Feedback: We'd like to hear your comments and views. Please forward them to the e-mail address above. Contact information is below.

Also included on the site is an array of articles on topics ranging from the medical causes of schizophrenia to the effects of toxic metals on mental health.

Special AlternativeMentalHealth.com T-shirts and bumper stickers are available at our online store.

A bookstore page lists top books that cover many areas of alternative treatments with titles like Natural Healing for Schizophrenia and Other Common Mental Disorders and No More Ritalin.

AlternativeMentalHealth.com has been created to educate the public, practitioners, and government officials on the medical conditions that create "mental illness" and the many safe resources available for addressing and often curing severe mental symptoms.

We have arrayed a wonderful lineup of speakers representing decades of experience in this field.  And we have added a special bonus on Saturday, June 15th - a free book signing.  This is a rare chance to have four widely respected authors of natural mental health treatments answer your questions and autograph copies of their books (more info below).  Hope to see you there!

 

JUNE 15
8:30 AM	Introduction by Dan Stradford, president of Safe Harbor
9:00 AM	Prof. Jim Croxton:  Basic brain science:  Brain metabolism,  neuron structure, glial cells, neurotransmitters, etc.
10:15 AM	Prof. Jim Croxton:  Mechanisms that can lead to severe mental  symptoms.
11:00 AM	Dr. Jeff Baker, N.D., of Great Smokies Labs:  Lab testing for  underlying causes of metal  symptoms
1:00 PM.	Prof. Jim Croxton:  Specific syndromes:  Celiac disease,  hypothyroidism, etc.
2:15 PM	Dr. Jeff Baker:  Continuation:  Lab testing for underlying  causes of  mental symptoms
3:45 PM	Prof. Jim Croxton:  Case histories, Q and A
5:00 PM	Charles Gant, M.D., Ph.D.: Natural treatments for addiction
6:00 PM	Book signing by four authors!  (See announcement below .)
JUNE 16
8:30 AM	Stuart Shipko, M.D.:  Medical conditions that present as  psychiatric symptoms (includes a discussion on the physiological  hazards of psychotropic medication).
10:45 AM	Hyla Cass, M.D.:  Nutritional and herbal treatments for  anxiety and depression
1:OO PM	Cynthia Watson, M.D.:  The role of sex hormones in emotional  disturbance
2:00 PM	Charles Gant, M.D., Ph.D.:  Complementary medicine solutions  for children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder
3:15 PM	Recovery Panel: Five people with successful non-drug  recoveries from bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, ADD, obsessive  compulsive disorder, etc., present their stories and respond to Q  & A.
5:00 PM	Closing comments

Physical state neglected: this is not a new observation. This goes back to the days when I was a nursing student in the 1960's. This is a time when a unique study was done at Norristown PA Sate Hospital geriatric ward. Patients were found to be suffering from beri-beri, not with a mental illness. Today it is not beri-beri but Alzheimers, and these folks are found to be thyroid deficient in about 70% of cases.

Thyroid malfunction in BPD (bipolar disorder)/MDI (medically determinable impairment) - this is not a new one either.  Any person that is suspected of BPD should without question be referred to the nearest endocrinologist for a thorough workup. Thyroid is often at the base of this, and they prescribe lithium and other drugs that destroy the thyroid. Vitamin deficiencies also are related.

Reasons to learn how to do a thorough search of the literature.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment.

Gayle Eversole, CRNP, PhD, AHG, DHom, www.leaflady.org 

Meet and Talk with Four Nationally-Recognized Authors on Natural Mental Health Treatments!

• Hyla Cass, M.D., Author of Natural Highs: Supplements, Nutrition & Mind/Body Techniques to Help You Feel Good All the Time
• Charles Gant, M.D., Ph.D., Author of End Your Addiction Now
• Mel Werbach, M.D., Author of Nutritional Influences on Mental Illness
• Eva Edelman, Author of Natural Healing for Schizophrenia and Other Mental Disorders

When: 6:00 PM, Sat., June 15, 2002
Where: Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, 7000 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles
Admission: Free!

