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A Mind of Your Own: The Truth About Depression and How Women Can Heal Their Bodies to Reclaim Their Lives
Named one of the top health and wellness books for 2016 by MindBodyGreen
Depression is not a disease. It is a symptom.
Recent years have seen a shocking increase in antidepressant use the world over, with 1 in 4 women starting their day with medication. These drugs have steadily become the panacea for everything from grief, irritability, panic attacks, to insomnia, PMS, and stress. But the truth is, what women really need can’t be found at a pharmacy.
According to Dr. Kelly Brogan, antidepressants not only overpromise and underdeliver, but their use may permanently disable the body’s self-healing potential. We need a new paradigm: The best way to heal the mind is to heal the whole body.
In this groundbreaking, science-based and holistic approach, Dr. Brogan shatters the mythology conventional medicine has built around the causes and treatment of depression. Based on her expert interpretation of published medical findings, combined with years of experience from her clinical practice, Dr. Brogan illuminates the true cause of depression: it is not simply a chemical imbalance, but a lifestyle crisis that demands a reset. It is a signal that the interconnected systems in the body are out of balance – from blood sugar, to gut health, to thyroid function– and inflammation is at the root.
A Mind of Your Own offers an achievable, step-by-step 30-day action plan—including powerful dietary interventions, targeted nutrient support, detoxification, sleep, and stress reframing techniques—women can use to heal their bodies, alleviate inflammation, and feel like themselves again without a single prescription.
Bold, brave, and revolutionary, A Mind of Your Own takes readers on a journey of self-empowerment for radical transformation that goes far beyond symptom relief.
Depression is not a disease. It is a symptom.
Recent years have seen a shocking increase in antidepressant use the world over, with 1 in 4 women starting their day with medication. These drugs have steadily become the panacea for everything from grief, irritability, panic attacks, to insomnia, PMS, and stress. But the truth is, what women really need can’t be found at a pharmacy.
According to Dr. Kelly Brogan, antidepressants not only overpromise and underdeliver, but their use may permanently disable the body’s self-healing potential. We need a new paradigm: The best way to heal the mind is to heal the whole body.
In this groundbreaking, science-based and holistic approach, Dr. Brogan shatters the mythology conventional medicine has built around the causes and treatment of depression. Based on her expert interpretation of published medical findings, combined with years of experience from her clinical practice, Dr. Brogan illuminates the true cause of depression: it is not simply a chemical imbalance, but a lifestyle crisis that demands a reset. It is a signal that the interconnected systems in the body are out of balance – from blood sugar, to gut health, to thyroid function– and inflammation is at the root.
A Mind of Your Own offers an achievable, step-by-step 30-day action plan—including powerful dietary interventions, targeted nutrient support, detoxification, sleep, and stress reframing techniques—women can use to heal their bodies, alleviate inflammation, and feel like themselves again without a single prescription.
Bold, brave, and revolutionary, A Mind of Your Own takes readers on a journey of self-empowerment for radical transformation that goes far beyond symptom relief.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published February 16, 2016
1053 people are currently reading
5649 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 306 reviews
May 4, 2016
Lots of what seems like good evidence for the link between gut health and mental health, but I am left with a lot of questions about how solid her research is. The author's credibility is strained by what I think are some pretty over-the-top claims about lack of effectiveness of pharmaceuticals such as statins (new article in the NEJM just validated their effectiveness in preventing heart attack and stroke, even for those who are not high-risk), toxicity of vaccines (hello? haven't we already been through this?!), lack of necessity for antibiotics (have you ever been treated for cancer, lady? no? perhaps you should've qualified the population for whom holistic immune-boosting supplements are adequate/appropriate). So while my own experience suggests that the gut-brain link is legit, I will be seeking other sources to validate her claims.
May 19, 2021
2021 edit because people keep liking this review: the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) listed Kelly Brogan as one of the 12 people most responsible for spreading pandemic disinformation. She profits off of misinformation and people get hurt because of it. :(
If you've read this book, that was what she accuses others of. Hypocrite.
2020 edit because people keep liking this review: Looking at her twitter feed she's part of the COVID-1984 "pandemic is fake to control you crowd". Her wikipedia page mentions her controversies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_B... .
When I first read her book I thought it was interesting because I saw some ideas I hadn't seen other places but as I learned more about her worldview I understood why I didn't see the info in other places. I still catch myself repeating ideas I read from her book, even though I now seriously question how she arrived to her conclusions. This book made me stupider.
Original 2017 review:
This book is a rollercoaster of "oh wow that's really interesting" to "oh wow, what a nutjob".
I liked the beginning where she dissects big pharma and how they play with studies to sell pills, the analysis of the placebo effect. There's some good stuff in there like how the average depressive episode lasts up to 13 weeks, depression is the mind channeling all its resources to cognition to figure something out, and SSRIs can actually diminish the benefits of exercise on improving mental mood (so healthy people telling someone with depression to try exercise isn't actually that helpful).
There was also an interesting discussion on how SSRIs actually push your brain in the wrong direction (as seen by newer studies on serotin update enhancers) and that the benefit may just be because your brain is fighting so hard to account for this.
I'm in agreement that the newer theories that inflammation in your body can cause depression as a side effect are interesting, especially the studies on mice where changing gut bacteria changed their mood (which I've seen referenced in several books now).
But then she lost me, when she went into the deep-end anti-vaxxer, anti-gmo, organic everything, detoxification ("take an loumfa and rub it over your body every two days") etc. Somehow this is a more extreme version of The Microbiome Diet: The Scientifically Proven Way to Restore Your Gut Health and Achieve Permanent Weight Loss. It made me appreciate how sane and balanced I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life and My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind were.
I liked the part where she talked about how hand sanitizers thin your skin, kill your external friendly bacteria and make you more susceptible to getting sick.
But it's kind of interesting about how all the discussion of placebo effect and scientific rigor that was applied to "bad" big pharma in the beginning isn't also applied to the "good" holistic approaches. Isn't there also a placebo effect going on with holistic approaches?
It also reminded me of the theory of capture from Capture: A Theory of the Mind where he suggested that one cure from when the mind becomes captured on an unhealthy idea (depression, addiction, anxiety) is replacing it with a different capture. In this case Kelly Brogan seems to be trying to create an obsession with a "natural/holistic" lifestyle. And honestly if you tried to follow all of the advice in her book you would be so focused on your food and environment that there'd be no way you'd still have time for rumination.
I think it's telling that all the selected quotes for the book are in the parts in the beginning where she takes down big pharma. But the arguments of what to replace it with don't have weight.
If you've read this book, that was what she accuses others of. Hypocrite.
2020 edit because people keep liking this review: Looking at her twitter feed she's part of the COVID-1984 "pandemic is fake to control you crowd". Her wikipedia page mentions her controversies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_B... .
When I first read her book I thought it was interesting because I saw some ideas I hadn't seen other places but as I learned more about her worldview I understood why I didn't see the info in other places. I still catch myself repeating ideas I read from her book, even though I now seriously question how she arrived to her conclusions. This book made me stupider.
Original 2017 review:
This book is a rollercoaster of "oh wow that's really interesting" to "oh wow, what a nutjob".
I liked the beginning where she dissects big pharma and how they play with studies to sell pills, the analysis of the placebo effect. There's some good stuff in there like how the average depressive episode lasts up to 13 weeks, depression is the mind channeling all its resources to cognition to figure something out, and SSRIs can actually diminish the benefits of exercise on improving mental mood (so healthy people telling someone with depression to try exercise isn't actually that helpful).
There was also an interesting discussion on how SSRIs actually push your brain in the wrong direction (as seen by newer studies on serotin update enhancers) and that the benefit may just be because your brain is fighting so hard to account for this.
I'm in agreement that the newer theories that inflammation in your body can cause depression as a side effect are interesting, especially the studies on mice where changing gut bacteria changed their mood (which I've seen referenced in several books now).
But then she lost me, when she went into the deep-end anti-vaxxer, anti-gmo, organic everything, detoxification ("take an loumfa and rub it over your body every two days") etc. Somehow this is a more extreme version of The Microbiome Diet: The Scientifically Proven Way to Restore Your Gut Health and Achieve Permanent Weight Loss. It made me appreciate how sane and balanced I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life and My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind were.
