Gil Winkelman ND

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How Do I Know If I have Trauma

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How Do I Know If I Have Trauma

When you think about trauma, do you think about accidents and child abuse? Trauma may be the biggest health issue that isn’t recognized. It touches our lives in so many ways. Traumatic events vary as do people’s responses to events that we deem scary. How do I know if I have trauma is a common question I get from patients. 

how do I know if I have trauma

To start, we need to define what trauma is. Trauma is any event that occurs where the nervous system gets activated but doesn’t reset. I explain the details in another post. But the basics are this. Something happens that causes us to be on alert. Our sympathetic nervous amps up, causing our heart to race, pupils to dilate, and glucose gets mobilized so we can fight or flee. (This is the fight/flight response.) When the danger passes, ideally, your system calms down. Say you have a near miss accident while driving. In milliseconds, you respond to the threat so you can react to the situation. At the last minute, you swerve to avoid the wreck. Some people pull over after this type of experience to calm themselves. They may shake, scream, or somehow discharge the pent up energy. But what if you don’t do that? Sometimes, that event leads to what I’m calling trauma. The energy gets stuck. And that energy can affect mind, body, and spirit. 

 

Examples of Trauma

What are some examples of trauma? Surgeries, poorly performed procedures, accidents, and adverse childhood experiences such as bullying at school or verbal or physical abuse are examples of trauma. But many times, the event is one we never considered traumatic because we rationalized it away. For example, many patients never considered a surgery traumatic because the procedure went well. But the body responds as though there is a threat. People remember little from the time they were preverbal (around 2 years of age). If anything happened, your body might remember it, but you would have no recall of the event. Finally, there is evidence that some trauma is epigenetic. This means that we may experience situations as traumatic because one of our ancestors passed that to us. You can read more about this in my report.You can read more about this in my report.

How trauma affects mind, body, and spirt?

Before I answer that question, we need to discuss shame and trauma. Shame is a form of developmental trauma. It leads to a similar type of avoidance. If your arm hurts, you don’t move it around. If you have a psychological wound, you don’t poke at it. Regardless if you are aware of trauma, it affects your mind, body, and spirit. How?  Below is a list of typical reactions people have both right away or ones that are delayed.

 

 

 

Effects of Trauma on Mind, body, Spirit

Immediate Emotional Reactions
Numbness and detachment
Anxiety and/or panic
Guilt (Either survival guilt or guilt for causing the problem)
Exhilaration as a result of surviving
Anger
Sadness
Feeling helpless or out of control
Feeling as though you are watching your self (depersonalization)
Disorientation
Denial
Feeling constricted or overwhelmed

Delayed Emotional Reactions
Irritability and/or hostility
Depression
Mood swings, instability
Anxiety (e.g., phobia, generalized anxiety)
Fear of trauma recurrence
Grief reactions
Shame
Feeling extra vulnerable or seen
Emotional detachment

Immediate Physical Reactions
Nausea and/or gastrointestinal distress
Sweating or shivering
Faintness
Muscle tremors or uncontrollable shaking
Elevated heartbeat, respiration, and blood pressure
Extreme fatigue or exhaustion
Greater startle responses
Depersonalization

Delayed Physical Reactions
Sleep disturbances, nightmares
Increased focus on and worry about body aches and painsd
Appetite and digestive changes including nausea, gas, bloating, constipation, and diarrhea
Lowered resistance to colds and infection
Chronic fatigue
Elevated cortisol levels
Hyperarousal
Long-term health effects to any body system including autoimmune disease

Immediate Cognitive Reactions
Difficulty concentrating
Rumination or racing thoughts (like replaying the traumatic event in your mind)
Distortion of time and space (like everything happened in slow motion.)
Memory problems or misremembering events
Strong identification with victims

