We Treat Mental Health Issues

In today’s society 26.2%, or one in four, Americans age 18 years and older have been diagnosed with a mental disorder (source: 2004 U.S. Census Data). Several steps are involved with the proper diagnosis of a mental disorder. If the person shows symptoms of mental health issues, either a doctor or other mental health professional must evaluate them. The typical protocol is for the doctor to ask questions about the person’s symptoms, medical history, and sometimes the doctor will perform a physical exam. The person’s symptoms and degree of disability point to a diagnosis of a specific mental disorder. For most mental disorders, there is not one single laboratory test to perform to confirm the disorder. Most doctors will perform laboratory tests, such as blood work, saliva tests and stool tests to make sure that something else is not manifesting the mental disorder symptoms. Most mental health disorders are diagnosed by psychiatrists and psychologist. The doctor will base their diagnosis off of their evaluation of the symptoms that the person has relayed to them during the evaluation. The doctor will determine based of the person’s symptoms and degree of disability point to a diagnosis of a specific disorder. If a family member is seeing odd or abnormal behavior from a loved one, it is important to have the person be evaluated.

Behaviors To Look For When Considering Mental Health  

  There are some key behaviors you can look for in a loved one you suspect of having a mental health problem:

• Recent social withdrawal or loss of interest in others
• Problems with concentrating, memory, or logical thoughts
• An unusual drop in functioning, at work, school, or difficulty performing familiar tasks
• A feeling of being disconnected from oneself and their surroundings
• Drastic changes in one’s sleep and appetite or personal hygiene
• Heightened sensitivity to sounds, sights, smell or touch
• They will start to avoid stimuli that push and over stimulate the them

These are just a few symptoms to start to look for. You can always ask your health provider for additional symptoms you can look for.

Treatment For Mental Disorders

There are numerous ways to treat a person with a mental disorder.

1. The most common approach is the traditional way of treatment, which typically uses medications based on the person’s symptoms. There are two problems with this approach, however. Most importantly, it requires the mental health professional to chase their symptoms, acting reactively and not proactively to help improve the patients mental health. Additionally, with the emphasis on medication, typically the person will need one medication to treat one of the problems, and then they will need another one to treat the side effects of the first medication and so forth.
2. There are more holistic styles to help treat a mental disorder. One needs to really understand the cause of the symptoms. You need to address the whole body and figure out what is causing the problem. In our clinic we take the whole body approach in order to help our patients. We are not chasing the symptoms; we are getting to the root of the problem. Some disorders that we help in our office are co-managed with the patient’s general practitioner. With the holistic approach it is less invasive, has fewer side effects, and will get to the root of the problem.

As Dr. Gary Draper D.C. states, “We address the whole body, we use brain based therapies to fire up the brain pathways that are not firing correctly. You could say we help rewire the brain.”   Additionally, clinic director Dr. Akiba Green is known world-wide for changing patient’s lives.   Their clinic, Lake Norman Integrative Wellness, uses an integrative model of care, with a focus on clinical nutrition, functional neurology and active therapies performed both in office and at home. What Dr. Gary loves about his job is how he can change a patient’s life by changing the way that the brain is working. “Not only do I get to help the individual, but I get to help improve the quality of life for the entire family. Having a mental disorder or any kind can be very stressful on the family just as much as the individual,” aays Dr. Gary.  He takes the whole family approach; this means that each member can be a key player in the treatment protocol. “The treatment plan will be more affective if we have everyone helping each other, with the goal of the patient in mind. The holistic approach to rewiring the pathways into a patient’s neurological system through a noninvasive therapy protocol is the best way to help our patients.” Dr. Gary has a focus of helping children with childhood developmental disorders or any mental heath disorder. Dr. Gary states “the best part of my job is seeing how my patient’s grow. I love helping patients of all ages, but my heart goes out to the younger patients. Having the opportunity to help children has always been a passion of mine. It is truly mind blowing, how fast you can help a child. It is one of the greatest gifts to see a child’s smile after treatment. Also to hear the stories from the family members of how much the patient has changed, and how the entire family dynamic has changed for the best. My career, my passion to help others, is the most rewarding aspect that I could ever ask for. The ability to reinvent someone’s life through a holistic approach is just amazing.” Find the root to the problem and stop chasing the symptoms!  ]]>