The April 10, 2002 issue of JAMA, Vol. 287 No. 14, reported on a study conducted to determine the efficacy of St John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) in major depressive disorder. The study was a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial conducted in 12 academic and community psychiatric research clinics in the United States.  Patients were randomly assigned to receive H perforatum, placebo, or sertraline (Zoloft - as an active comparator) for 8 weeks. Based on clinical response, the daily dose of H perforatum could range from 900 to 1500 mg and that of sertraline from 50 to 100 mg. Responders at week 8 could continue blinded treatment for another 18 weeks.

The findings of the study reported that "Full response occurred in 31.9% of the placebo-treated patients vs 23.9% of the (St. John's Wort) H perforatum-treated patients and 24.8% of (Zoloft) sertraline-treated patients."

However, the conclusion of the study failed to mention that Zoloft was used in the study, and simply stated that St. John's Wort was ineffective. "This study fails to support the efficacy of H perforatum in moderately severe major depression. The result may be due to low assay sensitivity of the trial, but the complete absence of trends suggestive of efficacy for H perforatum is noteworthy."

In a communication to several FDA officials, the Alliance for Human Research Protection (AHRP) questioned the motives behind the researchers' their failure to mention in the conclusion that not only was Zoloft part of the trial, but was also found to be less effective than the placebo - and only slightly more effective than St. John's Wort.

According to the AHRP, this omission in the conclusion is especially suspect since the authors of the study also acknowledged that "An increasing number of studies have failed to show a difference between active antidepressants and placebo. Many of the presumed factors underlying this phenomenon were carefully attended to in this study, eg, adherence to quality control by rater training, treatment adherence monitoring, inclusion of experienced investigators, and carefully defined entry criteria. Despite all of this, sertraline failed to separate from placebo on the 2 primary outcome measures"

Seattle psychiatrist Arif Khan, who has studied the placebo effect in trials submitted to the FDA, conducted an analysis of 96 antidepressant trials between 1979 and 1996.  He analyzed trials that were made public in the medical literature, which tend to show positive results, and those that were not.  The results showed that in 52 percent of the studies, the effect of the antidepressant could not be distinguished from that of the placebo. Khan said the makers of Prozac had to run five trials to obtain two that were positive, and the makers of Paxil and Zoloft had to run even more.

Additionally, it has been found that the placebos affect parts of the brain in a manner similar to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).  Andrew Leuchter, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA.  published a study in the American Journal of Psychiatry (January 2002), in which he tracked some of the brain changes associated with drugs such as Prozac and Effexor.  When Leuchter compared the brain changes on placebos, he found that many of the patients had changes in the same parts of the brain that are thought to control important facets of mood.

Thomas Laughren, who heads the group of scientists at the FDA that evaluates these drugs, recently commented on these issues in the article entitled Against Depression, a Sugar Pill Is Hard to Beat, published in the Washington Post on May 7, 2002. "It speaks to the difficulty we have in classifying and identifying the disorders we deal with," said Mr. Laughren. "Psychiatric diagnosis is descriptive. We don't really understand psychiatric disorders at a biological level."  

According to James T. Webb, Ph.D., Professor and Associate Dean at the School of Professional Psychology, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, almost all of the behaviors associated with ADHD symptoms "might be found in bright, talented, creative, gifted children. Until now little attention has been given to the similarities and differences between the two groups, thus raising the potential for misidentification in both areas -- giftedness and ADHD."

In an article in ERIC EC Digest #E522 (www.ericec.org), Dr. Webb has compared these symptoms:

Behaviors Associated with ADHD:

1. Poorly sustained attention in almost all situations
2. Diminished persistence on tasks not having immediate consequences
3. Impulsivity, poor delay of gratification
4. Impaired adherence to commands to regulate or inhibit behavior in social contexts
5. More active, restless than normal children
6. Difficulty adhering to rules and regulations

Behaviors Associated with Giftedness:

1. Poor attention, boredom, daydreaming in specific situations
2. Low tolerance for persistence on tasks that seem irrelevant
3. Judgment lags behind development of intellect
4. Intensity may lead to power struggles with authorities
5. High activity level; may need less sleep
6. Questions rules, customs and traditions

According to Dr. Webb, "Sometimes, professionals have diagnosed ADHD by simply listening to parent or teacher descriptions of the child's behaviors along with a brief observation of the child. Other times, brief screening questionnaires are used, although these questionnaires only quantify the parents' or teachers' descriptions of the behaviors."