Delayed Cognitive Reactions
Flashbacks/intrusive memory of event or worse memory
Previous traumatic events are reactivated
Self-blame
Difficulty making decisions
Magical thinking: belief that certain behaviors, including avoidant behavior, will protect against future trauma
Belief that feelings or memories are dangerous
Avoiding similar situations to the traumatic event
Suicidal ideation

Immediate Behavioral Reactions
Startled reaction
Restlessness
Sleep and appetite disturbances
Difficulty expressing oneself
Argumentative behavior
Increased use of alcohol, drugs, and tobacco
Withdrawal and apathy

Delayed Behavioral Reactions
Avoidance of event reminders
Easily startled
Social relationship disturbances
Decreased activity level
Engagement in high-risk behaviors
Increased use of alcohol, drugs, and tobacco
Withdrawal and apathy

Immediate Existential Reactions
Intense use of prayer
Restoration of faith in the goodness of others (e.g., receiving help from others)
Loss of self-efficacy
Despair about humanity, particularly if the event was intentional
Immediate disruption of life assumptions and predictability of life

Delayed Existential Reactions
Questioning “Why me?”
Increased cynicism, disillusionment
Excessive self-confidence and risk-taking
Loss of purpose
Renewed faith
Hopelessness
Reestablishing priorities
Redefining meaning and importance of life
Reworking life’s assumptions to accommodate the trauma (e.g., buying a gun)

Adapted from Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series, No. 57. Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (US). Rockville (MD): Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US); 2014

While many diagnoses fit these symptoms, the similarity to pyrrole disorder and/or autoimmune conditions jumped out at me. For a long time, we have suspected that pyroluria is a physiologic response to trauma. It may or may not be but in another post I will discuss how trauma directly affects the body.  

Trauma clearly affects many aspects of our lives. Because it is an energy block, trauma can block our creative force, particularly if you don’t remember the trauma. It could limit your life in ways that you don’t understand. If you freeze when trying to do some forms of work, such as writing an article about trauma, you may not get a promotion. Or if you are afraid to fly, you won’t be able to go to business meetings, or a family reunion in Hawaii. 

What to Do About Trauma?

What do you do about trauma if you realize that it exists in your life? For the moment, working with a therapist (or me) is the best option. Working with me is a great option if you have pyrrole disorder or other health issues happening. While taking vitamins won’t take the trauma away, it often makes the process easier. I am working on an online course. Join this new mailing list to learn more. 

 

The Simple Way to Cure Your Stubborn Migraine Symptoms

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Migraine symptoms can be extremely painful. If you have never had one, you are lucky. Migraine symptoms consist of debilitating head pain, nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to sounds and light. In extreme cases, one can feel weakness on one side of the body that can last minutes to days.  Some people never get head pain; rather they have problems with vision such as an aura around everything (ocular migraine symptom), stomach pain (abdominal migraine), or some other unexplained phenomenon. An article in the Sunday NY Times provides a bit of a first person account of migraines. Natural migraine treatment requires us to know the cause. I have identified at least 9 different causes of migraines. Likely there are more than the nine. Let’s explore the causes of the migraines and possible treatments such as LENS Neurofeedback. Before we jump into the categories of migraines, I just want to give a brief overview of the scope of the problem.  Estimates vary between 10-20% of the US population suffers from migraine symptoms. It  costs consumers approximately $12.7 billion a year in medical costs plus another $12 billion in missed workdays. People who suffer from migraine headaches make less money than people who don’t.  Not only that, people who get migraines are at a greater risk of heart attack and stroke. Traditional medicine manages migraines headache symptoms with polypharmacy, or the use of multiple drugs. While providing relief, many of this drugs have side effects too. Determining triggers can help reduce the frequency of migraines. Chocolate, alcohol, caffeine, menses and barometric changes are some of the common ones. A trigger creates a migraine but isn’t necessarily the cause. The cause though is what makes the trigger manifest into a migraine. Not everyone who eats chocolate gets a migraine. For those who are susceptible to migraines, chocolate can create one. By the cause, I mean what is it that allows a trigger to work.  Stress and a lack of sleep may also affect people. The trigger though, isn’t the same as the cause. I work with people to help them understand triggers because it can bring relief. Then we  find the underlying cause so they don’t get sick again. Many of my patients tolerate the thing that made them ill previously. They start to live their life more fully.

