Treatment of Schizophrenia and Depression Caused by Environmental Toxins and Dysbiosis: A Functional Medicine Case Study.

Abstract

The incidence of mental health disorders increased by about 40% from 2019 to 2023. The incidence of mental health disorders continues to escalate while the outcomes remain poor. The outcomes of psychopharmacology are mildly to moderately effective and rarely, if ever, result in a cure. The expectation is a lifetime use of medication for symptomatic management. The following case is an example of an integrative mind-body approach that may lead to an actual cure of psychiatric conditions when focused on neuroinflammation and not solely on neurotransmitters. The current case involves a young man who had been hospitalized seven times within seven years and treated with multiple attempts at various combinations of polypharmacy, resulting in similar outcomes and more hospitalizations. He sought a functional medicine approach due to the poor outcomes with conventional treatment. Subsequently, he was admitted to our outpatient facility utilizing a multi-systems model of an in-depth mind-body assessment. The treatment was based on inflammatory markers likely triggered by multiple toxin exposures, aimed at eliminating the sources of inflammation and introducing lifestyle and diet modifications to support detoxification. The outcomes obtained were extraordinary, with a total remission of all symptoms up to and including a post-treatment two-year follow-up assessment. This suggests that our approach to creating health outcomes needs to be personalized and integrative of both mind and body to achieve the best outcomes. The case presents an alternative approach to conventional treatment involving polypharmacy and psychiatric hospitalizations.