Lifestyle plays an enormous role in maintaining mental health. Besides diet, supplements, and avoidance of toxic chemicals and indoor mold exposures, there are many other lifestyle factors that can significantly impact our mental health and sense of wellbeing.  

Exercise 

Exercising on a regular basis can lead to noticeable mental health benefits. Exercise can lower anxiety and depression and improve symptoms of bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorders. It can also improve sleep quality, promote relaxation, and has the potential to raise self-confidence and self-esteem. Some studies show that exercise can be more effective than prescription medication for treating anxiety and depression.

Exercise increases the heart rate and breathing which improves blood flow and oxygenation in the brain. Exercise also causes the release of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) that promotes increased growth of neurons in the brain and can directly benefit cognitive functions and mental health.

The body releases chemicals called endorphins during exercise. Endorphins interact with opioid receptors in our brains and cause an enhanced sense of wellbeing, a more positive outlook on life, an increased ability to cope with stress, and an increased tolerance of pain. The term “runner’s high” refers to the euphoria that comes from the endorphins that are produced with regular exercise. Although our natural endorphins act much like morphine, they do not cause problems with side effects and addiction.

There are exceptions to the recommendation to exercise for improved health. People with severe Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) are unable to engage in sustained physical activities. The mitochondria in their cells have been injured by toxins. Mitochondria are the energy-producing organelles in every cell of the body. Many different toxins have the potential to harm the mitochondria, including heavy metals, mold, toxic chemicals, and hidden infections like Lyme disease that are difficult to diagnose and treat. Many people with CFS struggle to carry out even the most basic activities of daily living due to a profound lack of energy. Exercise for people with severe CFS is often counter-productive and could lead to an exacerbation of their symptoms.

 Meditation 

Meditation is now commonly used as part of a comprehensive treatment plan for mental health disorders. People with emotional instability, anxiety, depression, ADHD, OCD, and bipolar disorders have benefitted from having a daily meditation practice. Meditation helps to slow the breathing and quiet the mind and can foster a sense of peace and wellbeing.

After an eight-week course in mindfulness meditation, MRI scans of the participants showed that the amygdala—the brain’s “fight or flight” center—appeared to have shrunk. The amygdala is associated with fearful emotions and is directly linked to the stress response.

Time in Nature 

Exposure to the natural world has many measurable health benefits. A growing number of studies confirm what we already know experientially—that nature heals. Many of the studies were done in Japan where “forest bathing” is considered an important health-enhancing activity. The studies document changes in certain markers in the blood before and after spending time in nature. Average blood pressure and heart rate drop, the stress hormone called cortisol drops, and inflammatory markers drop.

A study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science found that people who walked for 90 minutes in a natural area showed decreased activity in a region of the brain associated with depression.

I encourage my patients to spend as much time in nature as they can—even if it’s simply in a local park or in their garden. In fact, gardening provides a form of exercise, time in nature, and time in the sun all in one activity.

We don’t need studies to know how calming and uplifting being in nature can be. The natural world can stabilize our mood, dissipate anxiety, lessen depression, and mitigate the symptoms of bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Being in nature can help us reconnect with our own true nature. 

Sunlight Exposure 

Because people spend most of their days indoors and because of fears of skin cancer, many people get very little sun exposure. Lack of sufficient sunlight can contribute to depression and anxiety, vitamin D deficiency, abnormal circadian rhythm with sleep-wake cycles, and inadequate melatonin production.

I often suggest to my patients that they try to get about 15 minutes of unprotected sun exposure a day, between 10 am-3 pm. Even in that short period of time, the UV light from the sun can stimulate the immune system to fight infections, and it can activate your mitochondria to produce more energy. When the sunlight hits the bare skin, nitric oxide is produced which lowers blood pressure and decreases the risk of heart attacks and stroke. 

Sleep 

Maintaining mental health involves addressing sleep habits.

Persistent insomnia can lead to anxiety, depression, mania, bipolar behavior, and even psychosis when the sleep deprivation is extreme.