The Simple Way to Cure Your Migraine

Understanding the cause is the simple way to cure migraines. Finding the cause is not always so easy. Let’s explore some of the different causes. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): One of the most common causes of migraines is previous head trauma. I discuss the details of head trauma in the last post. Head injury is common and can cause migraines. Even minor bumps on the head or whiplash injuries can add up and lead to headaches later in life. In the last post, I go over the treatments in this situation. Migraine CausesFemale Hormonal Imbalances: Many women get migraines related to their menstrual cycle. The headaches can occur right before or when their menses start.  While this can be its own cause, it is usually related to liver imbalances. Treatment requires balancing of the hormones first. Ensuring that the cycles are regular is the first thing I do in this case. More often than not, though, it requires looking at the liver. Liver Imbalance:  Liver imbalance is common for people with migraines. The liver clears toxins from the body, and hormones are no exception. But other imbalances can occur too. The inability to eat rich foods or drink alcohol without a problem maybe a sign of a liver issue. The way I describe this issue to patients is that their liver cells just aren’t working as liver cells. Naturopathic treatments  remind the liver cells how to do their job. Our DNA is more of a blueprint than a hardcoding. The body has flexibility in what it produces. If the liver isn’t doing its job, it means it’s not producing the proper proteins to be doing its job. I use a variety of supplements that assist the liver and others that work to reset the epigenetic state. Gemmotherapy, homoepathy, and low dose botanicals can all help with the liver. Gastrointestinal: This is distinct from a liver problem. Sometimes, there is a problem with the foods we eat because we aren’t digesting them. This could be due to food sensitivities causing GI distress. For reasons unknown, this can lead to migraines.  Changes in the healthy flora in the intestines can lead to this issue. These organisms help protect the gut and allow us to digest food well. The reason why so many people react to so many foods is that the gut is too loose. Leaky gut is a real problem, and one of its symptoms is migraine. Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth or SIBO can be the culprit too. Proper diagnosis of this problem starts with an elimination diet. If the problem isn’t completely resolved, then I run other tests. SIBO, Leaky Gut, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and Crohn’s can all be causes of migraines. Treatment varies based on the diagnosis. Hormonal: Other hormonal imbalances can lead to migraines. Adrenal imbalances causing rapid changes in cortisol or epinephrine can cause migraines. The adrenal gland is also responsible for instructing the liver to produce certain proteins. Sometimes the liver is fine but the adrenals aren’t directing it appropriately. Or the thyroid may be out of balance. An imbalance in either could disrupt sleep, and fatigue is a common trigger for migraines. Metal Imbalance: This is a new one for me although the research about this is almost 30 years old. The main culprits here are Zinc and Copper. The body requires both metals for proper functioning. In general, Americans are low in zinc and high in copper. This may be due to the effects of food processing, but it is unclear why. High copper levels may cause both migraines and menstrual difficulties. It also exacerbates low zinc. Zinc supplementation has shown promise in research studies as a treatment for migraines. (Med Hypotheses. 2011 Jul;77(1):147-51.  A new horizon into the pathobiology, etiology and treatment of migraine. Dillion, Singh, Lvall) Simple testing of blood and/or hair can help reveal this issue.  Zinc supplementation can be effective for raising zinc levels. Vitamin E and other nutrients can lower copper levels. Heavy Metals: Another issue with metals is the heavy variety. Mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and aluminum can all contribute to migraines. Heavy metals can come from a variety of sources, and often the headaches come on as the body is trying to get rid of them. Elimination of metals needs to be gradual to prevent severe symptoms. A simple mineral prescription can start to mobilize the offending metals out of the body. Headaches will be completely gone in months. Inflammation: Inflammation is starting to gain traction as a cause of many different conditions. Recent publications have suggested that migraines may be inflammatory. What does this mean?  Inflammation is the process the body uses to heal damage. It is to be a short-term activity to do so. Cells release hormones called cytokines that are signals to repair damage. These make us feel achy, sluggish, and depressed. For various reasons, the body sometimes gets into a chronic inflammatory state. This means that the entire body feels down, as if ill. In some people, the inflammation leads to headaches. The reasons aren’t completely clear. Treatment would consist of lowering inflammation in the body. This is probably a good idea for most people. An anti-inflammatory diet, omega-3’s (fish oil), and turmeric are simple ways to reduce inflammation. Cardiovascular:  Changes in arterial pressure may also contribute to migraines. In this situation the pain doesn’t start with stress but when there is relaxation. Patients get migraines on the weekend or on vacation. What is interesting is that some of these patients may have had asthma earlier in life. There appears to be changes in the autonomic nervous system affecting the arteries. Another issue that can arise is that the person with migraines has a small hole in their heart. We have no idea what the relationship is between the two and it is somewhat rare.  Treatment here definitely varies depending upon the situation. Neurofeedback or biofeedback can be helpful to stabilize the nervous system. Musculoskeletal Issues: TMJ, neck issues, and shoulder injuries can all cause migraine symptoms. I didn’t include this in the first iteration of the article and a chiropractor reminded me of this. We don’t know the exact mechanisms of this but there may be a stress or emotional component. Many patients find relief with physical adjustments, massage, and craniosacral therapy. Emotional: Mental/emotional issues can cause migraines. And what comes first, is not clear. LENS Neurofeedback can be extremely useful for decreasing migraine symptoms (or even curing them entirely.) But for many people, simple exercises that reset the autonomic nervous system can improve people’s lives. These are some of the causes of migraine. Others exist, of course, but these are the ones that I see most commonly in my practice. As you can see, it is a complex problem, and just treating the symptoms won’t change the issue. Treating the underlying cause helps reduce the problem. If you or someone you love suffers from migraines, please call me. I have a Naturopathic practice in Portland but can work with people remotely using Skype or telemedicine. While my I delight in helping people. And maybe you too can one day be migraine free.

