Integrative Psychiatry & Longevity Blog in St. Louis, MO & Washington DC 

TL;DR L-Theanine for ADHD, Anxiety, Focus & Sleep That's L-THEE-UH-NEEN :) L-theanine is one of the most evidence-supported supplements I recommend for improving focus, reducing mental “noise,” managing stress, and supporting sleep as part of a comprehensive mental health treatment plan. A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis published in Molecular Psychiatry analyzed 31 randomized controlled trials involving 1,168 participants and found that L-theanine consistently impro

TL;DR Emerging research in metabolic psychiatry is challenging the traditional view that mental health conditions are solely disorders of neurotransmitters. New studies suggest that conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and potentially ADHD may also involve dysfunction in how the brain produces and uses energy. While ketogenic diets are not a cure-all, they have shown promising early results in several psychiatric conditions, highlighting the importa

TL;DR: ADHD May Be a Brain Energy Disorder A major 2026 review published in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews proposes a new way of thinking about ADHD. Rather than viewing ADHD solely as a disorder of attention, the authors suggest ADHD may involve difficulties regulating and allocating the brain’s energy resources. While this model is still evolving, it helps explain why people with ADHD often experience inconsistent performance, fluctuating focus, executive dysfunction,

Most people have heard omega-3s are “good for your heart.” Fewer people understand why they matter for the brain. That is unfortunate, because the brain is not just a bag of neurotransmitters floating around waiting for a medication to fix everything. The brain is tissue. It is made of cells, membranes, fats, mitochondria, inflammatory signaling molecules, and electrical networks. When we talk about mental health from an integrative psychiatry perspective, we have to talk abo

There’s a tendency in mental health to jump straight to neurotransmitters, diagnoses, and medications. Sometimes that’s appropriate. But more often than we’d like to admit, we overlook something foundational: how the brain is fueled in the first place. A recent randomized controlled trial published in the Cell Metabolism journal, highlighted and broken down by Nick Norwitz, adds an important layer to that conversation. It suggests that depression, at least in part, may involv

Lately, more and more people are turning to melatonin to help them fall asleep. You can find it on every pharmacy shelf, marketed as the natural solution for restless nights. And while melatonin does have a role to play in regulating sleep, the idea that it’s a shortcut or substitute for good sleep habits is where many people go wrong. As an integrative psychiatric nurse practitioner , I work with patients every day who struggle with sleep. And the truth is, good sleep doesn

In the world of psychiatry today, we hear a lot about starting medications. Less often do we hear about stopping them. We live in a...

One of the things I see nearly daily now, whether I’m working with patients or families in St. Louis, D.C., Colorado, or beyond, is that...

Let’s get something straight: if your body is a dumpster fire, your brain isn’t miraculously thriving in the middle of it. That’s not how...

Most primary care doctors don’t actually optimize your health—they just check for disease. If you’re not actively dying, they’ll call...

Most people think of mental health as a brain issue. You feel anxious? It must be your GABA, and we reach for Xanax. You’re struggling...

Metabolic psychiatry is changing the way we think about mental health. For too long, psychiatry has been stuck in a chemical imbalance...