I’m thrilled to sharing a new book with you!
Dr. Kelly Brogan is one of my heroes in the world of integrative mental health. She is a trailblazer, bold and is not afraid to say it like it is, and has written her first book A Mind of Your Own: The Truth about Depression and How Women Can Heal Their Bodies to Reclaim Their Lives. It is groundbreaking, brave, science-based and offers a truly holistic approach.
If you struggle with depression (or anxiety), you’ll find this book dispels common myths, and gives you the knowledge you need to truly heal.
According to Dr. Brogan, antidepressants not only overpromise and underdeliver, but their use may permanently disable the body’s self-healing potential. We need a new paradigm: the best way to heal the mind is to heal the whole body. I could not agree more!
Here are some snippets from the book:
Depression is merely a symptom, a sign that something is off balance or ill in the body that needs to be remedied.
Women experience more than twice the rate of depression as men, regardless of race or ethnic background. One in four women in their forties and fifties use psychiatric drugs.
Despite what you’ve been led to believe, antidepressants have repeatedly been shown in long-term scientific studies to worsen the course of mental illness –to say nothing of the risks of liver damage, abnormal bleeding, weight gain, sexual dysfunction, and reduced cognitive function that they entail. The dirtiest little secret of all is the fact that antidepressants are among the most difficult drugs to taper from, more so than alcohol and opiates. While you might call it “going through withdrawal,” we medical professionals have been instructed by Big Pharma to call it “discontinuation syndrome,” which is characterized by fiercely debilitating physical and psychological reactions.
I received an advance review copy and it’s a brilliant book! She bravely and humbly shares:
Before I stopped prescribing, I had never once cured a patient. Now people are cured every week in my practice. As I mentioned, my patients are my partners. We collaborate, and they work hard.
And look at these wise words she offers:
when you have a symptom—when you feel cloudy, sad, sore, gassy, weepy, tired, or unnecessarily anxious—bring some wonder to it. Ask why and try to make the connections. Your body’s symptoms are telling you something about equilibrium. Your body is trying to tell you that it has lost balance. Stand back and appreciate the infinite complexity of your organism.
A Mind of Your Own offers a realistic action plan you can use to heal your body, alleviate inflammation, and feel yourself again without a single prescription!
Please share this if you know anyone who is struggling with depression and/or anxiety. Use this link to get a sample chapter from the book: http://kellybroganmd.com/amindofyourown/?ref=35
We all deserve to feel our absolute best every single day!
I’d be interested to know your comments comparing this new book with The Mood Cure by Julia Ross. I have purchased The Diet Cure and find it very useful. I’m contemplating buying The Mood Cure. Do these books follow a similar path by focusing on the same nutritional balancing with Neurotransmitters and Amino Acids that Ms. Ross speaks about? Or does Dr. Brogan try a different approach?
Deb
“A Mind of Your Own” is very different from Julia Ross’ two books and mine (The Antianxiety Food Solution). All of them offer valuable tools for someone with anxiety and depression.
High level…Kelly’s new book discusses antidepressant medications (SSRIs) in great detail how difficult they are to get off, plus the effects of meds like advil, the BCP, proton pump inhibitors on depression. She also goes into leaky gut, LPS, inflammation and the microbiome in great detail, sharing all the brand new research. Of course diet and avoiding toxins is a big part of her plan for healing. She is not big on the use of amino acids (except when someone is tapering off medications) but discusses B12, folate, curcumin, thyroid health and more. It’s a superb book and I’ll be re-reading it a number of times!
Hi Trudy,
In a recent post, you mention the effectiveness of GABA and tryptophan on sleep. Just wondering if you could give suggested dosages for that combo as well.
Thank you so much. Love what you do!
Judy
Hi Judy
Yes they can be very helpful if you have low GABA and low serotonin. Here is that blog post with the details – check the comments for my feedback on GABA and tryptophan doses https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/sleep-gaba-5-htp/
Hi Trudy,
I really respect the work of Dr. Brogan, just as I also really respect your work too. I’ve listened to you both on many many summits over the past few years and I have a QUESTION: Don’t you and her differ on a few things, such as supplementing with amino acids for metal/emotional/neurotransmitter stability, etc? Maybe you could share some thoughts on any differences?
Good to see you working together on it all of course. We need all the good health practitioners we can get these days, as you are well aware.
Thx,
Perry
Perry
Thanks for your kind words and for asking. Yes, we have some professional differences of opinion! Despite this we continue to support each other and as you say that’s a good thing! It keeps us on our toes and asking questions and digging for answers.
As you can tell, I highly respect her work and value the light she is shining on the issues with SSRIs and other medications, plus all that she shares on the microbiome, LPS/leaky gut, inflammation, her dietary approach and stress reduction. I’m promoting her book and work because of this!
I am going to do a complete book review highlighting what I love about it and will spell out where our approaches differ. The short version is that unlike her I do believe that low serotonin can be a factor (and often is a factor) when it comes to depression and anxiety. I write about this here https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/low-serotonin-anxiety-and-depression/ Addressing the things she talks about – microbiome, LPS/leaky gut, inflammation, her dietary approach and stress reduction – all help to boost serotonin (and GABA levels).
Unlike Kelly, I find the use of targeted individual amino acids like GABA, tryptophan/5-HTP, DPA, glutamine and tyrosine to be incredibly valuable, and have the majority of my clients start to use them on day 1. We do this if they show a need based on the amino acids questionnaire https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/amino-acids-mood-questionnaire-from-the-antianxiety-food-solution/ – most do. It has them feeling calmer and happier right away, giving them hope and making it easier to make the dietary changes (like quitting gluten/sugar/caffeine).
Kelly does mention that she uses amino acids only when someone is tapering off SSRIs but doesn’t share specifics in the book. I had someone ask me for details on another blog and have promised to do a separate blog on this topic. Stay tuned for more.
Hi Trudy,
In Dr Brogan’s book she mentions taking bentonite clay internally. Is this good for anxiety disorders? Also, I wonder if it removes mineral supplements from the body, such as zinc, etc. How far away from medication should it be taken? In my case Armor thyroid? Thank you!
Diane
Great questions – since it’s removing toxins, if toxins are contributing to either anxiety or depression it should help. Anything that removes heavy metals would also remove other minerals, although bentonite clay contain some minerals so I’m not sure about zinc. It can impair and slow down absorption of medications so would be best taken apart from them.
I’ll see if Kelly is able to come and comment too