Flu, Dis-ease, and Balance

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Dr. Gil adds that maintaining health should be no different during winter than during any other season. Ill health may manifest differently during the colder months than at other times of the year, but true vitality and wellness are reflected in many more measures than whether or not you develop an infection.
Staying healthy does not mean staying free of infection. The body needs tune-ups from time to time, which is something that infections provide. Acute illness is a way our bodies eliminate unhealthy cells and toxins.
But repeated infections, overly severe symptoms, and lingering illness are not signs of good health. Even without an infection, imbalances of mood, energy, focus, stress, sleep, and/or food cravings can be clues of disturbance in the body. Balancing these are important to be able to live life to the fullest.
When people ask me in November what they can do to avoid the flu, it’s akin to being concerned, in June, about how your bathing suit will look on you this summer. Good health is a daily process requiring constant acts. Consistently good diet, exercise, stress relief, and supplementation over months or years provides the most significant protection. That said, there are things we can do to help during the cold and flu season. Here are a few ideas to help. 
  1. Vitamin D supplementation is super important in the Pacific Northwest but likely everywhere in the winter. Testing levels can help determine how much is needed. Vitamin D helps boost immune function, and low levels may be related to immune suppression.
  2. Vitamin A is an excellent anti-viral. Supplementation can help ward off infection.
  3. A good quality probiotic (the “good bacteria” you’ve perhaps heard about), which balances immune function. Probiotics are also excellent for clearing excess hormones.
  4. Zinc supplementation is essential for immunity. Most Americans are zinc deficient. Zinc balances many functions in the body including immune resistance. Without it, the body is at a critical disadvantage fighting infections.

