Vitamin/supplements to help with mental illness?
March 14th, 2010 | 
Author: I have major depression, generalized anxiety (pretty severe lately), borderline personality disorder, and bipolar II. My health insurance co. has a hotline to call for medical advice. I spoke with them and asked about a specific vitamin regimen that may be helpful to me. I did not want to go to a health food store because I wanted MEDICAL advice. I was advised as to the B’s – B 12, zinc, folic acid, etc, and also Omega-3 fatty acid/fish oil. Does anyone have any information on these in respect to mental disorders?
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Those supplements have been shown to help some people with bio-chemical disorders, but the main thing is what you eat. Your body and brain can only function on what you feed it. Change your diet, change your chemistry, you heal your brain, and problems can go away.
My guess is you diet or eat a lot of sugar, white bread, pasta, fruit, diet products, very little protein, skip breakfast, etc.
ACKS! Stay away, honestly! Stay away from suppliments if you are on medication. It changes certain aspects of your body chemistry which can DRASTICALLY change how the medication will/wont work on yourself.
If you want more Omega — eat it through salmon. If you want folic acid, eat more greens. In the natural form, they are less concentrated and better broke down.
I’ve asked about this myself to my physician (and he loves herbal remedies), and got a stern warning. Especially because you are BPII and BPD (like myself). Vitamins muck up Lithium and Lithium like meds.
You have a physical disorder of the brain,and you need medication from a MD. This vitamin stuff is OK later and it’s benefits are dubious ar best,and have never been proven that it helps with mental disorders. . Call a local mental health clinic for an appointment,you have been diagnosed and lawfully cannot be denied treatment or medications,if you get put off or dismissed by these people again,report them in to the State Health Agency. Take care. SW FNP
I took b-complex in the liquid form….go to the pharmacy section in walmart where the vitamins are and get the b-complex in the liquid dropper. It really helped me. It’s packed with b12, b6 and other vitamins. I really recommend this, it helped get me up in the mornings and you feel good, NATURALLY.
ps. get some sleep, and eat healthy.
Omega-3 is from fish, but the benefit of daily seafood far exceeds that, because it supplies 72 trace elements you cannot get any other way….
Also, dehydration is extremely bad. Drink 8 cups of water daily, eat seafood daily, and you will in 4 months, or just under 1 year…. be very OK.
Keeping a healthy level of these in your body is a good thing so it is possibly that it would benefit mental health. You may also want to try chiropractics, it helped me. I was on 3 meds for depression, anxiety, and mood, an iron pill and occasionally a migraine pill and vioxx for menstrual cramps. They will give you a pill for breathing if you let them,lol! I put on 35lbs quick from the mood stabilizer and my back started hurting so I went to the chiropractor. Three and a half years later I still go to the chiropractor and I am on no meds. They can treat anything ADHD, Colic, intestinal problems………It’s worth a try.
Many people have overcome bipolar through megavitamin therapy and effective nutrition. A growing wealth of evidence supports that underlying nutritional deficiencies, imbalanced blood-sugar levels, etc., can cause even the most severe mental disorders. [See source refs]
For information on non-drug / alternative approaches:
- http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/articles/default.htm#B
- http://www.pendulum.org/articles/articles_misc_lisaalt.html
- http://www.truehope.com/_empowerplus/empowerplus.asp
- http://www.mentalhealthproject.com/content.asp?id_Content=1575
I take a multi-vitamin and extra folic acid every day ( I should be taking the fish oil, but they mess my stomach up)….and they seem to help on some level…I wouldn’t reccomend such a regimen unless your psychiatrist gives you the OK. But it is better to get all those vitamins, minerals, and oils from the food that you eat. Your body really doesn’t make much out of supplements compared to real food.
Nature’s way.
You don’t mention the kind of life style you follow or the diet but I want to say several things:
1-No amounts of vitamins or supplements is going to BALANCE your life if you don’t follow certain basic rules, like: one hour of daily exercise (your mind needs it) and a diet high in raw foods (vegetables and fruits. At least 50% raw food) and low in sugars, grains, breads, cookies, etc.
If you tell this to a real sedentary person they would rather die in their sofas than get theirs butts moving. They rather get all kinds of excuses to start taking every possible drugs their doctors tells them to. As a previous person said, “They will give you a pill for breathing if you let them”
2- Start taking a fish oil supplements, at least 3 grams per day. In 2 more weeks try to take 6 caps/ day. This will bring the omega 6/ omega 3 to a better balance.
Check this link about fish and the brain- ADHD:
http://www.omega-3-fish-oil-wonders.com/adhd-and-fish-oil.html
This about fish oil and the diet importance:
http://www.omega-3-fish-oil-wonders.com/omega-3-and-weight-loss.html
Alfredo E.
www.omega-3-fish-oil-wonders.com
www.peinado-de-moda.com