Can I use Deplin® for anxiety?
Anxiety disorders (AXDs) are very common among individuals in today’s stressful life. These generally begin during childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. As per 2017 WHO epidemiological data indicates 3.8% of the global population, nearly 280 million people worldwide, are affected by AXDs. Unfortunately, it affects 4.7% of females and 2.8% of males, and one in 13 universally experiences anxiety episodes as of 2017. In particular, 40 million people in the United States aged 18 and older, which is 18.1% of the population, every year, gets exposed to AXDs-related issues. AXDs happen to all of us at one point or another in our lifetime. And these are not limited to facing stressful issues at work or needing to make important decisions. Anxiety can last for lengthy periods of time and cause long term impact to the respective individual’s quality of life over time. The symptoms of AXDs can affect a person dramatically and his/her day-to-day life events1-4.
As per Barlow’s concepts7, anxiety is a future-oriented mood state linked with preparation for probable, upcoming adverse events. Fear is an alarming reaction to present or imminent danger. In the classification of AXDs, there are different types of AXDs as outlined below.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Anxiety in a prolonged period, excessive fears, nervousness and discomfort are the key characteristics of generalized anxiety disorder. 6.8 million adults or 3.1% U.S. inhabitants have been affected, however, only 43.2% of people out of 6.8 million are intended to receive treatment for generalized anxiety disorder. The symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder found in many individuals are,
- Sense of agitation and restlessness
- Muscle tension
- Irritability
- Fatigue
- Difficulty concentrating, focusing on the job or mind “goes blank”
- Persistent feelings of fear or worry
- Issues with sleep patterns
Panic Disorder
Affects around 6 million adults in the U.S. population, unprecedented and repeated occurrences of extreme panic conditions cause panic disorder. People may experience occasional or frequent waves of panic associated symptoms such as sweating, dizziness, shortness of breath or sense of suffocation, heart palpitations, chest pain, trembling and abdominal problems.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
The development of anxiety-related episodes after exposure to a natural disaster or alarming incidents that resulted in physical injuries or threatened human lives. Natural calamities, brutal personal attacks, accidents and military warfare are the traumatic events which could trigger a post-traumatic stress disorder. This type of AXDs affects 7.7 million adults in the U.S., which is 3.5 % of the population.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Repetitive unwanted obsessions and behaviors are the key indicators for the obsessive-compulsive disorder. 2.2 million adults in the U.S. including both men and women have been affected equally.
Social Anxiety Disorder
Separation anxiety disorder
This type of AXDs occurs in both children as well as adults. Affected people have fears of being separated from their loved ones. They tend to have a mindset that assumes harmful things will happen to their loved ones, as a result, increased anxiousness or fear surfaces and they would avoid the state of being alone or separated from their loved ones. Generally, nightmares about the separation from loved ones can happen to people with a separation anxiety disorder. The diagnosis of a separation anxiety disorder takes about 4 weeks for children and at least 6 months for adults.
Agoraphobia
Individuals with agoraphobia have extreme fear of panic, helplessness, or embarrassment They love a ‘safe’ housebound environment and do not like the scenarios below:
- Commuting through public transportation
- Working or interacting in open or enclosed spaces
- Waiting in the queue or spending time in a crowd
Agoraphobic individuals avoid the above situations and if they experience it in unavoidable circumstances, they may have feelings of embarrassment and intense fear.
Selective mutism
People with selective mutism fail to speak or interact in particular social situations even though they possess natural language skills. Severe nervousness, worry about social humiliation, compulsive and clinging behaviors as well as mood tantrums are the main characteristics of people who are affected with selective mutism.
Specific Phobia
Individuals with a specific phobia have extreme anxiety and fear towards specific types of circumstances and objects. A few examples of specific phobias are:
- Fear of animals such as a snake, dog, or insects and/or spiders
- A natural environment like fear of water, storms or heights
- Fear of needles (when blood is drawn)
- Situational phobia (flying, elevators and enclosed places)
Physicians and researchers are looking at alternative approaches to treating AXDs due to the many drawbacks they’ve come across with today’s ‘standard of care’, negatives such as:
- relapse of treated individuals
- tolerance and dependency
- insufficient information on treatment selection for the individual patient
- the optimal duration of the treatment and
- adverse events occurring with pharmacological treatments1,8.
- Deplin® 7.5 consists of 7.5 mg of 5-MTHF and 90.31 mg of Algae-S powder
- Deplin® 15 contains 15.0 mg 5-MTHF and 90.31 mg of Algae-S powder10
Be sure to check out our product line:
- this active form crosses the blood brain barrier easily
- may maintain the balance of glutamate and GABA levels in the CNS
- supports the individuals with MTHFR mutations by reducing glutamate levels
- can increase the levels of monoamines in the CNS (this means more serotonin gets generated)
References
- Craske MG, Stein MB. Anxiety. Lancet. 2016, 388(10063), 3048-3059.
- https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders/index.shtml
- https://www.hhs.gov/answers/mental-health-and-substance-abuse/what-are-the-five-major-types-of-anxiety-disorders/index.html
- Martin EI, Ressler KJ, Binder E, Nemeroff CB. The neurobiology of anxiety disorders: brain imaging, genetics, and psychoneuroendocrinology. Clin Lab Med. 2010, 30(4), 865-891.
- Liang SL, Carlson GC, Coulter DA. Dynamic regulation of synaptic GABA release by the glutamate-glutamine cycle in hippocampal area CA1. J Neurosci. 2006, 26(33), 8537-8548.
- Wierońska, JM, Stachowicz, K, Nowak, G, Pilc, A. The Loss of Glutamate-GABA Harmony in Anxiety Disorders. 2011, 135-157. (https://doi.org/10.5772/19919).
- Barlow DH. Anxiety and its Disorders: The Nature and Treatment of Anxiety and Panic. 2nd ed. New York: Guilford Press; 2002.
- Nemeroff CB. The role of GABA in the pathophysiology and treatment of anxiety disorders. Psychopharmacol Bull. 2003, 37(4):133-146.
- Stahl SM. L-methylfolate: a vitamin for your monoamines. J Clin Psychiatry. 2008, 69(9):1352-1353.
- https://www.rxlist.com/deplin-drug.htm