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Anxiety and Depression

Please first have a look at this Youtube clip from 

OH, WHAT A LOVELY WAR.

Conventional psychotherapy
This includes antidepressants, psychoanalysis and cognitive therapy. ​Antidepressant drugs such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), raise levels of serotonin, the happiness hormone, but they are disadvantaged by side effects (see below). 

Psychotherapy endeavours to help patients equate expectations and reality. Patients are also encouraged to become more aware of positive aspects of their lives in a technique known as ego strengthening and to come to terms with unresolved previous troubling experiences including  questionable parenting.

The objective of psychotherapy is to enable patients to come to terms with life as follows.

ANXIETY/DEPRESSION
EXPECTATIONS DO NOT = REALITY
 
ABSENCE OF ANXIETY/DEPRESSION
EXPECTATIONS = REALITY

Complementary psychotherapy
Practitioners tend to restrict their treatments to their specialist fields of expertise. Approaches include homoeopathy, hypnotherapy, counselling, Bach flower therapy, nutritional medicine, radionics, herbalism, Chinese medicine and acupuncture. 

Diane Pfister, who lives in Windsor offers counselling and  psychotherapy via Skype. Her website is  www.seainside.co.

Integrative Psychotherapy
At this clinic, the underlying causes of anxiety-depression are identified (see below) from the medical history and with vegatesting. Appropriate naturopathic treatment is selected with vegatesting and checked with muscle testing (clinical kinesiology).  How  expectations and reality could be equated is also considered. 

The Wim Hof method (diaphragmatic breathing)

This involves breathing in for a count of four and holding one's breath for a count of 8, then exhaling for a count of four, and holding one's breath again for a count of 8. This yogic approach reduces nervous tension and strengthens the immune system.


Dental amalgam (mercury) poisoning
Patients mouths are checked for high voltage dental amalgam fillings (1).  High oral dental voltages cause electricity to be stored in the body and cause pathological tiredness.

Bach Flowers
These are plant and stone derived vibrational essences that are similar to high potency homeopathic preparations in that they contain no material content. When indicated, they can be effective for anxiety and depression.  

 

For example, a moody nine-year-old boy was helped with Bach flower treatment – see the testimonial below.

“My 9-year-old son was easily angered and had very low self-esteem. He hated himself and the world. The vegatesting was painless and just involved touching a spot on the side of one of my son's toes with a blunt instrument. It sounds strange, but honestly it is amazing! Dr Bourne prescribed drops that contained homeopathy and Bach flowers. I've been adding them to my son's drinks for a few weeks and the difference in his personality is incredible. He is now so calm and doing really well at school. He goes to bed with no dramas and has become very sweet with his younger brother and happy to do his homework.”

Modern homeopathy
Selected homeopathic preparations may be prescribed when indicated with vegatesting. For example, homeopathic carbo veg can help with chronic fatigue.

 

Nutritional medicine

Vitamin B12 deficiency can cause tiredness and depression. This can be checked with a laboratory blood test and with vegatesting. It can be caused by a vegan diet and also by taking conventional proton pump inhibitors such as Zantac (omeprazole) and Tagamet (cimetidine), which are prescribed conventionally to treat gastric hyperacidity.

Additional nutritional causes of anxiety /depression are discussed in the section on pyroluria below.

Food intolerance (2)
Mental illness can be associated with intolerances to certain foods particularly milk, eggs, coffee and white flour. 

Stress and adrenal exhaustion (3)
Overwork, worry and unhealthy eating with too much junk food, particularly sugar, coffee and alcohol can cause stress related illnesses with adrenal gland exhaustion. 

In health, adrenal stress hormones enable people to cope with stress by preventing abnormally low blood sugar levels and by increasing the blood supply to the brain and muscles. 

Stress due to overwork and worry can cause adrenal gland exhaustion with ‘low blood sugar syndrome’, manifested by fatigue, anxiety/depression, insomnia and stress related illnesses such as depression, arthritis and gastric ulcers. 
 
Treatment of adrenal gland exhaustion includes more rest, stress reduction, healthy regular eating, and when indicated by vegatesting, selected Bach flowers for emotional support and selected nutritional, herbal, and modern homeopathic supplements for adrenal gland support.  

Behavioural problems in children 
Attention deficiency and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) mostly presents in children aged about two, who become restless, and agitated with frequent outbursts of uncontrollable bad behaviour.

During the 1950's, Dr Feingold (4) pioneered a low salicylate diet, which helped some hyperactive children. In the Feingold diet, all fruits except pears and Golden Delicious apples are excluded from the diet. It is helpful to enquire which high salicylate foods (particularly blackcurrant juice in Ribena) are being had regularly. High salicylate foods are contained in all fruits and vegetables that are red in colour, such as oranges, red grapes, apples (except Golden Delicious), cherries, black currants, tomatoes, plums and peaches. Salicylate sensitivity can be diagnosed with vegatesting.

Phosphate intolerance, due to a sensitivity to phosphoric acid in cola drinks, can also cause of ADHD.