The causes of insomnia are manifold. Some common causes are the following:

• Digestive distress
• Swings in blood sugar from a high carbohydrate diet
• Use of electronic devices right up to the time of going to bed.
• High electromagnetic fields in the bedroom from wireless devices and from “dirty” electricity generated by “smart” meters.
• Persistent pains
• Side-effects from medications
• Toxic exposures that affect the liver detox system
• Light pollution
• Noise pollution
• Lack of exercise
• High cortisol levels from stress and anxiety
• Too much caffeine
• Alcohol
• Irregular sleep schedule for going to bed and for getting up
• Abnormal circadian rhythm that can lead to feeling sleepy during the day and energized at night when most people are in bed.

A frequently overlooked cause of poor quality sleep is low oxygenation due to sleep apnea or certain respiratory conditions like asthma and emphysema. Low levels of oxygen throughout the night cause inflammation of the brain and can lead to chronic fatigue, depression, anxiety, and cognitive decline. An overnight sleep study can determine if low oxygenation is a problem.

Getting adequate sleep is essential for maintaining the health of body and mind. 

Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs) 

Human beings are bioelectrical systems. Our hearts and brains are regulated by our bodies’ internal electrical signals. Environmental exposures to artificial electromagnetic fields (EMFs) can interact with fundamental biological processes in the human body.

Radiofrequency (RF) radiation, is emitted from cell towers, wireless devices like laptops, baby monitors, cell phones, cordless phones, and “smart” wireless meters on our homes. RF radiation includes both radio waves and microwaves. Although microwave radiation is at the far end of the electromagnetic spectrum and is a non-ionizing, low energy wave, it can can move molecules around and generate heat through friction of the molecules.

Microwave radiation is known to cause physical and mental symptoms, including anxiety, depression, intractable insomnia, chronic fatigue, headaches, brain fog, memory loss, ringing in the ears, burning and tingling sensations in the skin, elevated blood pressure, heart arrhythmias and palpitations, and elevated blood sugar.

I had my own disturbing encounter with the harmful effects of microwave radiation. One day I stopped being able to fall asleep for no apparent reason. For days I went without sleep. As I wandered around the house during the sleepless nights, I eventually discovered that I could fall asleep downstairs on the floor of my office.

I contacted a friend who had a microwave meter to help me with my detective work. My friend discovered huge levels of microwave radiation coming into my bedroom from the outside. When he went onto my balcony, he saw the needle on his meter bounce around furiously in the extreme red zone. He looked over at my neighbor’s balcony that abutted my own balcony. On the railing he saw a small microwave antenna.

Fortunately my neighbor was my friend. Even though he had trouble believing that his antenna had such a powerfully negative impact on me, he agreed to unplug the antenna at night. When he forgot to unplug the antenna, I knew immediately because it meant that I couldn’t sleep.

The neighbor eventually became so successful in his career as a musician that he left my community in search of a home with a big recording studio. Thankfully, he took his antenna with him.

After that unpleasant experience, I bought my own small, affordable microwave meter. The brand is called Acousticom 2 Radiofrequency Meter and Electrosmog Detector.

Several of my patients have become unbearably sensitive to the radio frequencies that blanket our modern world. They have what is known as “microwave sickness” or “electromagnetic hypersensitivity syndrome.”

With the help of “healthy home” inspectors trained in EMF detection and remediation, some of those patients have been able to take measures that reduce their EMF exposures to tolerable levels. Others have had to abandon their old lives and go to remote areas to live.

Those who are exposed to long periods of high levels of low frequency electromagnetic fields are most at risk.

Mainstream media do not report on the dangers of wireless devices, falsely reassuring the public that the radiation emitted from wireless devices is safe. Many of the studies that are quoted in the media are industry-funded and not credible.

An excellent resource for learning about the effects of microwave radiation can be found at the link below where you’ll find reams of reports prepared by 29 non industry-funded authors who are medical doctors and scientists from 10 countries.

http://www.bioinitiative.org 

Social and Community Activities 

One of my patients, a woman who suffered from a chronic anxiety disorder, joined a local church even though she didn’t belong to any religion and had been raised with atheist parents. She said that she loved the church gatherings, the activities, and the support that the church members provided each other. She knew that she could always find a friend who would listen to her joys and sorrows. She noticed that her anxiety subsided while she was with her friends.