I liked the part where she talked about how hand sanitizers thin your skin, kill your external friendly bacteria and make you more susceptible to getting sick.
But it's kind of interesting about how all the discussion of placebo effect and scientific rigor that was applied to "bad" big pharma in the beginning isn't also applied to the "good" holistic approaches. Isn't there also a placebo effect going on with holistic approaches?
It also reminded me of the theory of capture from Capture: A Theory of the Mind where he suggested that one cure from when the mind becomes captured on an unhealthy idea (depression, addiction, anxiety) is replacing it with a different capture. In this case Kelly Brogan seems to be trying to create an obsession with a "natural/holistic" lifestyle. And honestly if you tried to follow all of the advice in her book you would be so focused on your food and environment that there'd be no way you'd still have time for rumination.
I think it's telling that all the selected quotes for the book are in the parts in the beginning where she takes down big pharma. But the arguments of what to replace it with don't have weight.
So if depression isn’t a disease, then what is it? As I briefly mentioned in the introduction, depression is a symptom, a vague surface sign at best that doesn’t tell you anything about its root cause. Consider, for a moment, that your toe hurts. Any number of things can cause a toe to hurt, from physically injuring it to a bunion, blister, or tumor growing inside. The hurting is a sign that something is wrong with the toe, simple as that. Likewise, depression is the hurting; it’s an adaptive response, intelligently communicated by the body, to something not being right within, often because things are also off in our environment.
In a seminal 2006 paper, “Do Antidepressants Cure or Create Abnormal Brain States?” Moncrieff and her coauthor write: “Our analysis indicates that there are no specific antidepressant drugs, that most of the short-term effects of antidepressants are shared by many other drugs, and that long-term drug treatment with antidepressants or any other drugs has not been shown to lead to long-term elevation of mood. We suggest that the term ‘antidepressant’ should be abandoned.
Six decades of study, however, have revealed conflicting, confusing, and inconclusive data.
That’s right: there has never been a human study that successfully links low serotonin levels and depression. Imaging studies, blood and urine tests, postmortem suicide assessments, and even animal research have never validated the link between neurotransmitter levels and depression.
In other words, the serotonin theory of depression is a total myth that has been unjustly supported by the manipulation of data. Much to the contrary, high serotonin levels have been linked to a range of problems, including schizophrenia and autism.
According to Andrews, when patients on SSRI medication improve, it appears that their brains are actually overcoming the effects of antidepressants, rather than being helped by them. The drugs are interfering with the brain’s own mechanisms of recovery.
He and his colleagues challenge the whole notion of relapse, suggesting that when you feel terrible upon stopping an antidepressant, what you’re experiencing is withdrawal—not a return of your mental illness. And when you choose the medication route, you’re actually extending the duration of your depression.
To really grasp the fact that depression is not a disorder primarily rooted in the brain, look no further than some of the most demonstrative studies. When scientists purposefully trigger inflammation in the bodies of healthy people who exhibit no signs of depression by injecting them with a substance (more on this shortly), they quickly develop classic symptoms of depression.
fully 99 percent of the genetic material in your body is not your own. It belongs to your microbial comrades. These microbes not only influence the expression of our DNA, but research reveals that throughout our evolution microbial DNA has become part of our own DNA. In other words, genes from microbes have inserted themselves into our genetic code (mitochondrial DNA being the prime example) to help us evolve and flourish.
Dietary change is step one, because we can change the microbiota dominance within seventy-two hours of simple changes to eliminate potential triggers to the immune system and rebalance the gut flora.
April 27, 2016
I have to start by saying I am not a health nut. I am not that person who believes essential oils and mediation is going to help me. I'm far too impatient and not gullible enough for that. I'm just not. I really struggled with this book because it feels like it's coming almost from the anti-vaxxer group who will tell you that these things are going to ruin you and you're better off eating an apple or something. I should also note that I'm not that person who doesn't trust her doctors. Yes, I get incredibly frustrated at how over the top charged I am for things and how I sometimes feel like nobody is actually listening and processing what I'm saying but just going through the next step they know to do out of their medical book. Like a gut feeling means nothing anymore. I have found it to be incredibly frustrating to deal with doctors when you have depression because it can really go one of two ways: 1. They tell you that you're probably fine, try to relax and get more sleep, eat better and things will work out, or 2. They automatically fear for your safety and call you suicidal.
Just because some days I don't want to be here doesn't mean I'm suicidal, folks. I'm responsible enough to not toss in the towel and jump off the bridge, I have real guilt over not being enough and that doesn't make me want to give up, instead I'm constantly trying to be more.
Anyways.
I know that sleep, exercise, and good food will help me. But it doesn't do it all. It only gets me to a certain point and then I'm stuck and can't figure out what to do. I would really LOVE to get eight hours of solid sleep every night. I would. It is actually one of my old age perks that I'm looking forward to. Instead, I have three, soon to be four, children and a husband who snores so loudly neighbors can hear. It's not like I can kick him out, or move him to another room, I can hear him everywhere. I can't wear ear plugs because they hurt my ears. I feel like people dole out these suggestions to be helpful but they aren't practical and don't work. So as I'm reading this book I found myself getting angrier and angrier.
Then you tell me to avoid body lotions and tap water.
No, I'm not joking.
Because if I could afford filtered water from the Swiss Alps, I absolutely would. I'm just grateful I'm not in Flint, Michigan with lead contaminated water at this point.
I fully agree that a lot of people who have depression can really improve greatly by changing things in their daily lives such as diet, exercise, and sleep. 100%. Then I know some of the healthiest, physically fit people who are on the brink of suicide because they have a legitimate chemical imbalance in their brain yet refuse to take medication. I'm not even saying medication is that great, your options really are terrible and if you're lucky to find one that makes you not totally numb to even good feelings, you're doing well... until those lovely side effects kick in, of course.
I could go on for days about this but I won't because you don't want to hear it. I have to give this book 2 out of 5 stars. Huge props to the medical information and how it's organized for this book. It's clear the writer is highly educated, has extensive experience, and is incredibly passionate about this topic. As someone who has struggled my entire life with anxiety and depression in varying degrees, I can tell you 100% this was not helpful for me. I am that person who refuses to take medication because I don't like how I feel on it and I hate having to be on something to be well, but I also recognize that a lot of the strategies in this book are things I have done for years and they do not help me. They could help you tremendously, but for me they only offer slight improvements and never for long term. But that's the thing with depression- no two people are the same. What works for one won't necessarily work for the next and that's what makes it complicated and tragic, really.
I do recommend this as a read if you suffer from depression or know someone who does, if you are interested in alternative options other than what big pharma can, or just want to increase your healthy lifestyle in general. You don't have to have depression to find this book helpful, there is certainly a lot of information that carries over into other aspects of your life that could be beneficial for you.
Just because some days I don't want to be here doesn't mean I'm suicidal, folks. I'm responsible enough to not toss in the towel and jump off the bridge, I have real guilt over not being enough and that doesn't make me want to give up, instead I'm constantly trying to be more.
Anyways.
I know that sleep, exercise, and good food will help me. But it doesn't do it all. It only gets me to a certain point and then I'm stuck and can't figure out what to do. I would really LOVE to get eight hours of solid sleep every night. I would. It is actually one of my old age perks that I'm looking forward to. Instead, I have three, soon to be four, children and a husband who snores so loudly neighbors can hear. It's not like I can kick him out, or move him to another room, I can hear him everywhere. I can't wear ear plugs because they hurt my ears. I feel like people dole out these suggestions to be helpful but they aren't practical and don't work. So as I'm reading this book I found myself getting angrier and angrier.
Then you tell me to avoid body lotions and tap water.
No, I'm not joking.
Because if I could afford filtered water from the Swiss Alps, I absolutely would. I'm just grateful I'm not in Flint, Michigan with lead contaminated water at this point.
I fully agree that a lot of people who have depression can really improve greatly by changing things in their daily lives such as diet, exercise, and sleep. 100%. Then I know some of the healthiest, physically fit people who are on the brink of suicide because they have a legitimate chemical imbalance in their brain yet refuse to take medication. I'm not even saying medication is that great, your options really are terrible and if you're lucky to find one that makes you not totally numb to even good feelings, you're doing well... until those lovely side effects kick in, of course.
