Fish Oil Supplements for Mental Health

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As science progresses we’re seeing that certain supplements can aid in brain health which in turn can aid in mental health. Fish oils are one such supplement. Using fish oil to help maintain good mental health is slowly becoming more and more popular.

A large concentration of DHA fats are found in the brain and it is thought that DHA fats help maintain the health and function of neural pathways. This in turn can reduce anxiety and increase mental clarity. Fish oils are high in DHA and taking regular supplements of a fish oil with high levels of DHA can aid in maintaining mental health.

DHA is also known to increase the production of LR11. This is a protein that is typically found in lower amounts in Alzheimer’s patients. LR11 also works to destroy the build up of plaques that are associated with Alzheimer’s. It is believed that regular supplements of fish oil can aid in mental health by reducing the build up of plaques that can lead to Alzheimer’s as well as some other degenerative brain diseases.

Studies have also shown that regular doses of fish oil supplements can lead to a reduction of depression, suicidal thoughts and even mental health conditions like schizophrenia. But all fish oil supplements are not created equal. With rising levels of toxins like mercury, lead and PCBs in our ocean’s fish, it is important to be sure you’re taking as pure a supplement as possible. Molecular distillation of the fish oil is the process that removes potentially harmful toxins, and the label should indicate that this process has been applied to the supplement.

The benefits of taking fish oil to improve and maintain mental health are too important to not take it. After all, prevention is the best cure. Taking fish oil supplements now may aid in better mental health in years to come.

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Seratonin for Satisfaction

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We feel a lot of satisfaction after a big Thanksgiving dinner, and it’s not just because of the food coma and football. Turkey is well known to be high in tryptophan. The body makes tryptophan into seratonin, which is a brain chemical responsible for our feelings of satisfaction and stability.

Seratonin in animals controls the resource-gathering response. When a hungry worm senses some tasty bacteria, seratonin levels spike and the worm stops moving in order to eat. Similarly, when the worm finds a mate, seratonin prevents it from continuing to search.

In higher animals and humans, seratonin also controls the gathering response, with a twist. We are social animals, and seratonin is associated with managing our social resources as well. It helps us take stock of our social standing and adhere to the status quo. If we are naturally prone to fleeing from conflict, seratonin helps us to stand our ground; and if we are naturally dominant, seratonin increases this dominant behavior.

In the palette of mood-altering chemicals, seratonin is complementary to dopamine. While dopamine enhances our desires and our motivation to reach for the things that we want, seratonin enhances our satisfaction with the object of those desires when we receive them. Seratonin causes us to slow down a bit and become content.

It should come as no surprise that seratonin control is a major component of psychiatric medicine. The most successful and popular antidepressant drugs, MAOI inhibitors, help seratonin to stay in play longer, increasing the strength and duration of contentment. This gives people with mood disorders a chance to get on top of their negative emotions, giving them a chance at happiness.

For serious mood disorders, see your mental health provider. But for a daily boost, try a banana! Bananas contain a wealth of tryptophan in balance with other healthy chemicals.

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Neuroplasticity and Psychiatry

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Your brain isn’t finished yet! Even though the human brain reaches its adult size and shape in childhood, it remodels itself internally throughout your whole life. Your brain is getting stronger, stranger, and dare we suggest-more attractive every day that you use it.

This process of brain development is called neuroplasticity. The stars of neuroplasticity are long, branching nerve cells, or neurons; and their protectors, the sea urchin-like glial cells. Neurons and glial cells are connected in a tangled network, and brain activity occurs as electrical impulses through this network.

As the brain develops, this network can do several things to facilitate new brain activity; it can strengthen old connections, make brand new connections, and even destroy old ones. Highly dynamic brain activities, like storing new memories, require the brain to build new bridges and supply new neurons constantly. But other activities, like learning, seem far less dynamic; until recently, scientists thought that adults could only learn by strengthening existing network bridges.

Today we know that this isn’t true; though the brain produces new pathways with less vigor after puberty, the brain is always in the process of adapting itself to your life experiences. The entire anatomical structure of your brain might change in your adult life, given the correct stimulus.

This neuroplasticity is the basis of modern psychological counseling. Now that we understand that the brain is capable of being retrained, counselors have developed techniques to provide your emotions with new paths, overwriting detrimental ones you developed in your youth. In particular, psychodynamic counselors use neuroplasticity as a means to revisit your youth and reprocess it, forming neural connections that you may have been denied in infancy and early childhood.

The brain is a marvelous organ, capable of learning and changing. This means that we too are capable of learning and changing, if we’re prepared to give our brains a chance. A course of psychotherapy can help you to build new brain paths, and forge a new future.

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Is Peace of Mind All That Elusive?

On many levels, the mind can be considered the ultimate processing machine. Although there are no actual motherboards, sound cards or other plug-ins we all have the ability to store an amazing amount of memory. We can also instantly process many variations of sensory input from sights to sounds to smells. And while all that processing is going on, the brain is still the major operating system for our own bodies. It sends out signals for our bodies to move, to register pain or hunger and even when to flee. For all its perfection, one tiny hiccup can cause the brain to spin out of control. The result can mean getting lost in your own thoughts or seeing things that aren’t there. And if these break downs continue it can lead to serious physical impacts. That’s why a mental health check up should be as important as running a disc scan on your computer.
We’re all looking for peace of mind but sometimes the clutter of our lives can get in the way of that tranquility. What positive steps can you take to rid yourself of that mind clutter? One proactive move would be to find a train psychiatrist and check in with them. Seeking the help of a psychiatrist doesn’t mean you’re crazy. It means you might have some issues that can only be dealt with by sharing them with a non-judgmental and objective source. You’ll be amazed at how just talking out some of the things you have pressing on your mind can move your forward with a positive outlook.
In some cases, that mind clutter can be caused by a chemical imbalance. Just like you can get a bug in your computer, your brain can pick up its own forms of “spyware.” This doesn’t mean you’re infected with a virus but it could mean that an anti-depressant drug therapy can help clear out the clutter and help you see things clearly. You’ll be joining millions of people the world over in finding that peace of mind.

On many levels, the mind can be considered the ultimate processing machine. Although there are no actual motherboards, sound cards or other plug-ins we all have the ability to store an amazing amount of memory. We can also instantly process many variations of sensory input from sights to sounds to smells. And while all that processing is going on, the brain is still the major operating system for our own bodies. It sends out signals for our bodies to move, to register pain or hunger and even when to flee. For all its perfection, one tiny hiccup can cause the brain to spin out of control. The result can mean getting lost in your own thoughts or seeing things that aren’t there. And if these break downs continue it can lead to serious physical impacts. That’s why a mental health check up should be as important as running a disc scan on your computer.
We’re all looking for peace of mind but sometimes the clutter of our lives can get in the way of that tranquility. What positive steps can you take to rid yourself of that mind clutter? One proactive move would be to find a train psychiatrist and check in with them. Seeking the help of a psychiatrist doesn’t mean you’re crazy. It means you might have some issues that can only be dealt with by sharing them with a non-judgmental and objective source. You’ll be amazed at how just talking out some of the things you have pressing on your mind can move your forward with a positive outlook.
In some cases, that mind clutter can be caused by a chemical imbalance. Just like you can get a bug in your computer, your brain can pick up its own forms of “spyware.” This doesn’t mean you’re infected with a virus but it could mean that an anti-depressant drug therapy can help clear out the clutter and help you see things clearly. You’ll be joining millions of people the world over in finding that peace of mind.

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