Beyond the Label: 10 Steps to Improve Your Mental Health with Naturopathic Medicine

by Christina Bjorndal

An inspiring and empowering guide to emotional freedom, from a Naturopathic Doctor who took charge of her own life and mental health.

"This book should be on the shelves of every person struggling with their moods." Dr. Jonathan Prousky, ND, author of the Textbook of Integrative Clinical Nutrition

For years, Dr. Christina Bjorndal, ND, endured debilitating depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety and battled bulimia, addiction, and a range of other mental health challenges. Finally, feeling terrorized by her own thoughts, she attempted to take her life. This devastating low point led to a deep reckoning. She began to take back control of her life. Today she is the owner of a thriving naturopathic clinic, living her life's purpose and passion in the most authentic way. In Beyond the Label, Bjorndal outlines, step-by-step, how you can move from the current mental health "label" you have been given to optimal health on all levels - physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Dr. Chris's book will give you the courage, support, confidence, and guidance you need to take your own steps to mental wellness.

Genres: Nonfiction

376 pages, Paperback

Published October 9, 2017

About the author

While I was doing my undergraduate degree at UBC in the late 1980’s, I experienced a debilitating depression and anxiety. I also had an eating disorder and was not coping with the stress I was under at that time.

Like most people, I had not heard about Naturopathic medicine so I was treated with medications that were not effective. After taking the medication that was initially prescribed to alleviate depression, I swung into a psychotic manic episode and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder type 1.

In 1994, after surviving a suicide attempt (which left me in a coma, on dialysis waiting for a kidney transplant), I finally began the healing process after reading a book called “A Return to Love” by Marianne Williamson. Up until this point I was living with the shame and stigma of having a mental illness and I had not accepted myself.

Since reading that book, I have spent over 25 years learning to accept and understand myself & my diagnosis with the help of many types of practitioners. I have come to realize that there are 10 steps to mental wellness and there are more natural ways to treat mental “dis-ease”.

After attending a Mental Health Regained Public Forum in 1999, I became a patient of Dr. Abram Hoffer’s (a nutritionally oriented psychiatrist) and experienced my first depression and anxiety free year in 13 years.

I also made some major life changes, such as resigning from my corporate job, where I reported to the CEO and travelled frequently and I began the process of inquiry into what I really wanted to be doing with my life.

After sitting with the question “If money didn’t matter, what would I be doing?” the answer revealed itself to me in a tiny whisper “Become a Naturopathic Doctor and help people heal from anxiety, depression , anorexia, bulimia, bipolar disorder (types 1 or 2), addiction, ADD/ADHD, etc using natural therapies and orthomolecular medicine – as you have been helped“.

My books, 10 week course and in-person retreat teach you how you can regain your mental health using a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual approach to health.

Let me guide you on the path to wellness so you can fulfill your potential and be free from the mental prison you may be living in. My goal is to help people living in Edmonton be the best they can be.

Reviews

[Michele Feng · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this book earlier today. What's really interesting is that the amount of serotonin (a neurotransmitter converted from tryptophan - lots of it in turkey, red meat and eggs) manufactured is related to how much of it is actually present in the GI tract. So if you have a very healthy gut microbiome (gut bacteria diversity), you have ample serotonin flowing around in the gut. Gut health affects mental health directly. Also, I like to drink coffee, but unbeknownst to me is that since coffee is a diuretic, peeing gets rid of water-soluble vitamins (vitamin C, vitamin B). Vitamin C works to convert tryptophan to serotonin. So, the lack of it causes an imbalance of serotonin in the gut, then eventually affects the gut microbiome and causes mental disorders. Sleep is critical too. Stress affects the sympathetic nervous system and in due course causes it to "fire up" and to wreck havoc on the parts of the brain that manufacture neurotransmitter dopamine. Too much dopamine causes anxiety and nervousness. Long term effects of it causes an episode of mania or psychosis. The other fact I find quite surprising is that your daily bowels reveal a lot about the current health of the microbiome of your GI tract. We all know that bowels have foul smells. Of course, the intensity of the smell is directly proportional to the type of food you ate. High protein foods tend to give your nose more of a "sensitivity dive." People with irritable bowel syndrome are more prone to have less gut bacteria diversity and poor gut microbiome. What's indeed interesting is that over a short span of time, you can detect poor gut microbiome by simply sniffing the air in the washroom every time you forge on to do number 2. If all of sudden your bowels become intensely foul smelling despite eating clean (disregarding diarrhea because your bowels need to take certain shape) the day before, this flags something apparent (you need to give your GI tract a dose of R&R).

[Beth Salas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the practicality of this book 📕

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, totally open about her own struggles which I could relate to. Also some good advice on how to stay mentally healthy. I’m going to follow her in F/B