I could go on for days about this but I won't because you don't want to hear it. I have to give this book 2 out of 5 stars. Huge props to the medical information and how it's organized for this book. It's clear the writer is highly educated, has extensive experience, and is incredibly passionate about this topic. As someone who has struggled my entire life with anxiety and depression in varying degrees, I can tell you 100% this was not helpful for me. I am that person who refuses to take medication because I don't like how I feel on it and I hate having to be on something to be well, but I also recognize that a lot of the strategies in this book are things I have done for years and they do not help me. They could help you tremendously, but for me they only offer slight improvements and never for long term. But that's the thing with depression- no two people are the same. What works for one won't necessarily work for the next and that's what makes it complicated and tragic, really.
I do recommend this as a read if you suffer from depression or know someone who does, if you are interested in alternative options other than what big pharma can, or just want to increase your healthy lifestyle in general. You don't have to have depression to find this book helpful, there is certainly a lot of information that carries over into other aspects of your life that could be beneficial for you.
April 6, 2016
I've been trying to get off SSRIs for years. I think I'll finally be able to.
Everyone should read this book.
Everyone should read this book.
Read
February 7, 2017This book quite literally changed the trajectory of my family's health. I stumbled across this book seeking answers to help my daughter who was struggling with anxiety, depression and an eating disorder. The fact that Kelly is a trained psychiatrist who has rejected drugs as a viable therapy to treat her patients intrigued me. The anti-depressant that our daughter's psychiatrist prescribed wasn't working so she just kept upping the dose until our daughter self-harmed. At that point an anti-psychotic drug was additionally prescribed, allegedly because she was too underweight for the prescribed SSRI drug to work properly. This med is one that is usually prescribed for schizophrenia. (our daughter is not schizophrenic). This med didn't do anything either so the doc upped the dosage on it too. At that point, our daughter self-harmed again while becoming almost catatonic in her demeanor. What was going on!! Instinctively I knew the eating disorder was not going to be cured until the underlying depression and anxiety were dealt with yet not one of her professional doctors seemed concerned with getting to the root cause of these, they only wanted to throw more drugs at the symptoms. As I read Kelly Brogan's book, I became aware that our experience with her psychiatrist and other doctors was the norm, not the exception and the more I read, the angrier I became. The very people we were trusting our daughter's life to were causing more harm than good. Much to the doctors' stern objections, we pulled our daughter off her meds and began feeding her a limited version of Kelly's protocol. Due to the complications that an eating disorder brought to the equation, we didn't want to give her excuses to restrict food so we didn't completely limit sugar and dairy, but our family went gluten-free, organic, grass-fed beef and purged the house of most of our processed food, chemical cleaners and commercial beauty supplies. In addition we started taking supplements and herbs. Within a week or two, we began seeing glimpses of our formerly happy, joyful child. We are now about two months in on this new lifestyle, our daughter is generally happy and at peace, she is gaining weight, her father and I have lost some excess weight, we both have less aches and pains, less desire for sugar, breads, alcohol and caffeine. My blood glucose levels are in a healthier range and we all have more energy and vitality. I am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that natural, organic eating and living that this book advocates is the key to helping my daughter overcome her depression and anxiety without drugs and really for everyone to live a healthier, more vibrant life. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has that still, small, but persistent voice in their heads that is telling them drugs aren't the answer and there has to be a better way. There is, we are living it, amazed at the difference in our family and will never go back!
September 15, 2017
Ugh. How to review a book that says so many things you want to support, but for all the wrong reasons???
I'm absolutely, positively, 100% in favor of attempting a lifestyle-based cure for what ails you. Start there. *Especially* if you are American. Our nation has gone completely off the rails when it comes to medicating. This isn't even remotely at question.
I simply suggest that you choose a different guide.
I borrowed this because it was recommended on the A Delectable Education podcast, and an interesting conversation began amongst a group of us who listened to the episode.
Before you read any further: be aware that there are no serious, professional book reviews to be had. Everything is from bloggers, and I struggled to find more than a handful of negative or ambivalent discussions. I have no issue with bloggers -- yay for the internet! -- but not a single review from a reputable source? Not one? Not a negative review, not a positive review -- just no mention? Hmmm.
Brogan's version of this appears to be that it's because she speaks truth to power, and everyone is too afraid of Big Pharma to provide anything but a negative review. ("I like to think for myself." is one of her less subtle uses of rhetoric to help us feel like we, too, are one of the awakened few) But where are those negative reviews planted by Big Pharma?
I'm more inclined to believe there are no serious reviews because the book reads like a long series of long blog posts, and the arguments presented for her lifestyle plan are poorly formed... in some cases, even internally inconsistent. (For the record, other books have proposed medication-free lifestyle improvements, and received at least a couple of reviews. See, for example: The Depression Cure, which was reviewed by The Guardian and NPR)
Problem #1: Brogan's plan is based on evolution, but she doesn't understand evolution
Whether *you and I* believe in evolution or not is irrelevant for the moment. Her entire position is based on the idea that humans co-evolved with other earthly lifeforms and therefore have an ideal niche to fill.
The problem I have is that Brogan does not actually understand evolution.
^^ This isn't how evolutionary theory says it works. There's no agent in evolution to make mistakes. More importantly: according to the theory, evolution never ends. There is no point at which any species attains perfection, not even in relation to other species. (For more details on evolutionary theory, best to read an evolutionary theorist instead of me... maybe The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True, it's one of Dawkins' less belligerent products.)
Again... it doesn't matter whether *you* believe in evolution. What matters is that her entire position is based on a foundational misunderstanding of the science she claims as its root and logical source.
Problem #2: Brogan opposes *all* hospital care
I don't have much else to say about this. Either you think medical intervention is always a terrible idea, or you don't.
Problem #3: Bait and Switch
On her website, and in early sections of the book, Brogan refers to her solution as "a few easy changes to her diet and a combination of other lifestyle strategies" <-- note that word, easy.
Then: "We collaborate, and they work hard. They work hard at a time when they feel they can't even lift a finger."
Well -- and I'm sorry to be a smarty pants here -- either it's easy, or it isn't. My guess is that it is not, because if it were then everyone would be doing it.
Problem #4: Brogan is selling her online program for US$ 397
I know because these podcast listeners got a $100 discount.
*****************************
I could keep going, pointing out some internal inconsistencies and the fact that her belief in personalized medicine doesn't extend to a refusal to sell supplements to us online through her online pharmacy-that's-not-a-phramacy. But I'm already tired of talking about and thinking about this woman, her book and the careful marketing which targets a vulnerable group of women: women who not only feel depressed, but are nervous and confused by scientific jargon. They're easy pickings, and she's picking them.
So I've abandoned this book at 50% -- having read very thoroughly her "scientific" defense portions, and started on the specifics of her diet / lifestyle plan. But I don't need to read about her lifestyle plan, because I know that the basis for her argument is faulty.
Please DO address your diet and lifestyle before going on medication. This is wonderful advice.
Please DON'T use Kelly Brogan as your guru for it.
I'm absolutely, positively, 100% in favor of attempting a lifestyle-based cure for what ails you. Start there. *Especially* if you are American. Our nation has gone completely off the rails when it comes to medicating. This isn't even remotely at question.
I simply suggest that you choose a different guide.
I borrowed this because it was recommended on the A Delectable Education podcast, and an interesting conversation began amongst a group of us who listened to the episode.
Before you read any further: be aware that there are no serious, professional book reviews to be had. Everything is from bloggers, and I struggled to find more than a handful of negative or ambivalent discussions. I have no issue with bloggers -- yay for the internet! -- but not a single review from a reputable source? Not one? Not a negative review, not a positive review -- just no mention? Hmmm.
Brogan's version of this appears to be that it's because she speaks truth to power, and everyone is too afraid of Big Pharma to provide anything but a negative review. ("I like to think for myself." is one of her less subtle uses of rhetoric to help us feel like we, too, are one of the awakened few) But where are those negative reviews planted by Big Pharma?
