Mental Health and Serotonin

Neurotransmitters are important chemicals involved in our brain’s wiring. We need our various neurotransmitters to be in a healthy balance in order for the brain to perform its many complex functions. Today’s article will focus primarily on serotonin, a particularly important neurotransmitter involved in regulating our mood, social behaviour, digestion, sleep and sexual drive & function.

80-90% of our body’s serotonin is actually found in the gut, where it has an important in regulating bowel function. The brain, however, must produce its own, as serotonin from the gut cannot pass into the brain. If serotonin levels are low in the brain, we may experience any of these symptoms:

• Depression, anxiety, pessimism, negativity, intense unhappiness

• Sleep disturbances. Typically we fall asleep OK, but wake easily & often so the quality of sleep is poor

• Aggression

• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

• Increased sensitivity to pain

• Irritable bowel syndrome

• Cravings for carbs (the comfort foods such as bread & hot chips)

We need serotonin in order to experience feelings of happiness & calm; otherwise our feelings are confined to low, painful, unhappy, anxious emotions. A person with a serotonin- based depression is more intense, dark & anxious, where as a dopamine depression is more apathetic and tired & devoid of energy.

Stimulating serotonin production

Many anti-depressant medications work at increasing serotonin chemically; however, natural means can just as positive an effect:

• Tryptophan-rich foods improve serotonin production: think bananas, dates, meat, poultry & nuts

• Vitamin B6: taking high levels of this can markedly reduce symptoms of depression & anxiety, especially in the pre-menstrual phase.

• Herbal medicines: St John’s Wort has anti-depressant effects comparable to medication. Rhodiola is another beautiful herb to consider.

• Exercise: there are so many proven benefits to exercise; in particular its ability to boost serotonin levels. Even if it feels too hard to do, do it anyway.

• Bright light: Our ancestors spent much more time outdoors in the natural light than does our indoor generation, & light stimulates serotonin production.

It is important to remember that we don’t suddenly become happy just because we’ve got our serotonin sorted; it is but one part of the puzzle. We need to work at life to facilitate true happiness.

Anxiety

Anxiety is an overload of worry but the symptoms are often hard to spot, as they can develop gradually over time. While it’s totally normal to experience anxious feelings sometimes, how much is too much? According to Beyond Blue, anxiety may be affecting you if more often than not, you:

• feel very worried & find it hard to stop worrying

• have worrying feelings that make it hard to do your everyday activities

• have difficulty concentrating

• have trouble sleeping

• easily tired, irritable & restless

• have obsessive behaviour

• have physical symptoms of racing heart, tight chest, painful jaw

Adrenal Support

In Naturopathic Medicine, the adrenals are often the first place to look when symptoms of anxiety are present. These glands, which sit just on top of the kidneys, regulate the production of the stress hormones, cortisol & adrenalin. These are very important hormones that allow our body to adapt to stressful situations, such as jumping out of the way of an oncoming car. However, when the adrenals are constantly producing large amounts of stress hormones, we are in a permanently heightened state of anxiety. A simple salivary test can detect elevated cortisol levels, which can then be balanced with high doses of B-group vitamins and nourishing herbs such as Rhodiola & Withania.

Magnesium

High-stress living creates a high demand for magnesium. If we become deficient in magnesium, we have the classic stress symptoms of anxiety, insomnia & muscle tension. Magnesium supplementation calms the transmission of nervous impulses in the brain, literally turning down the volume in the brain.

Herbal Medicines

Traditionally, herbalists have used the nervine class of herbs to tone down nervous system activity and reduce free-floating anxiety. These work to improve levels of calming neurotransmitters such as GABA and reduce the effects of the excitatory neurotransmitters. The wonderfully named Passionflower, as well as Lemon Balm, Zizyphus & Skullcap all exert calming effects on the nervous system.

Diet

Caffeine and nicotine are both adrenal stimulants; indeed, most of us have experienced the awful jittery sensation of too much coffee.  Both should be avoided in anxiety. The artificial sweetener, aspartame (commonly known as Equal or Nutrasweet) contains excitatory neurotoxins that play havoc with our neurotransmitters and stimulate anxiety. If this wasn’t bad enough, they have also been found to contribute to obesity, carbohydrate cravings, behavioural disturbances & visual problems.

Mental Health

Depression, anxiety, behavioural disorders (ADD, ADHD) and autism have a profound affect on our selves, our family & our society. There are a multitude of factors at play that may lead to the development of these disorders, thus requiring a broad-spectrum approach to their treatment. Psychiatric medications have served an important place in the treatment of metal Illness, but they are not a cure-all. It is definitely time to consider alternative approaches, and Natural medicine is emerging with some highly successful treatments.

Biochemical Individuality

We all carry innate factors that determine many of our physiological & personality traits. It is now clear that many people are born with nutrient imbalances that play a role in many diseases, including mental illness. It all comes down to our brain chemistry and our epigenetics (how are genes are expressed). Having a healthy brain chemistry requires a complex balance of nutrients that can produce healthy levels of neurotransmitters -serotonin, dopamine, GABA & norepinephrine- these are the chemical messengers in our brain that give us our baseline level of happiness & calmness.
Various mental disorders are associated with certain biochemical imbalances. The underlying aim behind treating these disorders, therefore, lies in correcting the individual biochemical imbalance.

Common biochemical imbalances

• Vitamin B6 deficiency: B6 is found in the brain at 100 times the concentration of the blood. It is required for the synthesis of dopamine, serotonin & GABA and low levels are associated with irritability, depression, poor memory, sleep disorders, ADHD & psychosis.

• Zinc deficiency: this is the most commonly observed imbalance in mental health patients. Adequate Zinc status is crucial as it is involved in many aspects of brain function as well as in immune function, growth, hormone balance & antioxidant function. Many mental illnesses are associated with high levels of oxidative stress, requiring vast supplies of antioxidants to overcome this.

• Copper overload: copper is important in the formation of neurotransmitters. Some individuals, however, are biochemically unable to regulate their copper levels and it can become toxic. Copper overload may be of significance in postnatal depression, autism, ADHD, bipolar disorder & violence.

• Methylation imbalance: Up to 40% of us carry a defect on the MTHFR gene that controls the methylation cycle. Nutrient therapy to normalise folate & methyl levels can be very successful in alleviating depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses.

• Pyrrole disorder: some individuals have genetically-acquired high pyrrole levels which results in significant deficiencies of zinc & B6. Classic symptoms include morning nausea, poor recall of dreams, anger, mood swings, high anxiety & many white spots on the nails.

• Glucose dysregulation: low blood sugar levels can be the trigger for many symptoms of mental disorders

• • Toxic overload: high levels of toxic metals, pesticides & organic chemicals are found in many patients with mental health issues. Elevated levels of lead, mercury & cadmium are especially common.

Approach to treatment

We take a detailed look at the big picture of you. You will be asked to complete a comprehensive questionnaire detailing your history, symptoms & lifestyle. We’ll likely order a serious of blood, hair & urine tests that pinpoint what your biochemical imbalance may be. From here, a treatment program will be developed for you focussing on specific nutrients that will help to rebalance your brain biochemistry and assist the removal of toxins from the body. Regular monitoring is required, with nutrient dosages continually being modified according to your response to the treatments.