One of the books that I asked for and received as a gift for Christmas is called “Too Good To Be True? Nutrients Quiet the Unquiet Brain” by David Moyer, LCSW, B.C.D. with an introduction by Robert Bransfield, M.D. I’m about halfway through the book and I can’t put it down.

In the first part of the book David Moyer, a mental health professional, tells the story of his father’s battle with bipolar disorder and the unfortunate outcomes/situations that people with the disorder, more often than not, end up in. He talks about his family’s struggles to help his father manage his illness, which usually ended up in a circular regressive pattern of repeating the same mistakes.

The first part of the story ranges from his father’s grandiose plans of his manic episodes to the legal/mental health system that failed in helping his father achieve stability. You can’t help but feel sorry for the injustices that his father faced while trying to survive in a world where mental illness is so misunderstood.

After David Moyer tried endlessly to help his father find stability, his young son Chris started showing symptoms of bipolar disorder as well. The story then continues with the intimate experiences of his son’s battle with mental illness and the struggles he went through while trying to live with bipolar disorder.

Once again, David Moyer faced a mental health system that didn’t help his son find the stability that he felt his son deserved and this led him to investigate alternative ways of treating his son’s debilitating illness, which then led him to a new understanding of how nutrients may affect and treat a number of biological brain disorders - nutrients that quiet the unquiet brain.

I’m now at the part of the book where he is presenting research studies that show how different vitamins/minerals/omega-3s have an effect on people with brain disorders like bipolar disorder, ADHD, depression, schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder. The results are absolutely amazing and give a very strong argument for the role that nature’s building blocks play in the treatment of mental illness.

It’s funny how our current paradigm of thinking has us convinced that only pharmaceuticals can be the magical treatment for illnesses. Just take pills to deal with the end result and don’t worry about how we got there. This paradigm forgets and forces us to forget the role that preventative measures can play in the development, management and treatment of illnesses. I’m not suggesting that medication is not required, but rather that less medication may be required if more focus was placed on the full pyramid of treatment from the bottom up, rather than from the top down. I understand that in some cases immediate medication is required to deal with a crisis situation, but once that is dealt with, why not start treatment with the basic building blocks of our organism - our biology.

Everyone knows the terms “garbage in, garbage out” and “you are what you eat”, and maybe this is more true than we thought for people with genetic predispositions. Maybe people suffering from specific illnesses have a genetic predisposition that make them more vulnerable to the effects of nutrition. Maybe their genetic predispositions cause their bodies to require higher doses of specific vitamins, minerals and fats. Many studies are suggesting that this might be true, so maybe it’s time that we start investigating and asking more questions about the possible complementary treatments for our illnesses. Maybe we should start becoming more aware of what we put into our bodies and how this might affect the way we feel. The great divide between mental phenomenon and basic physical biology is shrinking. The two separate entities are beginning to look more like the two sides of the same coin.