Page 18 - Complementary and Alternative Medicine Treatments in Psychiatry

18 | Complementary and Alternative Medicine Treatments in Psychiatry

mother’s undisputed darling, he retains throughout life the
triumphant feeling, the confidence in success, which not seldom
brings actual success along with it.” (Freud 1917)
As time has marched on, however, and research has
accumulated, we have come to see that many environmental
influences—besides one’s parents—can affect the mind. And, of
course, these influences can be positive or negative.
The person’s job can be a risk factor. Many professions use
chemicals that can have toxic effects on the brain, including
farming, metal plating, laboratory work, mining, and certain
types of manufacturing.
Where one lives or where one has recently been can be
important. Toxic waste, a paucity of certain nutrients in the
region’s soil, political upheaval or other environmental threats
can and do make a difference to mental well-being.
Chronic exposure to power lines, for example, has been shown
to increase suicide rates up to threefold in electrical workers
(Wijngaarden 2000). Also, high-density negative ions in the air,
as are seen near waterfalls, produce a 43% improvement in
depression (Terman 2007). Exposure to outdoor greenery as in
parks, meadow, and rural settings causes significant
improvement in symptoms of ADHD (Kuo 2004). A review of
people doing exercise amongst outdoor greenery such as walks
and gardening found that 94% of respondents felt it improved
their mental health and 71% reported decreased depression
(MIND 2007).

Spiritual Matters
A survey of 1144 American physicians found that amongst all
doctors, psychiatrists are the least likely to be religious.

Additionally, nonpsychiatrist physicians whoare religious are
less willing to refer their clients to a psychiatrist (Curlin 2007).
By contrast, only 15% of the American population defines itself
as atheist, agnostic, or of no religious affiliation (Kosmin 2008).