"It used to be

hard for me

just to get up

in the morning.

Now, I get up and I feel happy, calm, and ready to take on my day."

-Carrie T.

Mental Health

Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his/her community. This is our goal for you at NaturalStart.

Mental health diseases are health conditions that are characterized by alterations in thinking, mood, or behavior (or some combination thereof) associated with distress and/or impaired functioning. Because 95% of serotonin is made in the gut, a common cause of mental health disease is gastrointestinal dysfunction. GI dysfunction can cause malabsorption of nutrients and nutrient deficiencies, making it difficult for your body to create healthy levels of neurotransmitters. We will investigate other potential causes of mental health disease including genetic mutations, trauma, food allergies/sensitivities, infections, heavy metal toxicity, and more.

Scroll down to read about the most common mental health disorders we treat, or read about The NaturalStart Method.

Mental Health Diseases We Treat

Anxiety

Depression & Postpartum Depression

ADD/ADHD

People with anxiety respond to objects or situations with fear and dread, and have physical symptoms of anxiety and panic, including sweating and palpitations. Diagnosis is made when the anxiety interferes with normal day-to-day functioning.

Depression is a mood disorder that is characterized by persistent feelings of sadness that interfere with normal functioning. Depression can be debilitating. It affects how a person feels, thinks and behaves and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems.

Attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder affects both children and adults. Common symptoms in children include inattentiveness, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. Adults can exhibit different symptoms, including difficulty concentrating and staying focused, hyperfocus, disorganization, forgetfulness, impulsivity, emotional difficulties, and restlessness.

Autism Spectrum

Bipolar Disorder

Other Nervous System Imbalances

Autism is not one single disorder, but a spectrum of closely related disorders that share core symptoms. There is a wide degree of variation in the way autism affects people. Every individual on the autism spectrum has problems to some degree with social skills, empathy, communication, and flexible behavior. But the level of disability and the combination of symptoms varies tremendously from person to person.

Bipolar disorder is characterized by recurrent manic and depressive phases. These unstable episode make it difficult to lead a stable, productive life. In the manic phase, the bipolar person feels hyperactive and irresponsible. In the depressive phase, the bipolar person finds it difficult to do anything at all.

In addition to the specific diseases listed here, we have the ability to treat most nervous system imbalance-related diseases. There are many factors that can affect the functioning of the nervous system, including physical and emotional stress, gastrointestinal dysfunction, infections, genetic mutations, food sensitivity/allergy, heavy metal toxicity, poor diet and lifestyle, lack of exercise, and more. For most of these conditions, improvement of overall health is the first step.

Mental Health Treatment

4R Program for Gut Health

Supplements, Herbs & Homeopathy

Genetics & Neurotoxicity

Conventional
Medication

It is estimated that 90 percent of the body's serotonin (happy & calm neurotransmitter) is made in the digestive tract. Because of this, mental health diseases are often directly related to gastrointestinal dysfunction, and we have to address this dysfunction in order to heal the neurotransmitter imbalances. The 4R program is a four step program for healing gastrointestinal dysfunction. The four steps of the 4R program are:

RID: food sensitivities and allergies, infections, poor diet, stress
REPLACE: digestive enzymes, Hydrochloric acid
REPAIR: restore the health of the gut mucosa using herbs, food, and nutrients
REPLENISH: replenish the gut flora using specific strains of probiotics and food

In this 4R Program, we utilize a variety of treatments, such as supplements, herbs, homeopathy diet modification, detoxification, colon hydrotherapy, and more.

Supplements, herbs and homeopathy can address the root cause of mental health illness and also act medicinally to alleviate the symptoms and protect the body from further damage, while the root cause of the symptoms are being addressed. After evaluating you with an extensive intake, physical exam, and laboratory testing, Dr. Fong will prescribe a customized treatment plan for you. The eventual goal for you is true overall system balance, where you will not need any support, conventional or naturopathic, because the "root cause" of the imbalance has been addressed.

Your genetic blueprint plays a vital role in the creation and metabolism of neurotransmitters, and the pathways of detoxification. In an mental health case, Dr. Fong will often run genetic tests to determine if you are predisposed to have poor methylation, detoxification, nervous, and immune system pathways because these predispositions often lead to mental health illness. When the body cannot detoxify harmful toxins from the body, the toxins circulate and become neurotoxic to the nervous system. Genetic predispositions also affect the ability to create and metabolize neurotransmitters and this can lead to neurotransmitter imbalance. Dr. Fong may also test neurotransmitter levels and match them with your genetic testing.

When the nervous system imbalance is severe, sometimes conventional medications are needed. Many mental health patients are currently taking psychiatric medication prescribed by their psychiatrist. If this is the case for you, Dr. Fong and/or Dr. Carrie will assess your medical history and laboratory tests and communicate with your psychiatrist to assess the current medication regimen you are on. The goal will be to work with Dr. Fong to address the root cause of the imbalances in your system, so that when your health and labs improve, Dr. Fong and/or Dr. Carrie can support weaning you off of your medication regimen.

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