Women's Depression: An Integrated Approach
Hyla Cass, M.D.
Psychiatrist and author Hyla Cass, an expert in integrating leading-edge natural medicine with innovative psychotherapy, and Assistant Clinical Professor at the UCLA School of Medicine, encounters many women in her private practice with typical psychiatric complaints: depression, addiction, impaired concentration, eating disorders, weight gain, insomnia, anxiety, fatigue, and sexual dysfunction. Rather than approaching her patients from a standard psychiatric, drug-prescribing perspective, Dr. Cass examines other possible underlying causes for their depression and related symptoms: genetic predisposition, hormonal imbalances, food and chemical sensitivities, chronic fatigue syndrome, candidiasis, toxic reactions, and nutritional deficiencies.
Her integrative approach to treating depression and mood disorders in women utilizes a wide range of therapies depending upon the specific history and biochemistry of the patient as determined by laboratory tests. These therapies include dietary therapy and nutritional medicine, amino acid therapy, herbal medicine, and natural hormone therapy, as well as mind/body therapies, leading-edge forms of psychotherapy including Voice Dialogue, and when necessary, conventional antidepressant medications. Dr. Cass' integrative approach to treating depression and its underlying metabolic causes is also relevant to men, with the exception of the specific hormonal imbalances.