Social isolation can lead to elevated levels of stress and anxiety, depression, and increased inflammation that can affect any area of the body, including the brain. The risks to one’s health from social isolation have been compared to the risks of smoking, obesity, and high blood pressure.

Friendships and social interactions are critically important for maintaining physical and mental health. Many studies have shown that people who have meaningful relationships with their family, friends, and community have fewer health problems and live longer—no matter what their age, gender, health practices and physical status. 

Life with Purpose 

Having a higher purpose in life can help us stay on course when our lives have been derailed by unforeseen circumstances.

Each person finds his or her own unique purpose in life. Many of my patients find their calling in life after their old lives have fallen apart due to shattering health problems. From the ruins of their lives, they rebuild in ways that enhance their highest good, including finding meaningful ways to be of service to others.

I once watched a program called “The Dog Whisperer,” about a man who understood dogs and what they needed to be happy. A woman contacted the dog whisperer to ask for help with her dog. The large boxer had destroyed some of her antique furniture, chewed on her shoes, and he barked incessantly.

The dog whisperer went to the woman’s home to evaluate her dog. He determined that the dog was unhappy because he had no purpose to his life. The dog whisperer advised the woman to take the dog to a dog training school so that he could learn how to follow commands, do a few jobs around the house, like bringing the woman her newspaper, and carry a little doggie pack on his back that would hold his dog bowl and drinking water when they went on walks. The dog whisperer also advised the woman to throw balls outside every day so that her dog could fetch them while getting some exercise.

When the dog whisperer went back for a follow up visit, the dog silently greeted him with a wagging tail. The woman said that she was pleased with the dog’s behavior and could tell that he was happier. He stopped tearing up the house and barking and could sit quietly for long periods of time—as long as the woman threw balls for the dog to chase, took him on walks every day, and gave him tasks to complete.

Most of us are not so different from the dog that needed to have a meaningful job he could perform that would make him feel useful and make his owner happy. When we use our knowledge and our natural gifts in service to a greater good, it can bring an enormous sense of wellbeing. 

Spiritual Life 

Tending to the spirit is vitally important for maintaining mental health and a sense of wellbeing. Some of the indicators of spiritual maturity include the ability to forgive yourself and others for causing you harm, gratitude for life in its many forms, the ability to experience joy even when nothing is going right, and the ability to feel empathy and compassion for others who are different from you. 

Many of my patients have experienced unbearable suffering. In many cases their suffering has stripped them of their old lives, their old habits, behaviors, and beliefs that no longer serve them anymore. Suffering has the potential to lead to profound spiritual growth that takes root amid the rubble created by catastrophe. 

Conclusion

Many years ago a patient called Caroline came to me with a diagnosis of suicidal depression and a plea for help. She had seen a psychiatrist twice a week for three years for counseling and had been on multiple psychotropic medications, none of which relieved her severe symptoms. Caroline’s friends had urged her to look for other sources of her depression and suggested that she come see me for an evaluation.

At the appointment, I discovered that Caroline had no prior history of mental illness, had no apparent reason for being depressed, and had not responded to either counseling or medications. I had a strong suspicion that something in her home was making her sick.

Caroline had her home thoroughly inspected. Unbeknownst to her, she had a gas leak in the pipe that connected to her gas stove. After the utility company repaired the leak, Caroline gradually improved and eventually got off all her medications. In anger, she fired her psychiatrist. To quell her anger and threats of a lawsuit, I explained that psychiatrists had no training in environmental medicine and that her psychiatrist did the best she could.

Caroline said, “Well, why isn’t anyone teaching them about these important topics? Why don’t YOU help spread the information?” I promised her that I would do my best.

This post marks the end of the series about some of the underlying physiological and environmental causes of mental illness and mood disorders. Although there are many other environmental causes of mental illness—including infections like Lyme disease and mild traumatic brain injuries—I have only addressed the more common causes.

I hope the series has been helpful to you in understanding some of the major factors that can powerfully impact the functioning of our brains.

The next post will be about an upcoming trip to Africa. Stay tuned!