In addition to a thorough physical evaluation, including screening for allergies and other metabolic disorders, Dr. Webb also makes the following recommendation:

"It is important to examine the situations in which a child's behaviors are problematic. Gifted children typically do not exhibit problems in all situations. For example, they may be seen as ADHD-like by one classroom teacher, but not by another; or they may be seen as ADHD at school, but not by the scout leader or music teacher. Close examination of the troublesome situation generally reveals other factors which are prompting the problem behaviors."

"One outcome of this event will be our implementation of pioneering training programs for persons wishing to work in the new field of non-coercive 'drug-free crisis care,' Dr. Maureen Roberts told The Alternative Mental Health News.

"This will be the first Australian forum to look at reputable, cost-effective alternatives to drugs and hospitals for psychosis, depression and trauma and as such, it could provide the basis for genuine and urgently needed 'mental health' reform. Properly implemented, these alternatives could also save billions of dollars in health care and take pressure off of overworked hospitals."

The main conference speaker will be US psychiatrist Dr Loren Mosher, founder of a successful residential care program, which provided the kind of safe, friendly, homelike environment that is necessary for working through schizophrenia as an "acute personal crisis." This approach challenges the orthodox psychiatric view that schizophrenia is a biological "mental illness" requiring (often forced) administration of heavy drugs.

Dr Richard Gosden, Australian author of the new book Punishing the Patient: How Psychiatrists Misunderstand & Mistreat Schizophrenia, will be a second guest speaker.

The forum will discuss the ethics, credibility and workability of existing government mental health policies. It will also challenge forced drug treatment of non-violent persons labeled "schizophrenic."

The South Australia Public Advocate's Office have already funded one of their delegates to attend and a Guardianship Board solicitor will address the forum on "human rights and coercive psychiatry."

To find out more and/or to register to attend, visit the Conference website:

http://www.jungcircle.com/temenos.html 

According to the May, 2002 issue of Pediatrics, prescriptions for antidepressant medications for children and teenagers rose substantially during the 1990s. From 1988, the year Prozac was introduced, to 1994, prescriptions for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) increased 19-fold. Tricyclic antidepressants came into frequent use for treating "ADHD" in youngsters, sometimes in combination with Ritalin or other stimulants without the combinations themselves being subjected to rigorous testing.

In his commentary on the above-paraphrased article, Dr. Joseph Mercola (mercola.com) summarizes the gentler and more positive remedies that are available. His advice:

"Clearly drugs are not the answer for children with ADHD. There are so many better options.

"If they only did the following three steps, the great majority would notice amazing improvement in their ADHD:

"Omega-3 oils, specifically fish oil, is probably the single most important nutrient for a child with ADHD to take.

"Next they should only drink water as their beverage, taking care to avoid fruit juices, soda and milk.

"Restrict sugars and grains, which cause insulin levels to be elevated."

Glenn Brooks of Leeds is a health realization coach who has been working with clients diagnosed with ADD/ADHD for seven years.

"The quality of your life is the quality of your attention," Brooks says. His coaching style involves approaching a person who has been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD as a learner with unlimited potential. Brooks examines the individual's lifestyle and habits because, according to him, "movement is medicine."

"If you want to torture someone with ADD, make them sit in a chair and focus on one thing for an hour," Brooks says. He advocates allowing children classified as ADD/ADHD to run around before being asked to sit still in a classroom.

Bruce Coulombe of Everest Chiropractic in Northampton explains that when sensory and motor deficits are addressed, patients show improvement. He uses a technique called blind-spot mapping that involves identifying blind spots in the retina by asking patients to focus on a black dot marked on a piece of paper and then follow the movement of a pencil with their eyes. When the top of the pencil is not visible to them, Coulombe marks the blind spot on the piece of paper. If the left eye has the largest blind spot, he says, then it means that activity in the right hemisphere of the brain is compromised.

Coulombe then manipulates vertebrae in the cervical spine and reassesses the patient's blind spot. If it has decreased, then there will be an increase in their brain activity.

Often, Coulombe discusses his young patients' progress with their parents and teachers. "The feedback I get is that their ability to focus is often improved," he says, adding that the positive effects are based on neurological fine-tuning.

