Last Updated on October 20, 2021 by
Alternative to Meds Editorial Team
Medically Reviewed by Dr Samuel Lee MD
Table of Contents:
SSRI alternatives are almost never offered as a first treatment choice. SSRI medications are most often administered without any searching medical investigations or lifestyle interventions.
There are a host of factors that can bring on a depressive state. These include everything from hormones to nutrition to life stress, and many other factors. How helpful would it be to check some of these things before pulling out a prescription pad? There are many possible interventions before resorting to toxic prescription drugs like SSRIs.
Do Your Symptoms
Require SSRIs?
Alternative to Meds has been all about antidepressant alternatives for a decade and a half now. We help our clients get off antidepressants but also use holistic and environmental medicine to design better regimens for long-term health. Please note that we have exciting published evidence showing over 77% of our clients who stop antidepressant meds, with the use of healthful antidepressant alternatives, perform and feel better, i.e., with fewer symptoms than when they were medicated! That’s something to shoot for!
For example, new research on the antimicrobial effects of antidepressants is receiving much interest from the medical and mental health communities. We have been looking at this subject for more than 15 years at Alternative to Meds Center. Current research by McGovern et al suggests that when a person takes an SSRI medication, concentrated amounts of that drug remain in the colon for a significant length of time. The effects of SSRI medication as an antimicrobial agent are a big concern that is too often overlooked.12 The state of one’s gut microbiota should be seriously considered in the field of mental health. This knowledge can help understand, at least in part, why these medications cause the adverse reactions that they do.9 A healthy and thriving microbiota is essential for mental health as well as physical health. A 2019 article in the British Journal of Hospital Medicine authored by Butler et al advises that gut bacteria are relatively easy to improve with prebiotics, probiotics, and diet. These nutrients can improve mood, reduce anxiety, and improve cognitive function. And the authors note that these interventions have produced encouraging results, with positive implications for mental health treatment.10,11
Below, we discuss some options to explore for SSRI alternative medicine and alternative therapies that can provide relief without medications. This can include various genres of counseling and cognitive behavioral therapy or other forms of talk therapy, bodywork therapies, such as therapeutic massage, chiropractic, osteopathic manipulative therapy, and craniosacral therapy (CST). Also made available to our clients are these: acupuncture, targeted amino acid therapy, IV therapy, GABA, 5-hydroxytryptophan, SAM-e, and other protocols depending on what the person’s testing profile shows would be beneficial. Perhaps testing shows a deficiency in minerals such as magnesium, or certain vitamins. Omega-3 fatty acids may improve cognitive function and provide other beneficial effects. Fascinating research published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience shows a surprising time correlation between the rising incidence of depression in the general population and less consumption of foods rich in omega-3 oils.14 Also, herbal therapy with passionflower has documented benefits for insomnia, depression, anxiety, and overall stress reduction.24 Other herbs could be useful as SSRI alternatives, such as St. John’s Wort, used to treat depression, anxiety, cuts and burns,25 as well as valerian, shown to be helpful for inducing sleep and improved sleep quality.26
Modify the diet.*3
Consult with an alternative, integrative health practitioner, nutritional psychiatrist,22 or other holistic doctors about SSRI alternatives you can use for depression or other mental health symptoms. One of the most important and successful ways of mending depression with natural alternatives to SSRIs is through exploring and discovering any reasons or causes of depression.
Alternative to Meds Center’s drug rehab program is focused on discovering the medical reasons that may be causing a person to feel depressed. You do not have to subscribe to the single-molecule or chemical imbalance theory, for instance, that being “low in serotonin” is the only factor contributing to depression. Has thyroid or adrenal function ever been checked? have you tested for magnesium or other deficiency? Is there an accumulation of neurotoxins like heavy toxic metals, environmental toxins, etc., that ruin the metabolism of food into energy? Is the diet is so significantly lacking in nutrition that it can’t produce what is needed for brain health? Or is one wrapped up in an unfulfilling life where one may need more positive surroundings to make healthy changes? Take time to review the references listed in the summary above and at the end of this article, and you can gain a wealth of information that you can use today to begin to improve your condition.