I'm more inclined to believe there are no serious reviews because the book reads like a long series of long blog posts, and the arguments presented for her lifestyle plan are poorly formed... in some cases, even internally inconsistent. (For the record, other books have proposed medication-free lifestyle improvements, and received at least a couple of reviews. See, for example: The Depression Cure, which was reviewed by The Guardian and NPR)
Problem #1: Brogan's plan is based on evolution, but she doesn't understand evolution
Whether *you and I* believe in evolution or not is irrelevant for the moment. Her entire position is based on the idea that humans co-evolved with other earthly lifeforms and therefore have an ideal niche to fill.
The problem I have is that Brogan does not actually understand evolution.
I subscribe to the idea that the body doesn't make mistakes after millions of years of evolution.
^^ This isn't how evolutionary theory says it works. There's no agent in evolution to make mistakes. More importantly: according to the theory, evolution never ends. There is no point at which any species attains perfection, not even in relation to other species. (For more details on evolutionary theory, best to read an evolutionary theorist instead of me... maybe The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True, it's one of Dawkins' less belligerent products.)
Again... it doesn't matter whether *you* believe in evolution. What matters is that her entire position is based on a foundational misunderstanding of the science she claims as its root and logical source.
Problem #2: Brogan opposes *all* hospital care
I don't have much else to say about this. Either you think medical intervention is always a terrible idea, or you don't.
Drug-based medicine makes you sick. I will go so far as to say that hospital care makes you sick
Problem #3: Bait and Switch
On her website, and in early sections of the book, Brogan refers to her solution as "a few easy changes to her diet and a combination of other lifestyle strategies" <-- note that word, easy.
Then: "We collaborate, and they work hard. They work hard at a time when they feel they can't even lift a finger."
Well -- and I'm sorry to be a smarty pants here -- either it's easy, or it isn't. My guess is that it is not, because if it were then everyone would be doing it.
Problem #4: Brogan is selling her online program for US$ 397
I know because these podcast listeners got a $100 discount.
*****************************
I could keep going, pointing out some internal inconsistencies and the fact that her belief in personalized medicine doesn't extend to a refusal to sell supplements to us online through her online pharmacy-that's-not-a-phramacy. But I'm already tired of talking about and thinking about this woman, her book and the careful marketing which targets a vulnerable group of women: women who not only feel depressed, but are nervous and confused by scientific jargon. They're easy pickings, and she's picking them.
So I've abandoned this book at 50% -- having read very thoroughly her "scientific" defense portions, and started on the specifics of her diet / lifestyle plan. But I don't need to read about her lifestyle plan, because I know that the basis for her argument is faulty.
Please DO address your diet and lifestyle before going on medication. This is wonderful advice.
Please DON'T use Kelly Brogan as your guru for it.
March 7, 2017
I agree with the premise that depression is complex and pills only one narrow approach. But I cannot agree with the radical approach that the author than proposes including her stance against birth control and vaccines.
February 8, 2017
After reading this shocking book its clear to see that Brogan is a paranoid, cherry-picking conspiracy theorist, with an irrational fear of the FDA and 'Big Pharma'. She utilises non-credible resources which lack peer-review (often citing websites she's PAID to write for herself) to bash Western medicine, while presenting a narrow, limited “cure” for depression that in no way takes into account personal circumstances or challenges. Brogan promotes unnecessary fear and fallacies about Western medicine, the same field from which she profits, by offering her clients expensive services with only anecdotal evidence of her successes, while not once having published any of this data or any papers on the subject.
Brogan liberally promotes pseudoscience and the majority of her 'holistic' therapies have NOT been proven to be effective (otherwise we would call them 'medicine') and often involve costly lifestyle changes that would be impossible and impractical for someone truly suffering from depression to undertake.
Read with caution.
Brogan liberally promotes pseudoscience and the majority of her 'holistic' therapies have NOT been proven to be effective (otherwise we would call them 'medicine') and often involve costly lifestyle changes that would be impossible and impractical for someone truly suffering from depression to undertake.
Read with caution.
March 5, 2016
This woman is a walking medical encyclopedia. There is a lot of material in this book. I was attracted to this book because I have had medical problems for 3 years and no doctor has yet to know what exactly is the answer to my problems. Everyone dreams of a magic pill to quickly feel good, but good health doesn't work that way as this book points out. I do believe in the gut-brain dynamic. That's the very 1st thing I am going to do - go on a probiotic supplement. This book has a lot of valuable information. Good health doesn't happen by accident. You have to believe your worth it.
October 8, 2016
If you have ever taken medication for anxiety or depression, if you're currently taking them, or if you're considering taking them, I strongly urge you to read this book. I have been struggling with anxiety and depression for about 18 months now, and it is one of the most physically and mentally painful and debilitating things a person can experience. But I am here to tell you, and so is Dr. Kelly Brogan, that anti-depressants are not always the answer. Despite what pharmaceutical companies would have you believe, we don't actually know how the brain works and the effects anti-depressants have on it. These are essentially chemicals that we think help, despite the fact that many people who are on anti-depressants never actually "get better." If these medications are supposed to work, then why are more and more people taking them but not becoming happier people? The answer is most likely this: chemicals aren't the answer, because overall health and wellness is. Essentially, avoiding toxins and chemicals heals us. A balanced diet and exercise are essential. We are created to eat natural foods that nourish our bodies. How can we expect our minds and bodies to function efficiently if what we are feeding it is so processed it's essentially no longer even food. Please, friends, do yourself a favor and find out what you can do to give yourself a chance to defeat anxiety and depression without buying into the idea that you have a disease that can be cured with chemicals.
June 20, 2023
Quite fascinating and enlightening. For a nonfiction it is very readable and practically helpful. I'm very thankful for this book. Different people will get different things from it as she covers a multitude of problems with antidepressants, statins and many other medicines.
February 5, 2017
This is one of the worst 'pseudo-science' books I have ever read. She criticises 'Big Pharma' for using studies with small sample sizes and for failing to control for placebo effects -- but then the studies she posts as sources for her truly outrageous claims are so completely flawed it's hard to know where to begin in criticising them.
I was hoping for a book that explained some of the science behind depression, and had some of the studies of the recent links between the microbiome and mental health. What I got was an angry, controversy theorists' rantings about the evils of antidepressants, antibiotics, statins, vaccines and painkillers.
Her healing 'plan' seems to be a version of whole30/paleo, with some meditation and exercise thrown in. Though, disclaimer, I quit this book 40% of the way through because I just couldn't take any more.
I was hoping for a book that explained some of the science behind depression, and had some of the studies of the recent links between the microbiome and mental health. What I got was an angry, controversy theorists' rantings about the evils of antidepressants, antibiotics, statins, vaccines and painkillers.
Her healing 'plan' seems to be a version of whole30/paleo, with some meditation and exercise thrown in. Though, disclaimer, I quit this book 40% of the way through because I just couldn't take any more.
July 13, 2018
I had to stop reading this when the author began to talk about the vaccine-autism “research,” which has been so profoundly blown out of the water that I don’t even know why I am wasting time typing these words. She opens the book by bashing the medical establishment with some shaky research and op-ed pieces not to mention meaningless anecdotes, then spends the rest of the book essentially making herself THE arbiter of all things mental and physical health, citing the very medical establishment she vilifies, when it suits her. Wow, who knew that you could be a gastroenterologist, microbiologist, psychiatrist, and natural healer all in one? She manages somehow to simultaneously shit on, and take pretty big clinical pearls from, the medical establishment. So much contradiction here.
The author has some good points – – get good sleep, eat healthy whole foods, exercise, meditate, and know that we have been misled it comes to psychiatric medications. But the fact that this is her magic bullet to depression? Unbelievable. Or the fact that she thinks that this advice is somehow original? OK, Kelly. Worst of all, this book caters to upper middle-class women and seems to exclude the millions of women who have depression related to and or stemming from traumatic experiences. I gladly invite her to “cure” (and she does say that she can “completely” cure depression) my clients who have PTSD with turmeric because of its “anti-inflammatory properties.“ She makes wildly hyperbolic claims. Great idea to encourage some of my low income clients, who don’t have a decent grocery store within 20 miles of their homes, to pick up some kombucha to “fix their micro biomes.” GTFO.