 A combination of these can help reduce your risk of illness and keep you healthy this holiday season. If you have tried these and still get sick a lot, call for a consultation.

Meditation and Anxiety: What You Need to Know About the Benefits of Mindfulness

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For many people anxiety is a daily occurrence. Many don’t even know they are anxious. They feel stressed. Maybe they have a vague sense that something isn’t right. They can’t quite put their finger on what the problem is. Some people feel something in their body. They get a headache. Or their chest feels tight. But other people get angry or explode for no reason. Does this describe you? If so, you may be one of the 40 million Americans that experience anxiety at some point in their lives. What can you do about it? Mindfulness meditation can help relieve anxiety.  How does meditation work? What sort of meditations are helpful for anxiety? Let’s explore some of these questions.

The solution that most Americans reach for is a pill. Many people turn to medication. And for many, drugs can help relieve symptoms. But they don’t remove the underlying cause. As I’ve written elsewhere, testing can reveal the underlying physiological causes. But what if there is nothing measurably wrong with your body. Now what? Meditation may be able to help.

For many people, anxiety is a common occurrence.  They know they are anxious. They know what it feels like and it’s not comfortable. They can’t sit still. Their focus is terrible. They are antsy. They might even feel a little agitated. Focusing on anything is difficult.

Other people don’t know they are anxious. They are agitated. They may get into a fight with friends or loved ones. Or they mindlessly eat. Meditation can help break these patterns.

Meditation for Anxiety

It used to be that when meditation was brought up, one’s thoughts went to crosslegged monks on a mountain top. But meditation has become common in the US. The National Institute of Health estimates that about 18 million adults practice meditation on a regular basis.

So what exactly is meditation? It is the act of calming one’s mind and bringing attention to one thing. It could be counting breaths or watching a candle. Every time your attention drifts off you bring your attention back to that one thing. It is a state of calm alertness but more than concentration.

Concentration may be focus on one object. Reading may be concentration, but it isn’t meditation. There is a calm stillness to meditation. You just watch. You watch your breathing, you watch your thoughts. There is no attachment to anything. Writing could be a form of meditation. As I write at this moment, it is like meditation. I am concentrating and watching my mind. But I have an agenda. I want to be sure to cover certain topics. My attachment precludes me from meditating. Meditation is about letting go of outcomes. You are just still. And if you can’t be still, you notice that.

Meditation brings many health benefits. The most obvious is stress reduction. But some research has shown that meditation helps other health problems too. These include lowering blood pressure, improving IBS symptoms, and relieving depression and anxiety. It doesn’t help everyone, and I’ll get to that in a moment. But it does appear to change brain circuits involved with regulating emotions. This will help reduce inflammatory and stress hormones. In theory, meditation sounds great.

But how do you meditate if you’re anxious? We’ve already figured out that you can’t sit still! Sometimes you can’t calm your thoughts down. And sometimes, the act of meditating can make you feel worse. When I was studying counseling psychology, I had a supervisor, Gail Sher, who is a Buddhist. She was an avid meditator. She advised against prescribing meditation for people with anxiety because it often made things worse. They might become more anxious trying to meditate. So how can one benefit from meditation if one is anxious? There are several options. Let’s run through a quick list.

Breath work: Meditation is about slowing down. When we are anxious, everything tends to speed up. Slow down your breath and see if that helps. Sometimes one minute of steady breathing – an inhale for 6 seconds followed by an exhale for 6 seconds – can help.  Often, when one is anxious, it’s because the brain’s alarm response is on over-drive. Simple breath work can be enough to start sending signals from the heart to the brain to turn off the alarm response.

