The Tragic Result of Sweeping Mental Health Under the Rug

There are certain things going on in the world that truly sadden me. As a doctor, a father of five and a human being, I simply can’t remain silent. Like most people, I was saddened to hear the news that Robin Williams committed suicide after a decades-long battle with depression.

When I hear about the suicide of someone who was universally adored, and I see the outpouring of emotion, I wonder when we’re going to start doing something about mental illness in our society.

I just spent 14 weeks talking about brain chemistry on my By Design radio program, discussing how imbalances in the brain lead to poor decisions and unhealthy behavior. So many people are habitually taking medication every day – medication that alters their brain chemistry – and they don’t understand the side effects.

It’s time for each of us to take a deep breath, take a step back and take inventory of our lives. Is it wise to get up every day at 6 am and go non-stop until 11 pm? If that pattern sounds familiar, you’re overstimulating your brain. It becomes extremely difficult, if not impossible, to make rational, logical decisions.

Let’s scale back if need be so we can stop and think clearly. This allows us to use the higher cortex of the brain, not just the superficial reactionary part of the brain. Instead of reacting to pain and stress, we can prevent it by making better decisions and improving our behavior.

If you know anyone who is showing signs of mental illness, reach out to them. Tell them you love them. Help them get the professional help they need. There is real help out there through proper diagnosis, clinical psychology and yes, nutritional intervention. Building a team approach works best.

In addition to the tragic news of Robin Williams’ passing, I’m deeply saddened and disturbed about the genocide happening on the other side of the world in Syria and Iraq. Christians are being murdered. Not soldiers, but families. Women and children.

I happen to be Armenian, and Armenians suffered through genocide 100 years ago. That’s why my family came to America. My thoughts and prayers are with these Christian families, and I pray our world leaders find a way to put an end to these senseless murders.

For background information on this subject as history tragically repeats itself, I highly recommend reading Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story: A Personal Account of the Armenian Genocide.

Dr. James Prood­ian is an accomplished chiropractic physician and health educator who founded Proodian Healthcare Family of Companies to help people feel better, function better, and live longer. His expertise for the past two decades has been in physical rehabilitation, and he has successfully established himself as a spinal specialist. In his practice, he advocates the science of functional medicine, which takes an integrative approach to treating patients by addressing their physical, nutritional, and psychological needs. Alarmed by the escalation of complex, chronic illness in our country, Dr. Proodian has been speaking to companies and organizations through his “Wellness at Work” program since 1994, motivating thousands of people to make positive lifestyle choices and lead healthier, more productive lives. He can be heard weekly on his radio program, “Proodian Healthcare By Design,” on Tandem Radio.