We always need to be questioning what we are reading and hearing, remain open to new ideas, practices, and critiques of current practices. However this author has gone off the deep end. You know the reputations that many psychiatrists get (despite the fact that most are incredibly conscientious)? It’s people like her that give them these reputations as people who are crazy themselves.
Lastly, the self-aggrandizement is ENDLESSLY nauseating.
The author has some good points – – get good sleep, eat healthy whole foods, exercise, meditate, and know that we have been misled it comes to psychiatric medications. But the fact that this is her magic bullet to depression? Unbelievable. Or the fact that she thinks that this advice is somehow original? OK, Kelly. Worst of all, this book caters to upper middle-class women and seems to exclude the millions of women who have depression related to and or stemming from traumatic experiences. I gladly invite her to “cure” (and she does say that she can “completely” cure depression) my clients who have PTSD with turmeric because of its “anti-inflammatory properties.“ She makes wildly hyperbolic claims. Great idea to encourage some of my low income clients, who don’t have a decent grocery store within 20 miles of their homes, to pick up some kombucha to “fix their micro biomes.” GTFO.
We always need to be questioning what we are reading and hearing, remain open to new ideas, practices, and critiques of current practices. However this author has gone off the deep end. You know the reputations that many psychiatrists get (despite the fact that most are incredibly conscientious)? It’s people like her that give them these reputations as people who are crazy themselves.
Lastly, the self-aggrandizement is ENDLESSLY nauseating.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 24, 2016
This book is a watershed moment - an actual Doctor of Psychiatry who says "Pills don't cure depression". I thought depression was due to a chemical imbalance in the brain. I don't know WHY I have always thought this was true; a point the author makes by way of explaining that the U.S. is one of only 2 countries on Earth that allow direct-to-consumer advertising. This is what the makers of Prozac want us to think - despite the fact that not one study in 60 YEARS has proven this to be true.
Dr. Kelly Brogan considers depression to be a symptom, not a diagnosis. And it's a symptom that we should be listening to, not masking with pills that temporarily make us feel better/different/"happy". I argue, is it really "better" if you can't replicate it without the pill? As someone who watched a family member die from acute drug reactions due to being over-prescribed by disconnected doctors, I applaud Kelly Brogan for looking beyond the prescription pad, into what's really going on inside the depressed woman's body and mind. This is a book that goes beyond "fun to read" and into "need to read" territory.
Dr. Kelly Brogan considers depression to be a symptom, not a diagnosis. And it's a symptom that we should be listening to, not masking with pills that temporarily make us feel better/different/"happy". I argue, is it really "better" if you can't replicate it without the pill? As someone who watched a family member die from acute drug reactions due to being over-prescribed by disconnected doctors, I applaud Kelly Brogan for looking beyond the prescription pad, into what's really going on inside the depressed woman's body and mind. This is a book that goes beyond "fun to read" and into "need to read" territory.
March 19, 2018
This book is written for rich, white women. I *was* going to give it 2 stars, because the studies she quotes are all factually based. But she comes to such ridiculous conclusions about those studies, that I have to downgrade her.
Good takeaways from the book- I can count them nearly on one finger:
1. "Discontinuation syndrome" is *very* well documented. Withdrawal, not depression, may be responsible for your symptoms when you try to taper off.
2. The gut-brain connection, and its implications for your mental health, should not be taken lightly. Pay attention to your environment and diet and reduce inflammation-causers.
The Book Itself
Part 1
The whole thing is a poorly-written rant. It is downright depressing- quite ironic, really. I would never recommend this book to anyone with active depression, as Part 1 tells you that you will never feel normal if you're already on antidepressants, because trying to get off the ones you've been prescribed will result in depression/anxiety symptoms weeks, months, or years after you stop taking them.
Chapter 1 is a rant about how psychiatry is a quack field, antidepressants don't work and are downright harmful, and everyone in her field who is a responsible doctor also agrees with her! Oh yeah, and trying to get off antidepressants you've been prescribed will result in depression/anxiety symptoms weeks, months, or years after you stop taking them.
Chapter 2: Rather interesting info about the mechanisms behind depression. Because I didn't trust her by this time, I looked up most ideas she cites, and the ideas (although not her conclusions) are well-documented. By others. Who don't rant. But don't forget, trying to get off antidepressants you've been prescribed will result in depression/anxiety symptoms weeks, months, or years after you stop taking them.
Chapter 3: Information about the gut-brain link, and what it means for depression. But don't forget, trying to get off antidepressants you've been prescribed will result in depression/anxiety symptoms weeks, months, or years after you stop taking them.
Chapter 4- how hypothyroidism and autoimmune disorders can masquerade as depression. She shares her own story about her struggle. Which is awful, because from then on, all I thought is, Great- she's one of those "what's good for me, is good for thee" people who wants to insist that her way is not only the best, it's the ONLY way. And don't forget, trying to get off antidepressants you've been prescribed will result in depression/anxiety symptoms weeks, months, or years after you stop taking them. Seriously. She hammered on that SO MUCH throughout the book. It was freaking depressing.
Chapter 5 is a poorly-written rant about everything Kelly Brogan hates: vaccines, fluoride, the Pill, Tylenol, cleaning solvents, antibiotics, NSAIDs, tap water, and body care products. Some of my favorites:
1- No one should ever take antibiotics because, after all, a sinus infection never actually killed anyone. (Clearly written by a person with enormous privilege who has a job that allows her to take sick time.)
2- The Pill can result in death, so no one should ever take it. Condoms (with a higher failure rate than the Pill!) or an IUD (which is usually not covered by insurance!) are better options. For who? Rich white women?
3- Oh too many to count. I hated this book. But I finished it cuz I hoped it would get better. No such luck.
Part 2
Now that we've gone over everything that can kill you- oh yeah and trying to get off antidepressants you've been prescribed will result in depression/anxiety symptoms weeks, months, or years after you stop taking them- you should be really happy! Cuz your health is in your hands! And all you have to do- here's the quick fix- is change your entire life, forever, starting with her 30-day program!
Chapter 6- Only eat organic, forever. Throw out everything in your cabinet that has sugar or added chemicals. Who can do this- rich white women?
Chapter 7- meditation, sleep, exercise. She's light on the studies and benefits of meditation- mostly "here's what I do", same with sleep and exercise "here's my weekly workout routine".
Chapter 8- throw out every cleaning product you have and start over with healthy, safe alternatives. How affordable is this? Even the average suburban parent, much less the hand-to-mouth person, would be daunted.
Chapter 9- You need to do 13 blood tests to establish your baseline. $807, cheapest cash prices I could find online; hope you have insurance! If not, rest assured, Kelly Brogan tells you it's "not that expensive" to pay out of pocket. Try saying that to someone living hand to mouth- don't they deserve to be healthier too? And then re-take those tests as needed. And don't forget the supplements- her "core basics" will put you back a whopping $106.94 *per month*, for the least expensive brands & lowest dosages she recommends. I just... I just can't imagine taking handfuls of pills daily in order to call myself "healthy".
There's, I think, one caveat for chapters 6 through 9- if this is too overwhelming, start with small steps and do what you can. If only that caveat was hammered on as much as her "taking antidepressants will give you symptoms forever" theme, people who *aren't* rich white women might be more motivated to actually do it.
Chapter 10- the 30-day program. And, in the end, despite ALL the noise earlier in the book about discontinuing antidepressants, she leaves with the (at least it's responsible) message "giving each reader her unique tapering protocol is beyond the scope of this book", and you should find a "supportive doctor who can tailor your treatment", despite ALL the noise that this type of doctor is *really* thin on the ground.
Closing words- apparently, she "didn't write this book just to offer my take on the new psychiatry. It's also about the new feminism."
Good takeaways from the book- I can count them nearly on one finger:
1. "Discontinuation syndrome" is *very* well documented. Withdrawal, not depression, may be responsible for your symptoms when you try to taper off.
2. The gut-brain connection, and its implications for your mental health, should not be taken lightly. Pay attention to your environment and diet and reduce inflammation-causers.
