Increasing Mental Health Vitality: An Overview
Each patient, case, and mental health concern is unique and requires careful and attentive individualized treatment. Dr. Brody offers some general advice and insight on his treatment philosophy:
The best piece of general advice I can give is to smile. Smiling can make a huge difference in your daily life. One of the cornerstones of my holistic treatment approach is increasing vitality. Vitality means something slightly different for everyone, but I like to describe vitality as the sparkle in your eye. Finding the best way for each individual to maintain that sparkle can be challenging. However, an easy place to start is being aware of your mood in stressful situations. If you work to smile, and therefore enhance your mood in stressful situations, it will make for a calmer and more focused response. From there, it will be easier to maintain your sense of calm and focus regularly. The physical act of smiling increases the neurotransmitter dopamine, which is thought of as the happy hormone. Dopamine is released when smiling and is usually found in higher amounts in optimistic people.
What happens when this neurotransmitter is not utilized?
The dopamine pathway is very important for vitality. A lack of dopamine can lead to increased stress and depression. However, there are numerous potential causes of low dopamine. Generally speaking, there are two important enzymes in the dopamine pathway. The first enzyme (Dopamine Beta Hydroxylase aka DBH) can have genetic mutations that cause all of your dopamine to be used in order to make adrenaline.The other important enzyme in the dopamine pathway is called dopa decarboxylase, aka DCC. If there are genetic mutations in this enzyme, your body will not be able to produce adequate levels of dopamine. Low dopamine can leave you with the following symptoms:
- Fatigue
- Low libido
- Mood swings
- Insomnia
- Depression
- Memory loss
- Lack of motivation
There are many ways to increase dopamine levels with supplements and lifestyle changes. If you are battling with depression or low dopamine levels, please seek out guidance from a naturopathic physician.
People are not just one biochemical reaction therefore it’s important to take a holistic approach when fixing a problem. Taking a pill the rest of your life is not the answer most people are looking for. I work with diet and lifestyle modification, ways of modulating genes with natural supplements, and medications to address the underlying reasons for low dopamine. If you are interested in improving your mental fortitude, please make a Genetic (Opus) or Meal Plan (SWAMI) appointment with Dr. Brody at the Center of Excellence in Generative Medicine. Please call 203-366-0526 to schedule your appointment today.
