Sunday, March 23, 2008

Important Links, Books, & Resources to Help Our Children

Perhaps your child is already diagnosed with a non-psychological condition affecting his or her brain (such as clinical depression, pediatric-onset bipolar, autistic-spectrum, hormonal issues, migraines, psychosis-nos, lyme disease, narcolepsy, Kleine-Levin syndrome, thyroid issues, or childhood-onset schizophrenia).

Or, you may still be in the early stages of thinking, “Something is distressing my child. The screaming, horrific nightmares, spacing out, acting like perhaps he/she is hearing voices, not sleeping or sleeping too much, and tantrums indicate that something is wrong.”). In either case, in addition to treating the more salient symptoms of the condition, we need resources to help the child’s underlying biology.

We have discussed the importance of many factors involved in ensuring our children’s mental health in spite of assault on their bodies from disease, genetics, etc. We have also discussed their exquisite vulnerability to stress, inflammation, the immune connection, and more.

There is a plethora of websites that address psychological treatments offering critical help for our children in adapting to their personalities, learning differences and “wiring”. Such treatments come in the form of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Play Therapy, Expressive Arts Therapy, Pragmatic Therapy, Occupational Therapy (OT & OT) and other therapies for sensory dysfunction, strategies for lowering stress (video, Kids Under Pressure, Warning Signs , What Parents Can Do ) and more. All of them are important.

Equally important is addressing nutrition, sleep, adrenal issues, hormonal issues, allergies, migraines, and every other factor possible, in order to help our child feel better.

Integrative medicine, also referred to as complementary medicine and functional medicine, is innovative in that it uses the best of modern knowledge and protocols for tailored treatment. It uses a BIOMEDICAL approach which combines the use of conventional medical treatments alongside other practices (eg. nutritional supplements, herbal remedies, life style changes including diet, exercise, sleep hygiene, and psychosocial therapies, massage, etc.) for maximum benefit.

In order to address the uniqueness of each individual and help that individual function more optimally, all facets of the person’s body and mind need to be addressed.

That is no small task. In order to accomplish this daunting task, numerous medical tests are required. Nutritional, metabolic, neurological and hormonal states must be determined. There is no getting around the need for numerous medical tests to determine what the child’s actual issues and needs are in order to meet them! Insurance seems loathe to pay for medical tests unless the problems are diagnosed.

However, doctors cannot uncover problems without running the medical tests!

To that end, I would like to supply some important links, books, and search words. I’ll be updating this occasionally!

I can't give a list of top-notch practicing integrative medical specialists and neuroendocrinologists (or psychoneuroendocrinologists / neuropsychoendocronologists) that I personally know of. Others are welcome to comment about ones they know of, or let us know of physician finders for the that they trust.

HOWEVER, I can recommend Dr. James Greenblatt at Comprehensive Psychiatric Resources - where integrative, functional medicine and nutritional biochemistry is used in "mental" health treatment.

Here is a physician finder for medical doctors who have taken an extensive course from the Institute of Functional Medicine: FM Physician Finder although we personally were disappointed with our one trial of a doctor from that list.

Consider Traditionally Known Medical Illnesses and Medications That Can Cause or Exacerbate Psychiatric Symptoms:
Note the above lists are already outdated as new causes are continually being found, such as gluten sensitivity, brain involvement from casein (dairy), SSCD genetic and epigenetic problems, and more!

Here is a lot more testing and information to consider:
(Note: Doctor recommended hormonal, metabolic, etc testing and testing for some specific disorders are in the appendix sections of the book.)
Nutrition and Products
Sleep 

Teaching/Education
BOOKS to HEAL
Information about investigating medical problems
Getting Ready for New Medical Consult
Misc. Information


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Copyright: 2008
Last Updated: 12 April 2012

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting this outstanding information!!! I am a moderator on a site that could use these links and will refer this site for all to benefit.