The Book Itself
Part 1
The whole thing is a poorly-written rant. It is downright depressing- quite ironic, really. I would never recommend this book to anyone with active depression, as Part 1 tells you that you will never feel normal if you're already on antidepressants, because trying to get off the ones you've been prescribed will result in depression/anxiety symptoms weeks, months, or years after you stop taking them.
Chapter 1 is a rant about how psychiatry is a quack field, antidepressants don't work and are downright harmful, and everyone in her field who is a responsible doctor also agrees with her! Oh yeah, and trying to get off antidepressants you've been prescribed will result in depression/anxiety symptoms weeks, months, or years after you stop taking them.
Chapter 2: Rather interesting info about the mechanisms behind depression. Because I didn't trust her by this time, I looked up most ideas she cites, and the ideas (although not her conclusions) are well-documented. By others. Who don't rant. But don't forget, trying to get off antidepressants you've been prescribed will result in depression/anxiety symptoms weeks, months, or years after you stop taking them.
Chapter 3: Information about the gut-brain link, and what it means for depression. But don't forget, trying to get off antidepressants you've been prescribed will result in depression/anxiety symptoms weeks, months, or years after you stop taking them.
Chapter 4- how hypothyroidism and autoimmune disorders can masquerade as depression. She shares her own story about her struggle. Which is awful, because from then on, all I thought is, Great- she's one of those "what's good for me, is good for thee" people who wants to insist that her way is not only the best, it's the ONLY way. And don't forget, trying to get off antidepressants you've been prescribed will result in depression/anxiety symptoms weeks, months, or years after you stop taking them. Seriously. She hammered on that SO MUCH throughout the book. It was freaking depressing.
Chapter 5 is a poorly-written rant about everything Kelly Brogan hates: vaccines, fluoride, the Pill, Tylenol, cleaning solvents, antibiotics, NSAIDs, tap water, and body care products. Some of my favorites:
1- No one should ever take antibiotics because, after all, a sinus infection never actually killed anyone. (Clearly written by a person with enormous privilege who has a job that allows her to take sick time.)
2- The Pill can result in death, so no one should ever take it. Condoms (with a higher failure rate than the Pill!) or an IUD (which is usually not covered by insurance!) are better options. For who? Rich white women?
3- Oh too many to count. I hated this book. But I finished it cuz I hoped it would get better. No such luck.
Part 2
Now that we've gone over everything that can kill you- oh yeah and trying to get off antidepressants you've been prescribed will result in depression/anxiety symptoms weeks, months, or years after you stop taking them- you should be really happy! Cuz your health is in your hands! And all you have to do- here's the quick fix- is change your entire life, forever, starting with her 30-day program!
Chapter 6- Only eat organic, forever. Throw out everything in your cabinet that has sugar or added chemicals. Who can do this- rich white women?
Chapter 7- meditation, sleep, exercise. She's light on the studies and benefits of meditation- mostly "here's what I do", same with sleep and exercise "here's my weekly workout routine".
Chapter 8- throw out every cleaning product you have and start over with healthy, safe alternatives. How affordable is this? Even the average suburban parent, much less the hand-to-mouth person, would be daunted.
Chapter 9- You need to do 13 blood tests to establish your baseline. $807, cheapest cash prices I could find online; hope you have insurance! If not, rest assured, Kelly Brogan tells you it's "not that expensive" to pay out of pocket. Try saying that to someone living hand to mouth- don't they deserve to be healthier too? And then re-take those tests as needed. And don't forget the supplements- her "core basics" will put you back a whopping $106.94 *per month*, for the least expensive brands & lowest dosages she recommends. I just... I just can't imagine taking handfuls of pills daily in order to call myself "healthy".
There's, I think, one caveat for chapters 6 through 9- if this is too overwhelming, start with small steps and do what you can. If only that caveat was hammered on as much as her "taking antidepressants will give you symptoms forever" theme, people who *aren't* rich white women might be more motivated to actually do it.
Chapter 10- the 30-day program. And, in the end, despite ALL the noise earlier in the book about discontinuing antidepressants, she leaves with the (at least it's responsible) message "giving each reader her unique tapering protocol is beyond the scope of this book", and you should find a "supportive doctor who can tailor your treatment", despite ALL the noise that this type of doctor is *really* thin on the ground.
Closing words- apparently, she "didn't write this book just to offer my take on the new psychiatry. It's also about the new feminism."
September 30, 2016
I borrowed this book from the library and found it so chock full of good information that I'll actually now buy a copy to refer to regularly. We've long been hearing about the growing body of evidence connecting gut health to brain function. This book continues the theme in an accessible way and provides clear advice on lifestyle and dietary changes you can make to improve your mental and physical health. I'm not on any SSRIs myself, but will certainly be giving some of these suggestions a try in the hope of lifting my mood and my energy levels (for starters).
March 31, 2016
This book is a must read for anyone that is struggling with their mental health or has a loved one that is struggling. Written by a board certified psychiatrist, Dr. Kelly Brogan "shatters the mythology conventional medicine has built around the causes and treatment of depression."
November 29, 2017
I heard this author speak on a Wellness Mama podcast (highly recommended for nutrition/wellness nerds) and I was intrigued by her message. Kelly Brogan is a well-educated psychiatrist who threw away her prescription pad after dealing with her own autoimmune issues. This book is a drug-free way to heal mental health diseases. She lays a lot of foundation about why we are sick and how medicine isn't helping (and she sites several studies that claim it is harming), and then offers a 4-week protocol to get on a healing journey.
I have read many books on autoimmunity and wellness before, and this book was very similar to others I've read. This book obviously focused on the mental health aspect (as opposed to hormone, gut, etc. [they are all related, however]). I appreciated how she is medically qualified to speak on the subject, and also how she includes many scientific articles to back up her point. I am only giving it three stars because while the nutrition and lifestyle advice seems sound, she includes a lot of Eastern religion that I am not on board with. She includes certain yoga practices that go beyond breathing exercises for mental health and into the transcendent channeling of other powers. I know that is helpful for her and many others, but the Bible warns me not to dabble in such practices. I believe that the other parts of the protocol would be beneficial to anyone's mental health, whether you have a diagnosis or not. Another book I've read that is also by a medical doctor but keeps the religious aspect out is "Gut And Psychology Syndrome" by Natasha Campbell. I highly recommend that book.
I am also not entirely against pharmaceuticals - this book just happens to be a doctor's journey away from them.
I have read many books on autoimmunity and wellness before, and this book was very similar to others I've read. This book obviously focused on the mental health aspect (as opposed to hormone, gut, etc. [they are all related, however]). I appreciated how she is medically qualified to speak on the subject, and also how she includes many scientific articles to back up her point. I am only giving it three stars because while the nutrition and lifestyle advice seems sound, she includes a lot of Eastern religion that I am not on board with. She includes certain yoga practices that go beyond breathing exercises for mental health and into the transcendent channeling of other powers. I know that is helpful for her and many others, but the Bible warns me not to dabble in such practices. I believe that the other parts of the protocol would be beneficial to anyone's mental health, whether you have a diagnosis or not. Another book I've read that is also by a medical doctor but keeps the religious aspect out is "Gut And Psychology Syndrome" by Natasha Campbell. I highly recommend that book.
I am also not entirely against pharmaceuticals - this book just happens to be a doctor's journey away from them.
April 19, 2019
Very interesting. The author follows very good views on the way food effects our brains and there was a lot to agree with but she is extremely against medicines and believes they do more harm than good. I might agree in some examples though she was pretty adamant across the board. It’s not that black and white in my opinion. Antibiotics are way too over prescribed and do a lot of damage to the gut biome, but they also save lives in many cases.I think her over all suggestions on diet change and life style changes are quite good, and advice to think about statistics and the skewing of them to benefit Big Pharma makes sense as well and people taking medications should really learn more about the pros and cons. We all tend to take what the doctor gives us without questioning possible damage and long term issues. This is something we all should look into far more deeply, though I do think some medicines are quite helpful.
I would say for the psychology point of view that Johann Hari’s book Lost Connections: the real causes of Depression goes a bit deeper in that aspect. This book is body focused where his a bit more mind focused.