Take a moment to feel your body: Don’t try to push the sensations away. Just feel the anxiety. Notice how jittery you feel. Or notice the tightness in your chest. Just feel what you are feeling in your body in the moment. Don’t judge it and don’t try to change it. If you have experienced a lot of trauma in your life, this may be difficult to do on your own. Many people who have experienced trauma have difficulty feeling their bodies. If that’s the case, try another method. And get help from a qualified trauma specialist.

Listen to the sounds outside: If you can get into nature and listen to the sound of birds, waves, or running water, that can be healing. Many of my patients report feeling less anxious after walking in the woods.

Be mindful of what you are doing: Focus on one task and do just that task with full attention. It can be almost anything, so long as it has your full attention. But it should be something that doesn’t stress you out. For example, don’t try to balance your checkbook if that makes you stressed, and be mindful of that. Do something you like to do, but do it with your full attention.

If you know why you are anxious, you can talk over the issue with a friend. Maybe you have been ruminating or worrying about something. Getting an outside perspective can help ..

Focus on the Anxiety: For some people experiencing the anxiety can be extremely liberating. Often, it is the avoidance of the discomfort that makes it worse. Feel the anxiety. Feel what your body feels like anxious. Notice how you have difficulty breathing. Don’t try to change it. Just let it be there without judgment.

Avoiding judgment is one of the most important things for anxiety.  It’s OK to feel anxious. It’s OK to experience whatever it is underneath the anxiety. Anxiety isn’t truly an emotion. It’s a state of not feeling an emotion. It’s more rumination on something that isn’t happening in the moment. And that is why getting into the moment through meditation or other means can be so helpful.

If you have trouble with these techniques or meditation it may be that something else is out of balance. It could be something in the brain or the body. Neurofeedback and HeartMath can be extremely useful. LENS neurofeedback can help train your mind to be less reactive to situations. HeartMath is biofeedback that helps people use breath and good feelings to bring body systems into alignment. Both are powerful in gaining some of the benefits of meditation without meditating. Of course, there could be a biochemical imbalance, but I don’t recommend medication. Simple blood and urine tests may uncover the imbalance and help you find balance with a simple supplement regimen.

Anxiety is a big problem in America at the moment. I see many patients with this problem and/or other mental health issues. Fortunately, there is help available without drugs. Meditation may be a good solution for many. But if it makes your anxiety worse, stop. Try one of the techniques above. If those don’t work, get professional help. It may be that you will need it anyway. But mindfulness has helped many people all over. Don’t let anxiety stop you from being your best self.

 

Concussion Treatment Near Me: The 3 easy things you need to know

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Tammy, not her real name, came to me 10 months after a car accident. She was having trouble with school. She couldn’t focus for longer than 15 minutes at a time. That’s difficult when you are attending a top-ranked liberal arts university. Her medical doctors had told her rest would make everything better. Her mother searched “concussion treatments near me” to find me online and made an appointment for her daughter to see me for treatment. Six weeks later she was back to her regular self. School was going well, sleep had improved, anxiety disappeared, her headaches abated. Recovery from a traumatic brain injury (TBI) is possible without pharmaceuticals. How do you treat concussion? How do you see so much change without drugs? To understand this, it is important to explore more about TBI. What is it? What symptoms arise from it? By answering these questions we begin to get a better idea of how to treat.

Concussion Treatment and TBI

Six years ago, I wrote an article about concussions and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). The statistics were sobering; they still are. A recent study in JAMA says TBI strikes 1 in 8 elderly Americans yearly! But it occurs in all ages. TBI affects not just the brain, but physical, emotional, and cognitive problems. Many people don’t even realize that their health problems may have started with a TBI. There are many ways people get injured. Falls, sports-related injuries, motor vehicle accidents, and being struck in the head by an object are some of the leading causes of TBI. Some researchers believe the number may be as high as 55 million per year!

