It has been over 48 years since I graduated from my specialty psychiatric training. Over the decades, medications for mental health and addiction treatment have evolved with often remarkable results. At the same time, this success has its downsides:
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People naturally want a quick fix and taking a pill looks far more attractive than changing your lifestyle to healthier habits that take much longer.
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Psychotherapy, group treatment, psychoeducation also take time and seem more expensive and time-consuming than a medication prescription.
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Because psychiatrists are physicians who cost more to pay, their role has increasingly been relegated to a “doc in a box” doing brief “med checks” to review medication effectiveness, side effects and write a new prescription.
In this context, I am always on the lookout for research and studies that compare and contrast medications with other helping methods and techniques. I don’t want to roll back the clock on neuroscience and the successes of psychopharmacology. But I would like to see more balance in the healthcare field and the public’s preoccupation with medication as THE answer.
Here are headlines on recent research that restore some of that balance.
Tip 1
Study Finds No Meaningful Difference Between Exercise, Psychological Therapy In Alleviating Depressive Symptoms.
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews published the results of a review of 35 trials involving 2,526 participants. It found “no meaningful difference between exercise and psychological therapy in alleviating depressive symptoms.”
That means:
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Clinicians can “prescribe” exercise for people with depression just as ethically and effectively as antidepressants or psychotherapy.
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If a person is too lethargic and depressed to start exercising straight away, it is reasonable to start with medication, but then encourage exercise be added to the treatment plan.
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Psychotherapy can help at any time, but exercise and lifestyle change helps overall health even more than just the depression.
Tip 2
Yoga Alongside Standard Buprenorphine Therapy Hastens Opioid Withdrawal Recovery, Improves Autonomic Regulation Compared With Buprenorphine Alone.
MedPage reported on a study published in JAMA Psychiatry. “Yoga alongside standard buprenorphine therapy hastened opioid withdrawal recovery and improved autonomic regulation compared with buprenorphine alone, an early-stage randomized trial in India showed.”
Researchers found:
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that the participants with opioid use disorder (OUD) that were in the yoga group recovered from withdrawal faster than those in the control group...with a median stabilization time of 5 days versus 9 days, respectively.
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Participants in the yoga group “showed significant improvements in heart rate variability, anxiety, sleep, and pain measures.”
Tip 3
Listening To Music Regularly Reduces Dementia Risk In Older Patients.
Neuroscience News reported on a study published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. The study suggests that “older adults who regularly listened to music had a 39% lower risk of developing dementia compared to those who didn’t make music a part of their daily lives.”
Researchers observed that of the 10,893 adults aged 70 and older:
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“About 7,000 said they listened to music most days, and those frequent listeners had the greatest reduction in dementia risk."
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The study “did not specify what type of music was most beneficial.”
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The research team “emphasized that the study can’t prove that listening to music directly prevents dementia, but the results were strong enough to suggest a possible link.”
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Authored by Dr. David Mee-Lee, “Tips & Topics” is a monthly blog covering three sections: Savvy, Skills and Soul, with additional sections varying from month to month. Topics include Stump the Shrink, Success Stories and Shameless Selling.