“I see functional medicine as a great opportunity to provide psych rehab,” says Dr. Achina Stein, clinical director of the Healing Depression Project and a board-certified psychiatrist with over 30 years of experience. Dr. Stein, also a best-selling author, shares insights from her book, “What If It’s Not Depression? Your Guide to Finding Answers.”

Dr. Stein recounts her journey into functional medicine, initiated by her son’s mental health crisis. Conventional medicine failed to help, but she discovered his issues were due to celiac disease and nutritional deficiencies. Addressing these root causes led to his recovery without medication.

The discussion contrasts conventional and functional medicine approaches to depression. Functional medicine looks beyond symptoms to factors like nutrition, gut health, and toxins, emphasizing personalized care and detailed lab testing. Dr. Stein highlights the importance of the autonomic nervous system, vagus nerve training, and mindset work.

This episode offers a fresh perspective on depression treatment, focusing on root causes and personalized, holistic care, providing hope for those seeking lasting solutions. Listeners will also learn about Dr. Stein’s four-week intensive program, which combines comprehensive testing, lifestyle changes, and continuous support to foster sustainable healing.

Quotes

• “Root causes—I feel like that’s a common misconception and something that functional medicine inadvertently advertises that we find the root cause. And it’s rarely one root cause. There’s usually many.” (07:54 | Dr. Lara Salyer)

• “I see functional medicine as a great opportunity to provide psych rehab. If you had a broken leg or were in a car accident, you’re going to want to be helicoptered to the closest hospital and have whatever surgery that you need. But no one expects to be discharged with having casts on their body for the rest of their life. But why is it that we do that with patients who are admitted to a psych unit and given medications?” (30:32 | Dr. Achina Stein) 

• “To me, they’re casts on some level, but it’s an opportunity to save that person’s life, get them stabilized with medications. But then while they’re on medications, why don’t we put them into this rehab, figuring out what it was that caused their bodies to go out of balance—body, mind and spirit—to go out of balance and use the crutch of medications to be able to rehab them and figure out what went wrong and then be able to come off of that, just like you would come out of these casts.” (30:59 | Dr. Achina Stein) 

• “We want people to believe in themselves to some degree, feeling like there's something going on in their bodies that's beyond just the classic depression, and want to get better. We want them to be at least willing to make changes in their life and feel that they have the ability to do these things and get better.” (34:34 | Dr. Achina Stein) 

Links

Connect with Achina Stein:

Website: https://www.healingdepressionproject.com/

Connect with Lara: 

Membership Magic Course: https://rightbrainrescue.com/p/membership-magic-design-your-3-tier-functional-medicine-membership-to-grow-and-scale

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