WHOLE PSYCHIATRY

As time went on I began to realize that these two intertwined issues - alleviating the side effects of antidepressants and uncovering hidden medical disorders - required more than medical tests and drug treatments. During the early 1990s it became clear to me that nutrition, exercise, and other lifestyle factors all played roles in combating the side effects of antidepressants while bolstering the medications' benefits. (As is often the case in medicine, clinicians on the front lines were finding out what worked ahead of the researchers. Over the past three or four years, research studies have been confirming what I discovered in my practice.) I formulated nutrition, exercise, and stress management plans that became the foundation of my program - what I call the Fundamentals. The Fundamentals are based on sound, tested medical principles that will improve your overall health and alleviate antidepressant side effects while amplifying the therapeutic value of the antidepressants. I then combined the Fundamentals with my diagnostic tests, which I call the Medical Prescription, to create the Antidepressant Survival Program. The Antidepressant Survival Program has one overriding goal: To create healthy, balanced functioning in both your body and your mind, which will enable you to live your life as you were meant to live it: with energy, excitement, pleasure, and vitality. A balanced body and mind are the keys to recapturing the joys and freedoms that make life worth living: the ability to create and experience the simple but profound pleasures of love, work and play.