Mental health struggles affect us all. Sometimes, they’re temporary and other times we deal with chronic challenges. There are almost infinite ways to treat mental health struggles, but finding the right approach has to be based on you, as in individual. Many people are familiar with conventional psychiatry, but they are less familiar when it comes to Integrative Vs Functional Psychiatry. There are a few things to consider when deciding what kind of support is best for you:
- The nature of the struggles – is this situational or because of a chronic mental health condition?
- The nature of the symptoms: mood, anxiety, sleep, impulsivity, etc.
- Your overall lifestyle and beliefs about treatment.
Think of finding the right treatment for you like a three-legged stool – if you’re missing one leg, you’re going to fall over. You need all three of these aspects to be taken into account when deciding on treatment.
Conventional Psychiatry
Conventional Psychiatry is a medical specialty. As a specialty in the United States, psychiatry is fairly new, with less than 200 years of history as a standalone medical offering. The core belief of conventional psychiatry is that a combination of genetic, biological, and social factors combine to manifest as behaviors or beliefs outside what is considered the average human experience. To address these maladaptive behaviors and beliefs, we use medications and therapy to treat the symptoms.
A good provider will take a holistic approach to conventional treatment, meaning they will rule out another organic cause, like thyroid or heart disease. Ultimately, conventional psychiatry relies primarily on medication management and therapy. This treatment style works for many people and may be especially appropriate for chronic concerns like schizophrenia or personality disorders. There is nothing wrong with wanting conventional treatment, no matter what your challenge is. Your provider should address the nature of the concern – is this situational (such as the death of a loved one or a relocation) or chronic (like PTSD or bipolar), the symptoms, and your overall lifestyle when recommending a medication. The goal of conventional psychiatry is to help people feel better, and many people feel comfortable seeking this sort of treatment.
There are limitations to conventional psychiatry, however. Medications don’t work for everyone, or they lead to only partial improvement of symptoms. Sometimes, medications that are habit forming (like benzodiazepines) are prescribed before trialing other medications, leading to dependence issues or trouble stopping the medication. Other times, conventional psychiatry focuses solely on medications to exclusion of all other things, which seldom leads to the best outcomes. Some people try conventional psychiatry, find it doesn’t work for them, and give up on mental health treatment entirely. Other people try medications and cannot tolerate the side effects. Ultimately, conventional psychiatry focuses primarily on the nature of the symptoms and might shortchange the other two legs of the stool – the nature of the struggle and overall lifestyle.
Integrative Vs Functional Psychiatry
Integrative Psychiatry
Integrative psychiatry takes a broader approach to mental health treatment. in psychiatry, we want to address the symptoms, but we also want to address the root cause of the problem – and that’s where integrative psychiatry can shine. Broadly, integrative psychiatry encompasses a combination of lifestyle changes, therapy, medication, and traditional healing methods (herbs, supplements, mindfulness, somatic work).
Integrative treatment aims to address each leg of the stool equally. Using mindfulness, nutrition support, spiritual practices, herbal medicine, vitamins, sleep improvement, and conventional medications integrative practitioners aim to help address the symptoms and the underlying cause. Common examples of underlying causes include low Vitamin D, B12, 5-methyltetrahydrofolate gene mutations, poor sleep quality, and unhealthy environments. Improving these things may not cure mental health conditions, but it certainly improves symptoms. It’s hard to treat depression, after all, if your Vitamin D is very low – no matter how many antidepressants you take, you’re probably not going to feel your best.
Depending on the provider, some people may be recommended daylight sun lamp treatment, supplements specifically to target their unique challenges, or mindfulness mediation exercises. Other providers may do breathing work, somatic healing, or things like EFT Tapping. Typically, the use of conventional medications depends on the nature of the symptoms and struggles. If someone has a mood disorder, for example, they may benefit from a combination of a mood stabilizer, light therapy, and social rhythm therapy.
Functional Psychiatry
Functional psychiatry goes a step further than integrative psychiatry. Instead of a focus on treatments and addressing natural barriers to wellness, functional medicine focuses on the inner workings of the body, like the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and cellular metabolic byproducts. Many functional psychiatry providers have a specific niche, like nutritional wellness or chronic mold exposure.
A significant challenge of functional psychiatry is ensuring the provider has the adequate credentials and training to provide services. Some wellness influencers will claim to specialize in functional psychiatry, but they have no formal training in psychiatry, medicine, or pathophysiology. Another challenge is that many functional providers do not use conventional medication at all. This can be problematic for people with chronic conditions or who are in an acute episode of mental health struggles. Ultimately, medication may be needed for someone who is suicidal or who is actively hallucinating or who simply cannot make themselves get out of bed. Eschewing all medications can be like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Conventional Vs Integrative VS Functional Psychiatry: What’s Best for You?
Think back to the three legs of the stool:
- The nature of the struggles – is this situational or because of a chronic mental health condition?
- The nature of the symptoms: mood, anxiety, sleep, impulsivity, etc.
- Your overall lifestyle and beliefs about treatment.
You want to address the problem (episodic, chronic, or an acute flair of a chronic problem), the symptoms, and the treatment needs to fit your lifestyle and beliefs. Our attitudes and beliefs about treatment will often times be a significant predictor of whether the treatment works. If you believe that medication will help you – it probably will. If you believe that Valerian Root will improve your sleep quality – it probably will. Those outcomes may be temporary, but our beliefs about treatment are a significant variable in how we respond. So, what do you believe? Do you believe in holistic treatment and that contemporary scientific evidence should be combined with ancient wisdom? If so, an integrative provider might be your best option. Do you think Eastern and ancient medicine is woo-woo nonsense? Then start with a conventional provider.
The goal off treatment should be:
- Reduce stress
- Increase distress tolerance
- Support circadian rhythms
- Increase sleep quality
- Engage in mindful movement
- Improve nutrition
Whether you choose a conventional, integrative, or functional provider, if they are working to address the 3 legs of the stool and supporting you in the above goals, then you are on a good path!
How I Use Conventional, Integrative, and Functional Psychiatry to Help Clients Feel Better
My approach to mental health care is integrative and holistic. I use aspects of conventional treatment and functional psychiatry depending on the client. We want to partner together to help you find lasting and sustainable change. Sometimes we need medication, supplements, diet changes, and energy work to feel our best – sometimes we need only one or two of those options. My job as a provider is to meet you where you are. If you’re in Virginia and looking for a provider, reach out and schedule an appointment with me. If you’re outside my service area, use the information in this post to help you filter through your options and find the right provider for you. If you want to learn more about my approach to integrative medicine, you can learn more here.