Treating Mental Health Through the Microbiome
Psychology Today
For decades, the treatment of mental health issues such as depression has focused on the brain and brain functioning. Depression has been understood as a disease of the brain, and research focused on associated neurological components (Ross et al., 2015). Psychopharmacology focuses on the correlation between psychotropic medication and symptom reduction. Certain psychotherapies aim to target maladaptive thinking patterns, schemas and resulting behaviors, and even alternative treatments, such as TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) and neurofeedback, focus on regulating brainwave states. But the brain does not exist in isolation, rather it's a component of a larger systemic function. Symptoms of mental health conditions, such as depression, are not limited to mental and emotional symptomatology, but also present largely as physiological symptoms (e.g., weight gain/loss, insomnia, gastrointestinal distress, lethargy, fatigue, and even hair loss). As such, understanding mental health struggles from a systemic perspective, including the immune system, gut, and microbiome is important in the cohesive treatment of such conditions.