES, CAN COPE WITH THE NORMAL STRESSES OF LIFE, CAN WORK PRODUCTIVELY AND FRUITFULLY, AND IS ABLE TO CONTRIBUTE TO THEIR COMMUNITY.”

- World Health Organization

Flowchart showing the relationship between mental health condition diagnosis and mental health status.

Like many aspects of health, mental health can be viewed as a spectrum from mental health to mental illness.

Our Naturopathic Doctors at Saskatoon Naturopathic Medicine take a holistic approach to mental health, addressing the whole person and the various contributing factors that may be affecting their health. The body works as a system of integrated parts, that when one is out of balance, may affect others. The brain has distinct and separate functions, but it influences and is influenced by the health (and/or dis-ease) of other body systems such as the cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, and endocrine systems among others.

ASSESSMENT

The first step to treatment is a proper assessment. A detailed assessment allows us to be thorough and targeted in our approach. The most effective treatment is one that is individualized to your needs and is manageable for you to adhere to.

​An initial assessment may include:

  • Questionnaires - Assessing which symptoms you experience and to what degree
  • History - When did your symptoms begin? What was happening at the time? Other events/circumstances in your past that may have contributed to your current situation?
  • Physical exam - Assessing for physical signs and symptoms that may give us clues for further testing
  • Testing - Conventional and functional testing to assess for any nutrient deficiencies, hormonal or neurochemical imbalances, inflammation, underlying health conditions, or environmental stressors (eg. food sensitivities, toxic exposures) that may be affecting your health

​In some cases assessment is beyond the scope of naturopathic medicine, in which instance, a patient will be directed to another health care practitioner. Some examples being:

  • Family physician for imaging or specialist referral
  • Chiropractor for spinal assessment
  • Dentist for oral health concerns

TREATMENT

Naturopathic medicine has a broad scope of therapies available with which to address your health concerns. A proper assessment will indicate which therapies are safe and appropriate for your individual case. A treatment protocol may be used in conjunction with other therapies provided by other healthcare professionals where appropriate.

Naturopathic medicine abides by something called the Therapeutic Order which stratifies interventions to ensure the foundations for health and underlying causes of dis-ease are being addressed.

Colorful pyramid diagram explaining the Therapeutic Order of Naturopathic Medicine with text annotations.
  1. Remove obstacles to health - poor diet, excess stress, digestive disturbances, poor sleep, toxic exposures, etc.
  2. Stimulate the body’s self-healing mechanisms - balancing the body in generalized ways through nutrition, acupuncture, physical medicine, counselling, homeopathy, and botanical medicines with a constitutional approach that encourages the body to find its own inherent balanced state in which it can heal.
  3. Strengthen weakened or damaged systems - interventions targeted at specific systems in order to bring about proper function.
  4. Correct structural integrity - via physical therapies.
  5. Natural therapies to address pathology, provide symptomatic support - drug-like natural therapies.
  6. Pharmaceutical/synthetic substances to address/stop progressive pathology, provide symptomatic support.
  7. High force, invasive therapies to suppress pathology - surgery or other invasive therapies.

(See https://aanmc.org/featured-articles/therapeutic-order/ for more information).

There are a lot of therapies that can be utilized prior to and in addition to pharmaceutical intervention. In many cases, pharmaceuticals can help to provide symptomatic control while we work on the underlying root cause(s) affecting ones mental health. Some of these therapies include:

  • Nutrition
  • Targeted Nutrient Therapies
  • Herbal medicine
  • Counselling
  • Acupuncture
  • Homeopathy

At Saskatoon Naturopathic Medicine, we encourage collaborative care with and refer to other healthcare professionals as appropriate in order for our patients to receive well-rounded care and support. We look forward to being part of your healthcare team!