Schizophrenia is a word coined in 1910 by a Swiss psychiatrist meaning literally ‘a splitting of the mind’. It is a group of psychotic disorders usually characterized by withdrawal from reality, illogical patterns of thinking, delusions, and hallucinations, and accompanied in varying degrees by other emotional, behavioral, or intellectual disturbances. As a diagnosis of mental illness, it has itself been split into an abundance of sub-classes over the years. A person with any of these diagnoses, including all of the types called “bipolar”, most likely has been given tranquilizers or anti-psychotics. These drugs have strong debilitating side effects and often leave a person feeling “drugged”.

The makers of drugs to treat schizophrenia say, “No one knows the exact causes of schizophrenia. Experts have found that, like any other illness, some factors may increase the risk. These factors may be in a person’s genes. Imbalances of certain chemicals in the brain are thought to lead to symptoms of the illness. Medicine plays a key role in balancing these chemicals”.

But they’ll sell you a drug that may cause death, suicide, heart failure, muscular rigidity, high fever and changes in congitive functions, or other symptoms including unstable blood presure, confusion, coma, delirium, muscle tremors, restlessness and involuntary rolling or twitching of body parts, rash, sweating, falling blood pressure, dizziness, sleepiness, muscular quivering and the inability to sit still, abnormal vision, headache and nausea.

However, in many—in fact most—cases, a detailed history of the person’s diet will reveal poor nutritional choices. Often, sugar consumption will play a large role in creating a vitamin deficiency that has been proven, on grand scales, to make a person psychotic. White flour (such as pastas, donuts, white rice and refined cereals) has the same effect as sugar. These simple carbohydrates, sugar and white flour, require vitamins to metabolize.1 In commercial foods, vitamins have been stripped out during the refining process. For example, when you have a carbonated soft drink, which has no vitamins, your body must use vitamins it already has to convert the sugars in the soda for food. If all the vitamins are used up in this way, your brain won’t have enough to do its work.

And this is a new theory as to the cause of schizophenia: local avitaminosis2.

It has been demonstrated that supplemental vitamin C, zinc, manganese, niacin, folic acid, B6 and B12 help remedy brain deficiencies, even if those deficiencies result from genetics. A diet high in protein can often help to provide mental stability due to protein’s ability to stabilize blood sugar.

In fact, in the early part of the last century, 100,000 people were released from Southern mental institutions when it was found that the reason for their insanity was a diet lacking in niacin.3 In the 1950s, America’s first double blind study of schizophrenia was conducted by Abram Hoffer and Humphrey Osmond. They gave niacin to the participants and 82% showed improvements. More than half of the people in this study were 5-year cures, and many more of those remaining were 3- and 4- year cures that would certainly have become 5 year cures had the study continued.

With specific supplements, such as niacin, and a diet high in protein which excludes refined sugar and flour, medication may be unnecessary.

We do Lab Testing to ensure the root cause of biochemical imbalance is found. Once found, an individual nutritional program is established by our doctor, an Orthomolecular Medical doctor who seeks to achieve optimum brain function by ensuring that the brain receives the naturally occurring substances it needs in the correct amounts. Naturally means using vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and other elements found in high quality foods rather than in drugs. Naturally also means orchestrating a diet that complements good brain function.

Then the client begins to taper their medication. The stepdown is approximately 10% per week. As the medication levels come down, the natural alternatives levels go up. The allows the client’s neurology to adjust to each level.

It is a real privilege to see clients make the transition from scared, numb and medicated, to clear headed—and confident that they will remain that way.

1 Metabolism is all the processes that happen inside a cell to maintain life, such as breaking down food for energy or putting together other substances necessary for life.

2 Avitaminosis: a- means ‘without.’ Vitamin means any of various organic substances essential in minute amounts for normal growth and activity of the body and obtained naturally from plant and animal foods. -osis means diseased or abnormal condition. Thus ‘avitaminosis’ would be: the diseased or abnormal condition of lacking vitamins.

3 Dr. Michael Lesser, Brain Chemistry Diet, 2003 p 10

NOTE: Nothing on this Website is intended to be taken as medical advice, and always consult with your doctor before altering your medications.

Adding nutritional supplements may alter the effect of medication. Any medication changes should be done only after proper evaluation and under medical supervision. Please call the intake number to schedule an appointment.