What these numbers don’t tell are that many people live with the consequences of a TBI long after the event. Between 3-5 million Americans live with an impairment related to a TBI. Concussions can create long term problems. Cognitive issues, including focus, concentration and memory are associated with concussion.  But most of the people who come to see me don’t even recognize that there was injury such as Jessica. Depression, anxiety, insomnia, headaches, migraines, and fatigue may all start with a TBI. Most people come to me because of one of those problems, not because of a concussion.

TBI and concussion treatment near meThere are other health risks associated with TBI.  Not long ago, the idea of TBI or concussion was such that it had to be severe to have any long term consequences.  We are learning that even a mild concussion can create long-term severe consequences.  Head trauma, even from minor incidents, can cause a wide range of  mental, emotional, and/or physical ailments. Dementia risk appears to be greater as well even if the injury is considered “mild”.  Living with the effects of a TBI can be devastating. Shocking stories abound of how former professional football players and veterans take their own or others lives. Millions of others live with the long-term effects without any of the fanfare.  I (and others) have helped people recover from TBI. And that recovery is safe, effective, inexpensive, and non-invasive.

How do you treat a concussion?

I am working on a more detailed article to describe treatment of these problems. For now let me give a brief overview. Treatment comes in two different modalities, supplementation and biofeedback. Supplementation can handle some of the symptoms and may reverse the damage. Vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, Vitamin B6, and Omega-3s are all helpful for post-concussion syndrome. Long-term supplementation may be able to reverse the damage of the TBI. I use supplementation with most of my patients with TBI. I may also use specific supplements to treat specific problems related to the TBI, including sleep issues or anxiety. This allows for symptom relief while unwinding the damage related to the injury. (Quick note: if you are elderly have your B12 levels tested. You may not be absorbing as this is a function of the aging process.)

Biofeedback though provides a more direct approach to helping TBI and treatment concussion. Neurofeedback measures the brain waves of a person and allows the brain to, in effect, see itself to recognize that there was an injury. A brain injury can result in the brain not recognizing that it has an injury. This is why I often see patients who don’t remember they had an injury but have many of the problems associated with a TBI.

Neurofeedback is Highly Effective

Neurofeedback appears to turn back on the brain’s own repair mechanisms. Studies show that neurofeedback  is effective treating TBI. And it can also be helpful for anxiety, depression, migraines, insomnia, ADHD, and other conditions. We do not completely understand the mechanisms of this, though there are some different theories.

Neurofeedback is only one treatment for TBI. New research is showing that Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Training  can treat TBI. HRV training is a form of biofeedback. HRV is the measurement in subtle changes in heart rate between beats. Our heart beats at a different rates from moment to moment when we are resting. HRV is an excellent health assessment tool. Some researchers suggest that HRV may be the single biggest predictor of health in a person. Our HRV tends to decrease as we get older with a large drop as one nears death.

Furthermore, HRV may be a way to calculate the progress of treatment of the TBI. HRV seems to change after a TBI. HeartMath helps reduce emotional symptoms related to TBI.  There is a home version of the device that allows patients to use on their own. I can review the data and assess their progress.

I’m excited to have another tool for treatment and assessment in my practice. If you or someone you know has had even a mild knock to the head, have them evaluated.  Even if you don’t remember having a concussion but have some of the symptoms, get checked. A qualified healthcare professional can help. Concussion treatment via neurofeedback and supplementation may be able to help the problem that you are having.

Once again I am offering concussion treatment near me in Honolulu. Feel free to call my office for more information.

How to Treat Depression Naturally

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In the last blog post, we discussed fevers and suggested there was a connection between fevers and mental health. Many factors exist connecting mental illness and fevers but today we will explore one of them. The connection between inflammation and depression is important to understand so that we can better understand how to treat depression naturally.

weightloss26Depression affects almost 15 million people in the United States. Symptoms can include changes in mood, behavior, sleep disturbances, changes in appetite, weight loss or weight gain. A loss of interest in activities that were once enjoyed is often seen with depression. Below is a list of problems that arise and while most people don’t have all of them, many people have some items from one or more of the categories below.