Harmful electromagnetic radiation ​

Earth radiation (geopathic stress) and electrical radiation can cause anxiety and depression. Kathe Bachler, an Austrian school teacher, researched harmful earth radiation (geopathic stress) during the 1970's. She dowsed three thousand homes in fourteen different countries, and investigated geopathic stress (GS) related health problems in eleven thousand people. In her book, Earth Radiation (5), she outlined many impressive and convincing case histories relating to GS. She found that geopathic stress can be associated with learning difficulties and insomnia in children and with anxiety/depression and consequent marriage break-ups in adults and that electromagnetic radiation  is also a cause of cancer. 

Man made  electromagnetic radiation can also cause  anxiety/depression. It is caused by radio and mobile phone transmitting masts, high voltage power cables, generators, mobile phones and computers.  (See articles section on introductory page).

Mobile phones emit pathogenic electric fields that can heat the brain and cause anxiety and depression. Some teenagers use their mobile phones for hours on end, particularly at night to talk to their friends. It is advisable for people, who spend a lot of time on their mobile phones, to use headphones or ear pieces. 


Pyroluria
This is a congenital psychiatric illness that is prevalent in children, teenagers and young adults. It is associated with nutritional deficiencies of bioavailable zinc, vitamin B6 and omega 6 essential fatty acid. 

Symptoms include poor stress control, anxiety and depression, mood swings, short temper and poor short-term memory.

Pyroluria results from a congenital inability to make normal amounts of serotonin, a hormone that prevents pathological anxiety and depression. Serotonin is known as 'the happiness hormone' and levels can be increased with conventional antidepressants such as Prozac (fluoxetine). The side effects of Prozac are summarised below. 

In pyroluria, there is overproduction of a by-product of haemoglobin synthesis called “kryptopyrrole” (KP), which is excreted in the urine and which can be measured for diagnostic purposes in medical laboratories. People with      10-20 mcg/dl of KP in their urine are borderline for pyroluria and can  benefit from selected nutritional treatment. KP levels above 20 mcg/dl are indicative of pyroluria (7).

In London, a urine test for pyroluria can be carried out by Biolab Laboratories (8), who provide a suitable specimen jar that contains vitamin C powder to prevent the urine from deteriorating. No nutritional supplements should be taken for two days prior to collecting the urine specimen.

Appropriate nutritional treatment for pyroluria can be identified  at this clinic vegatesting. 

PROZAC SIDE EFFECTS 

•    Nausea,
•    Loss of appetite 
•    Upset stomach
•    Constipation
•    Headaches
•    Anxiety
•    Sleep problems (insomnia)
•    Drowsiness
•    Dizziness
•    Nervousness
•    Heart palpitations
•    Weight changes
•    Cold symptoms (stuffy nose, sneezing, sore throat)
•    Dry mouth
•    Decreased sex drive
•    Impotence

 

AMITRIPTYLINE SIDE EFFECTS 

•    Hives
•    Worsening of anxiety/depression with aggression 
•    Increased risk of suicidal thoughts
•    Swelling in your face or throat
•    Difficulty breathing
•    Drowsiness
•    Dry mouth
•    Irregular heart rate particularly in people over sixty.
•    Insomnia
•    Speech becomes slow or difficult
•    Tendency to dizziness and/or fainting
•    Crushing chest pain
•    Rapid, pounding, or irregular heartbeat
•    Severe skin rash or hives
•    Swelling of the face and tongue
•    Yellowing of the skin or eyes
•    Spasms in the jaw, neck, and/or back muscles
•    One or more body parts start shaking uncontrollably
•    Fainting
•    Weakness or numbness down an arm or leg
•    Unusual bleeding or bruising
•    Seizures
•    Hallucinating
•    Extreme thirst, general ill feeling
•    Urinating less frequently or not at all
•    Drowsiness
•    Dry mouth
•    Nausea
•    Vomiting
•    Weakness or tiredness
•    Nightmares
•    Headaches
•    Constipation
•    Difficulty urinating
•    Blurred vision
•    Pain, burning or tingling in the hands or feet
•    Changes in sex drive or ability
•    Excessive sweating
•    Changes in appetite or weight
•    Confusion


REFERENCES
1. DENTISTRY WITHOUT MERCURY by Sam Ziff and Michael F. Ziff. DDS (ISBN 0-941011- 04-6).
    
2. NOT ALL IN THE MIND. Dr Richard Mackarness. Pan Books. 1976. ISBN 0 330 24592 9.
    
3. NATURAL RELIEF FOR ANXIETY. E.J. Bourne. 2012. ISBN-101458762061.

4. NUTRITIONAL MEDICINE, Dr Stephen Davies and Dr Alan Stewart. Pan Books 19087. ISBN 0 33028833 4. Page 449.


5. Earth Radiation. Kathe Bachler. The Holistic Intuition Society, 2007: ISBN 978-0-9686323-5-2.
    
6. https://www.rxlist.com/prozac-drug.htm#description

7. http://www.drkaslow.com/html/pyroluria.html

8. The telephone number of Biolab is 020 7636 5959.

The cost of a pyroluria urine test was £36 in 2018. Biolab can provide a postal urine collection kit for £5.

If you are suffering from Anxiety or Depression, Vegatesting may be able to help. To book a consultation please call Dr Stephen Bourne on 020 8632 0119 or
07717 833702.

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