"I look at the patient's environment, past traumas, pollutants and diet. For instance, if their intake of fatty acids [found in flax-seed oil, fish oil, almonds and avocados] is too low, the normal synchronicity of the brain is affected," Coulombe says. He also recommends limiting television time and increasing physical exercise.

American BlueGreen recently introduced a new product that gives additional impetus to the natural "ADHD" treatment movement. Kids Plus+(tm), an original European formula, is a natural, allergy-free nutritional supplement specifically developed to target "ADHD" symptoms. Introduced in Austria and Germany early in 2001, Kids Plus+ garnered high marks with active kids, their parents and teachers.

Marked improvement in children's grades, decreased aggression with others, paying attention during class, and ability to concentrate on work have been reported by moms, dads and educators. Ritalin has been supplemented or supplanted with good results in many cases.

"With so many families facing the reality of an ADHD-diagnosed child, our aim is to help eliminate the anguish associated with a medication-only based solution," said Ed Leach, Manager of American BlueGreen.

Kids Plus+ contains micronutrient-rich AFA-Algae, Kamut grass juice, Alfalfa grass juice, Barley juice, probiotics and a proprietary blend of enzymes.

http://www.americanbluegreen.com

Internationally-recognized holistic psychiatrist Dr. Hyla Cass and renowned British nutritionist Patrick Holford of the Institute for Optimum Nutrition have joined talents to produce a book that lays out the basics on natural approaches to feeling good.  Their book, "Natural Highs:  Supplements, Nutrition, & Mind/Body Techniques to Help You Feel Good All the Time" has just hit the bookstores.

What is the proper diet needed?  What herbs are useful?  What nutritional supplements are good for depression and anxiety?  What about exercise, massage, music?  A host of solutions are available to those who want to avoid the toxic offerings of psychotropic medications and street drugs.

These days when you tell your doctor that you have lost your spark, he's liable to reach for his prescription pad.  But drugs are no substitute for healthy living.  Natural Highs gives considerable guidance on revving up your natural engines to put vitality back into your life. 

Could behavior which is often labeled as dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in childhood actually be rooted in deficits of key fatty acid nutrients in the brain? A recent pilot study by researchers from Oxford University in England provides support for this intriguing hypothesis.

The study evaluated the effects of fatty acid supplementation in a group of 41 children between the ages of 8 to 12. All the children had significant reading and writing disabilities which lagged nearly three years behind normal. Although of average intelligence, the children also had difficulty with working memory and phonological (speech sounds) skills.

To ensure accuracy, the study was randomized, double-blinded, and placebo-controlled, says Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratory on its website. One group of children received a daily placebo capsule containing olive oil. The other group received a daily supplement of highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs)which have been linked to proper brain development and the signaling process between brain neurons.

After twelve weeks, researchers reevaluated the children using objective ratings scales designed to assess ADHD-related symptoms. As expected, the children treated with the placebo showed no improvement from baseline. But the children treated with HUFAs received significantly improved scores on a wide range of ADHD-symptoms, including inattention, restlessness, and cognitive problems.

Results from this small intervention trial seem to bolster previous evidence linking fatty acid imbalances with learning problems in children. "Blood biochemical evidence has suggested that a relative deficiency of certain HUFAs may contribute to some of the behavioral and learning problems central to ADHD," the researchers commented.

Study conditions prevented the researchers from measuring fatty acids in the children's blood before the supplementation trial.

Thus far, clinical trials suggest that a combination of HUFAs, particularly those that contain EPA, may be more effective in these children than any single HUFA given alone. No negative side effects have been reported. Twelve weeks is the minimum intervention period needed to see clinical results, the researchers estimated, because it takes at least 10 weeks for supplementation to adequately raise fatty acid levels in brain cells.

NOTE: Essential and Metabolic Fatty Acids Analysis (packed erythrocytes [red blood cells]) provides clinicians with an accurate clinical baseline for designing precise, customized fatty acid therapy in patients. Assessment ensures that supplementation will address all the clinically significant deficiencies, while avoiding the time and expense of unnecessary supplementation.

Information provided by Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratory (gsdl.com). Details at http://www.gsdl.com/assessments/fattyacids/