There’s useful info here, much of medicine hadnt caught up on how the gut biome seriously effects our brains, but getting past the authors blanket dislike of medications across the board kept this from having 4 or more stars. It is worth a read as it will make you think and does offer a plan to start your body towards healing the mind.
I would say for the psychology point of view that Johann Hari’s book Lost Connections: the real causes of Depression goes a bit deeper in that aspect. This book is body focused where his a bit more mind focused.
There’s useful info here, much of medicine hadnt caught up on how the gut biome seriously effects our brains, but getting past the authors blanket dislike of medications across the board kept this from having 4 or more stars. It is worth a read as it will make you think and does offer a plan to start your body towards healing the mind.
February 5, 2017
En resumen: Un libro bien documentado y contrastado con conocimientos y estudios médicos que te hará replantearte todo lo que hasta ahora creías saber sobre la depresión y los antidepresivos, así como la forma en que nuestro estilo de vida influye en nuestra salud física y emocional.
Nota: 4/5
Lee la reseña completa en mi blog: http://utopiainthemoonlight.blogspot....
Nota: 4/5
Lee la reseña completa en mi blog: http://utopiainthemoonlight.blogspot....
May 27, 2016
The main premise makes sense: why haven't we thought of depression as a symptom before? Besides that, this book is like combining Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health with Moody Bitches: The Truth About the Drugs You're Taking, The Sleep You're Missing, The Sex You're Not Having, and What's Really Making You Crazy and adding some nonsense. She provides plenty of food for thought, and a lot of it made sense, but I found it interesting how she waited until the very end of part 1 before bringing up her issues with vaccinations. And then some of the citations were quite questionable. Why do these authors always hate pharmaceuticals and then turn around and recommend tons of supplements?
November 16, 2018
Questo libro è illuminante, sia per chi sta vivendo un periodo buio come me, sia per chi è solo curioso di leggere sull'argomento.
È stato veramente interessante leggere del legame intestino-cervello e di come molti disequilibri fisici possano causare ansia e depressione,oltre naturalmente agli psico farmaci che sono solo un paillativo (di questo me ne sono resa conto da sola, perché quando finisce l'effetto, mi sembra di sbattere contro un treno in corsa).
Ci sono anche ricette per depurare e riequilibrare il fisico. Alcune storie raccontate dalla dottoressa sono forse un po' troppo americane, ma in un certo senso possono essere riportate come esempio anche per noi.
Insomma 300 pagine, ma non mi sono annoiata per niente.
È stato veramente interessante leggere del legame intestino-cervello e di come molti disequilibri fisici possano causare ansia e depressione,oltre naturalmente agli psico farmaci che sono solo un paillativo (di questo me ne sono resa conto da sola, perché quando finisce l'effetto, mi sembra di sbattere contro un treno in corsa).
Ci sono anche ricette per depurare e riequilibrare il fisico. Alcune storie raccontate dalla dottoressa sono forse un po' troppo americane, ma in un certo senso possono essere riportate come esempio anche per noi.
Insomma 300 pagine, ma non mi sono annoiata per niente.
August 15, 2019
This book has completely changed my view on psychiatric medicine. When I first dove into this book I had feelings of hopelessness. I had feelings that nothing would work, no one understands and no one has another solution. This book has completely changed my life. It has helped open doors to other possibilities. Kelly's braveness and passion shows in her writing. It's as if she's sitting across the table with you and your the only person she's treating. If you don't read this book you are missing out on some amazing, life changing information.
September 11, 2020
This book was thought provoking. As someone who studies mind-body connections for a living I found this book somewhat refreshing - especially at the beginning. Our society obsesses over the dualism of body and mind and only recently has it been acknowledged in the mainstream that the two are connected. Which, by the way, is bizarre: our mind is literally inside our body. I personally found the beginning chapters of this book, which address the connection, to be persuasive and compelling. Brogan does a good job at presenting the irrefutable links between lifestyle habits and mental health. However, based off my own clinical and research experience, the author misses out some huge contributing factors to mental health. Two big holes that come to mind are lifetime stressors and childhood trauma - both of which are linked to treatment-resistant depression. In a similar vein, swathes of data are omitted when she talks about the dangers of vaccines and other medical interventions.
That being said, I do find myself forgiving this book, even though I think it may be misleading at times, not to mention incredibly exclusive. In society we already give a lot of air time to medication, to certain life events that may get you down. Although, on reading the book, you may think these aspects are unimportant (this is something I don't agree with), I think the underlying message is a useful one. How you behave *may* influence how you feel; your choices *can* have an impact on your health (even if some things are indeed outside of your control). Exercise scepticism, especially in the face of companies that are obscenely rich. And, that there is merit in striving to be healthy.
That being said, I do find myself forgiving this book, even though I think it may be misleading at times, not to mention incredibly exclusive. In society we already give a lot of air time to medication, to certain life events that may get you down. Although, on reading the book, you may think these aspects are unimportant (this is something I don't agree with), I think the underlying message is a useful one. How you behave *may* influence how you feel; your choices *can* have an impact on your health (even if some things are indeed outside of your control). Exercise scepticism, especially in the face of companies that are obscenely rich. And, that there is merit in striving to be healthy.
June 4, 2017
For women, anti-depressant drugs are prescribed for problems ranging from depression to anxiety to PMS to insomnia. This book explores a very different approach.
According to the author, the assertion that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain that is easily fixed by a drug like Prozac is total nonsense. Rarely do such drugs help at all. In fact, they may make things worse by permanently disabling the body's self-healing mechanism. Depression, and other such mental and emotional problems, are not separate diseases. They are symptoms of physical problems elsewhere in the body.
There is a well-known physical connection between the gut and the brain, as an example. A digestive or intestinal problem could easily manifest itself in the brain. Inflammation seems to be the cause of of most physical problems that are common today. Some inflammation is quite normal, then it goes away. When the inflammation is "on" all the time, that can be a serious problem, and needs to be addressed.
The author's prescription starts with getting rid of all processed food and going organic. The cause may be those unpronounceable chemicals that are listed in the ingredients. Next, get rid of your artificial cleaning products with more unpronounceable chemicals. There are household cleaners available that are a lot less harmful. The author also talks about what blood tests should be performed at the next doctor's visit. Get a good night's sleep, every night, and start exercising; they will help a lot.
This book is better than excellent. It is highly recommended for everyone. It is especially recommended for those whose anti-depressant does not seem to be working. Your problem may be somewhere else than in your head.
According to the author, the assertion that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain that is easily fixed by a drug like Prozac is total nonsense. Rarely do such drugs help at all. In fact, they may make things worse by permanently disabling the body's self-healing mechanism. Depression, and other such mental and emotional problems, are not separate diseases. They are symptoms of physical problems elsewhere in the body.
There is a well-known physical connection between the gut and the brain, as an example. A digestive or intestinal problem could easily manifest itself in the brain. Inflammation seems to be the cause of of most physical problems that are common today. Some inflammation is quite normal, then it goes away. When the inflammation is "on" all the time, that can be a serious problem, and needs to be addressed.
The author's prescription starts with getting rid of all processed food and going organic. The cause may be those unpronounceable chemicals that are listed in the ingredients. Next, get rid of your artificial cleaning products with more unpronounceable chemicals. There are household cleaners available that are a lot less harmful. The author also talks about what blood tests should be performed at the next doctor's visit. Get a good night's sleep, every night, and start exercising; they will help a lot.
This book is better than excellent. It is highly recommended for everyone. It is especially recommended for those whose anti-depressant does not seem to be working. Your problem may be somewhere else than in your head.
May 29, 2016
The author has some excellent credentials in her preparation as a practising psychiatrist in Manhatten. I scanned the book, and am disappointed to find a 30 day action plan that includes some marginal elements such as "targeted nutrient support" and "detoxification", within the good advice regarding dietary interventions, sleep, and stress reduction. I know that 30 days is the general pattern to develop new habits.
She also includes a section of recipes with ingredients, for which access would confound many potential users without considerable financial resources and/or those living outside of an urban environment with stores stocking the type of ingredients she lists. Nutritionally, not all of those claims can be supported, regardless of how desireable some may think them.