Mood: apathy, being bored or discontented, guilt, hopelessness, inability to feel pleasure, loneliness, mood swings, sadness, or emotional distress

Cognitive: lack of concentration or focus, slowness in activity and thought, or thoughts of suicide

Behavioral: agitation, excessive crying, irritability, self-harm, or social isolation

Sleep: early awakening, excess sleepiness, insomnia, or restless sleep

Psychological: depression, anxiety, or repeatedly going over thoughts

Whole body: excessive hunger, fatigue, or loss of appetite

Weight: sudden weight gain or weight loss

What Causes Depression in the Brain?

Now that we have some understanding of what depression is, let’s look at some of the causes. Why is this a big problem in the US at the moment? (As a side note, depression and anxiety are extremely prevalent in many countries including England and Australia. It is believed that Australia has a rate of depression of at least 20%. For the purposes of this article, though, I want to narrow the focus for a moment. )

Let’s ignore socio-economic factors for a moment. Clearly that plays a factor in people’s mood, and I will explore that in future articles. I’m a physician, and as such, start at the physical level. I want to share my expertise of holistic medicine to help you and your loved ones if possible. I wish to bring to light other factors that can affect someone such as a challenging boss, marital problems, and so forth.

Getting back to the body, correlations exist between obesity and depression. This connection gives us a clue as to one of the possible causes of depression. Depression may be related to a chronic inflammatory state. The result may be a low-grade fever. The process, though, could be making you feel sick and more importantly for the purposes of this article, depressed.

When we discussed fever in the last blog post, I didn’t go into the details of what a fever actually does. Fevers are a result of the inflammatory process. Fevers are generated because the immune system recognizes something that is not you. Each cell has a tag on it that lets other cells know that it belongs in the body. It’s sort of like an ID that we carry to let it be known we are citizens. We have cells called macrophages that circulate in the body trying to figure out if there is a problem. If there is one, they send out signals in the form of something called cytokines. There are many kinds of cytokines, each being a different type of signal that cells use to communicate with one another. Cytokines have different functions and one of them is to raise the body’s temperature. They also make us feel achy, tired, and slightly depressed. This is a protective mechanism so that we slow down and rest so as to not expose others. These are some of the signs of inflammation. The body uses inflammation as a way to fight disease and/or heal wounds. But the mechanism that helps the body fight disease may be responsible for all kinds of illness including depression, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, insomnia, irritable bowel syndrome, heart disease, and many other conditions.

When we feel depressed, it is often because of these signals that have been turned on but haven’t been turned off. It is believed by some clinicians that depression is the first sign of many diseases because of this mechanism, and in fact that many diseases are caused by chronic inflammation.

How To Treat Depression Naturally

Understanding this one cause of depression helps us treat it. Reducing inflammation is very important as part of this treatment approach. It will also help improve other symptoms and reduce our risk of other ailments. Omega-3 fatty acids may be a very important part of reduction of low-grade inflammation causing depression. In my Naturopathic practice, I recommend 3 grams of Omega-3s to patients per day. That is to be distinguished from 3 grams of fish oil. There are other constituents in fish oil that are not omega-3s. Lower doses don’t have the same effect.

Curcumin (turmeric) is another excellent anti-inflammatory. Using turmeric in your cooking can be really helpful as well. An anti-inflammatory diet is also something that can help. Bromelain taken away from food can help reduce inflammation. It comes from papaya and helps with digestion when taken with food. Finally, I recommend testing of copper, zinc, and possibly for heavy metals if the problem persists. Often times depression arises from an imbalance in metals in the body.

There are many ways to treat depression naturally at a very low cost. I have worked with many people to help depression and get them enjoying life again. Please contact me to schedule either in-person or an online doctor consultation.

Contact Me

P: 808-726-2772 (phone and text)
F:503-200-1044
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Dr. Gil Winkelman ND

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