This week, we had Dr. Andrea Best, a physician, holistic psychiatrist, nutritionist, chemist, teacher, mother, and Light Guide, share her experience practicing integrative psychiatry. She utilizes both Western and Eastern medicine/psychiatry approaches, and takes a holistic approach to treating patients. For this workshop, she demonstrates her method of practicing through the case study of a patient from her practice.
This patient was a female Master’s student with abdominal pain, irritability, problems focusing, and many other symptoms. Dr. Best inquired about her habits and found that she has been sleeping during the day and has trouble sleeping at night. Furthermore, she was beginning to miss class, skip breakfast, and eat in the afternoon instead. Dr. Best did some lab tests but all results came out normal-she had no nutrition deficiency, autoimmune disease, and her CT scans were normal. After getting to know the patient more, Dr. Best found out the patient had a lot of anxiety. She loved the field she was in but wasn’t sure that it would make enough money. She felt like she outgrew her friends, and wanted a romantic relationship but was so focused on school that she did not have enough time. However, anxiety did not explain all the symptoms. Dr. Best found that the patient does rituals to help cope with the anxiety, like checking the door repeatedly, counting things, and was missing class to do these. It was determined that she had obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and does these compulsions to appease the anxiety. Dr. Best explains that the number one treatment for OCD is not medication, but it is actually exposure response prevention (ERP) protocol. For general anxiety, cognitive behavioral therapy and meditation and mindfulness practices can be implemented, but ultimately, treatment depends on the patient’s personal traits, like their belief system, whether they are visual or auditory learners, etc.
As treatment for this patient, Dr. Best made sure she had a consistent sleeping schedule, and took into account cortisol levels, which normally peaks in the morning. If someone is sleeping during the day, they do not have sunlight to get the cortisol they need. Therefore, Dr. Best had the patient wake up in the morning, and within 30-35 min of waking up, she needed to have the blinds open, get moving, and get some protein. She also started having ashwagandha tea or capsules in the morning, and taking B-complex. Dr. Best also wanted to get her moving, so she picked up martial arts and started running with her friends, which made her realize that some of her perceptions about her friends and future were distorted. It was false information appearing real, and her thinking the worst case scenario, which usually is not the case. At night, her new routine consisted of melatonin, magnesium, and gratitude writing. Through following this regime, she was able to improve significantly in a short period of time. Dr. Best considers this a success as she wants people “feeling better, thriving, and doing what they came to do on the planet.”
Books recommended by Dr. Best:
The Tao of Nutrition by Maoshing Ni
Seeds of Transformation: A 52‑Step Journey Towards Enlightenment by Maggie Erotokritou
Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One
by Joe Dispenza
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