I am now reading the first section, where I think the important points of her messages are contained, about how to help oneself heal. I do think she has some excellent and essential information and research about contributing factors to development of "mental disorders", and critiques of modern treatments, much of it medication based and provided by family physicians; and psychiatry and treatments. Her message of the integration of our bodies and minds as a single interactive organism is so important, as is her message about the mind's ability to alleviate and heal so many "illnesses", and some good suggestions for strengthening and healing one's self without the serious side effects of most pharmaceutical agents.
She also includes a section of recipes with ingredients, for which access would confound many potential users without considerable financial resources and/or those living outside of an urban environment with stores stocking the type of ingredients she lists. Nutritionally, not all of those claims can be supported, regardless of how desireable some may think them.
I am now reading the first section, where I think the important points of her messages are contained, about how to help oneself heal. I do think she has some excellent and essential information and research about contributing factors to development of "mental disorders", and critiques of modern treatments, much of it medication based and provided by family physicians; and psychiatry and treatments. Her message of the integration of our bodies and minds as a single interactive organism is so important, as is her message about the mind's ability to alleviate and heal so many "illnesses", and some good suggestions for strengthening and healing one's self without the serious side effects of most pharmaceutical agents.
December 27, 2016
I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, the evidence she provides in the first few chapters regarding anti-depressants and seems legit and even inspired me to try dropping gluten for a month even though I have no history of mental illness, just to see if it affects me at all. She also makes some reasonable points about the importance of exercise and meditation, but that's not new science.
However, Dr Brogan also believes in some far-fetched and unsupported ideas that she offers with the same confidence as her more well-supported claims about the link between the gut and mental illness. For instance, she seems to be subtly against vaccinations, even though the evidence clearly supports their efficacy. Dr Brogan also seems comfortable making claims with only one study to back them up, even when the study is so small that statistically significant results are very unlikely. I agree with her that some of the ideas and alternative treatments that she is proposing deserve more research than they are currently getting, but I think she should refrain from using her readers as her guinea pigs in the meantime.
Her diet plan seems mostly reasonable, although she lost me when she suggested using coffee enemas (seriously).
Overall, I think the first few chapters are worth reading, but I would take even those first claims with a grain of salt.
However, Dr Brogan also believes in some far-fetched and unsupported ideas that she offers with the same confidence as her more well-supported claims about the link between the gut and mental illness. For instance, she seems to be subtly against vaccinations, even though the evidence clearly supports their efficacy. Dr Brogan also seems comfortable making claims with only one study to back them up, even when the study is so small that statistically significant results are very unlikely. I agree with her that some of the ideas and alternative treatments that she is proposing deserve more research than they are currently getting, but I think she should refrain from using her readers as her guinea pigs in the meantime.
Her diet plan seems mostly reasonable, although she lost me when she suggested using coffee enemas (seriously).
Overall, I think the first few chapters are worth reading, but I would take even those first claims with a grain of salt.
January 22, 2019
After watching some of my close friends struggle with anti-depressant medication, I was very interested in reading this book. The author shares a lot of research and study results from many popular medications, some of which I found alarming (i.e. many anti-depressants do not perform better than a placebo, yet have severe side effects including being extremely addictive). As a result in the name of full disclosure, I believe anyone considering or taking anti-depressant medication should consider reading this book. If the medication works for you, wonderful! But if not, Brogan gives a comprehensive regimen that has worked for her patients to actually cure depression and not just treat the symptoms.
One caveat - I did find some of her views a little extreme (i.e. discouraging vaccines). So as with all things, take what is written with a grain of salt and glean from it what is good for you :)
One caveat - I did find some of her views a little extreme (i.e. discouraging vaccines). So as with all things, take what is written with a grain of salt and glean from it what is good for you :)
August 5, 2019
DOTTORESSA UN PAIO DI PXXXE!
Antivaccinista della peggior specie.
Peccato, perché il libro porta buone intuizioni sulla gestione della quotidianità per un depresso.
Ma il capitolo contro i vaccini mi ha fatto flippare il libro giù dalla finestra (figurativamente, dato che leggo tramite Kindle).
E c'è da aggiungere anche che gli americani stanno messi davvero male. Su più fronti, uno su tutti quello medico.
Qui un articolo in inglese in cui la pseudodottoressa viene sbugiardata punto per punto: https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-...
Antivaccinista della peggior specie.
Peccato, perché il libro porta buone intuizioni sulla gestione della quotidianità per un depresso.
Ma il capitolo contro i vaccini mi ha fatto flippare il libro giù dalla finestra (figurativamente, dato che leggo tramite Kindle).
E c'è da aggiungere anche che gli americani stanno messi davvero male. Su più fronti, uno su tutti quello medico.
Qui un articolo in inglese in cui la pseudodottoressa viene sbugiardata punto per punto: https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-...
November 24, 2017
This book has literally been lifesaving! After watching an interview with the author that a friend recommended, I picked this book up at our local library and started reading it on the flight to visit my sister who was suffering from major anxiety and depression. The more I read, the more I recognized that my sister's experience was nearly identical to what Dr. Brogan explained from her research and observation in years of practice. Many years of minimal nutritional focus and pregnancy-related challenges had taken a toll on my sister and were now wreaking havoc on her emotional and mental health as well. By the time I reached my sister, I had a lot of great information and (most helpfully!) a specific plan included in the back of the book that we could put in place to start addressing her overall health. Within one week of implementing Dr. Brogan's suggestions regarding food choices and meals, we started to see marked improvements and my sister was able to begin tapering off her psychotropic medications!
Even though Dr. Brogan comes from an entirely different worldview in terms of human origins (strictly evolutionary) and life purpose (naturalistic with some mysticism) from me, I could appreciate the principles she espoused for a healthy lifestyle. I was also able to relate them to the Bible's teachings and see God's design for our lives illuminated in such a beautiful way. As we live in obedience and awareness of His truth, we are often the beneficiaries of better health. "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10) teaches us to quiet our souls and rest in a God who is masterfully in control of all things. "For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer" (1 Timothy 4:4-5) reminds us to appreciate and be thankful for the food that He has created and provided for our sustenance.
This book contains a great deal of scientific research accompanied by practical steps that readers can take to cleanse their bodies and environments. Many of the environmental recommendations seem over the top (replacing carpeting, looking for toxic-free furniture, avoiding inflatable toys, etc.), so it helps to keep in mind that try as we might to create the "perfect" environment, we are living in a broken world that perpetually suffers the effects of sin in every realm. But we have something far better to look forward to: "For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Corinthians 5:1).
There are many ways to be wise with our bodies and good stewards of our resources and environment, but of far greater importance is our eternal future. There is no profit in gaining the whole world if in the end we forfeit our own soul. Jesus came so that we might "have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). That certainly includes feeding our bodies wholesome nutritious foods, but above all it includes knowing and believing in Him. "And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" John 17:3.
Even though Dr. Brogan comes from an entirely different worldview in terms of human origins (strictly evolutionary) and life purpose (naturalistic with some mysticism) from me, I could appreciate the principles she espoused for a healthy lifestyle. I was also able to relate them to the Bible's teachings and see God's design for our lives illuminated in such a beautiful way. As we live in obedience and awareness of His truth, we are often the beneficiaries of better health. "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10) teaches us to quiet our souls and rest in a God who is masterfully in control of all things. "For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer" (1 Timothy 4:4-5) reminds us to appreciate and be thankful for the food that He has created and provided for our sustenance.
This book contains a great deal of scientific research accompanied by practical steps that readers can take to cleanse their bodies and environments. Many of the environmental recommendations seem over the top (replacing carpeting, looking for toxic-free furniture, avoiding inflatable toys, etc.), so it helps to keep in mind that try as we might to create the "perfect" environment, we are living in a broken world that perpetually suffers the effects of sin in every realm. But we have something far better to look forward to: "For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Corinthians 5:1).
There are many ways to be wise with our bodies and good stewards of our resources and environment, but of far greater importance is our eternal future. There is no profit in gaining the whole world if in the end we forfeit our own soul. Jesus came so that we might "have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). That certainly includes feeding our bodies wholesome nutritious foods, but above all it includes knowing and believing in Him. "And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" John 17:3.
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