So, You Saw a Psychiatrist and It Didn’t Help. Now What?
If you’ve been struggling with bothersome symptoms like extreme mood swings, nervousness, feeling numb, or lack of focus, you may have visited a professional for help. But that doesn’t mean you feel better. Far too often, solutions for mental health issues don’t work.
Did you know that since the launch of Prozac in 1987, antidepressant use in the U.S. has increased 400%, and more than 1 in 10 Americans now takes one? But over half of people taking antidepressants don’t get relief from them—even after trying four different kinds of antidepressants.
Antidepressants aren’t the only psychiatric drugs that aren’t giving people the relief they want. Conditions, such as anxiety, depression, ADD/ADHD, memory problems, and addiction are skyrocketing… despite the escalating use of psychiatric medications!
Unfortunately, treatment failures in traditional psychiatry remain high.
The Problem of Misdiagnosis and Mistreatment
Treatment failures are alarmingly common. Often, it’s due to misdiagnosis. For example, did you know that:
- 69% of people with bipolar disorder are initially misdiagnosed.
- General practitioners correctly identify depression in only 47% of cases.
- ADD/ADHD is often misdiagnosed as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, or obsessive compulsive disorder.
Getting the wrong treatment based on a misdiagnosis can be devastating. Not only can the wrong medications be ineffective in healing your symptoms, but they can also produce additional unwanted side effects. And that can lead to other prescription drugs to counteract those symptoms, and the spiral continues. It can all add up to months, years, or even decades of unnecessary suffering.
If you’ve gone from one medication to another without eliminating your symptoms, you may feel like you’ve tried everything and there is no hope.
The good news is, there is hope.
What Traditional Mental Health Professionals are Missing
If you’ve seen a psychiatrist, psychologist, therapist, counselor, or your primary care physician—or all of these—and you still haven’t gotten relief for your symptoms, it isn’t the end of the line.
There’s a reason why some providers may have missed the root cause of your problems. With the current psychiatric diagnostic model, which relies on symptom clusters, clinicians will never be able to know the underlying brain patterns of the patients they treat. It’s impossible to tell if a person’s inattention, depression, or aggression is being caused by:
- Low blood flow from vascular disease
- A premature aging process
- An inflammatory process, related to low omega-3 fatty acids or gut problems
- A genetic abnormality
- Lasting physical trauma from playing football in high school
- Toxic exposure from carbon monoxide or mold exposure, which needs to be treated
- Seizure activity
- A brain infection
- Nutrient or neurohormone abnormalities
- Blood sugar abnormalities
- Undiagnosed sleep apnea
- A brain that is working too hard and needs to be calmed down
- A brain that is not working hard enough and needs to be stimulated
A New Way to Diagnose and Treat Mental Health Issues
Looking at the brain with SPECT imaging can give mental health providers more information to help diagnose what’s causing your symptoms. Brain scans can show evidence of head trauma, infections, or exposure to toxins. Combine that information with lab tests to check your hormone levels, blood flow, and other important health numbers, and your provider now has a much clearer picture of what’s going on in your brain and body.
Getting an accurate diagnosis is critical to getting the right treatment so you can start feeling better fast.
If you’ve been suffering even after receiving treatment, it’s time to stop struggling and start healing. At Amen Clinics, we use brain SPECT imaging, as well as a comprehensive 4-circle approach that looks at biological, psychological, social, and spiritual elements to diagnose and treat your symptoms. To learn more or to schedule your comprehensive evaluation, please visit us online or call 888-288-9834.
