Stop Diagnosing Everything: Why We Need a Holistic Psychiatry Revolution (in St. Louis, MO and beyond)

Ryan Sheridan, NP
Jun 16
4 min read

We’ve built a mental health culture where every hard experience becomes a label—and every label leads to a prescription. That’s not health. That’s managed symptoms masquerading as care.

Let me be clear: mental health diagnoses can be useful. Medication has a role.

We’ve swung too far. We’ve medicalized normal human emotion and labeled it as dysfunction. Sadness becomes depression. Worry becomes generalized anxiety disorder. Restlessness becomes ADHD. It’s as if we’ve forgotten that being human is… complicated.

What concerns me most isn’t just overdiagnosis. It’s what that diagnosis leads to: a fast prescription, a long-term medication plan, and rarely anything else.

This is where we need to slow down—and look at things differently.

A Diagnosis Should Be the Beginning, Not the End

In today’s system, a diagnosis often becomes a dead end. It becomes the answer, instead of the question. You’re anxious? Here’s a med. You’re unfocused? Here’s a different one. You’re still not better? Let’s add another.

But real healing requires more than a chemical solution. Mental health is more than neurotransmitters. It’s nutrition, movement, sleep, trauma, stress physiology, relationship health, purpose, and environment.

As an integrative psychiatric provider in St Louis, MO, I’m not anti-medication. I’ve prescribed them. I’ve seen them help. But I’m honest about what they can and can’t do.

The evidence is clear: if used at all, psychiatric medications are best used as part of a larger plan—not as the plan itself.

Antidepressants without therapy? That’s incomplete care. Stimulants without sleep support and behavioral strategies? That’s a short-term fix, not a long-term solution.

No medication should be a solo act.

The Problem with Overpathologizing

Pathologizing is the act of labeling normal thoughts, emotions, or behaviors as medical or psychiatric disorders.

Overpathologizing is when we go too far and treat everyday human experiences as if they’re mental illnesses that need diagnosing or medicating.

It’s easier than ever to get a diagnosis. Spend ten minutes on a giant pill-mill platform, check off a few boxes, and you’re handed a label and a prescription.

But no one asks the deeper questions:

How’s your sleep?
How much sugar or caffeine are you living on?
Are you moving your body?
Do you feel safe in your home?
Are you living in alignment with your values?

Instead, we treat every signal from your body or mind as a disease.

But sometimes, anxiety is a signal that something needs to change.

Sometimes, depression is a pause button.

Sometimes, difficulty concentrating is your body saying, this environment isn’t for me.

Pathologizing everything robs us of context. It tells people they’re broken when they’re actually responding appropriately to a broken environment.

What Real Healing Looks Like

Holistic psychiatry doesn’t ignore biology. It expands it. It says:

Yes, neurotransmitters matter. But so does inflammation.
Yes, trauma changes the brain. But the brain can change again.
Yes, medications can help. But they should never be the only thing we reach for.

In my St. Louis based integrative practice, we dig deeper. We blend conventional psychiatry with functional and integrative approaches to look at the full picture:

Root-cause lab testing (hormones, nutrients, gut health, inflammation)
Nutritional psychiatry (because food affects mood—period)
Nervous system regulation and lifestyle optimization
Sleep hygiene and circadian rhythm repair
Personalized tapering when meds are no longer needed
Psychotherapy, coaching, mindfulness, and community

Because healing is layered. Good care meets people in every layer—not just the biochemical one.

Medication Is a (Questionable) Tool, Not a Cure

Let’s be honest: psychiatric medications are often oversold. We’re told they “fix chemical imbalances,” even though that theory is outdated and oversimplified. We’re told to stay on them indefinitely, even when long-term data is shaky. And we’re told they’re necessary for life, when what’s really necessary is connection, structure, meaning, and self-awareness.

Again, I’m not totally against meds, they are tools—not cures. And like any tool, they can be misused.

SSRIs, for instance, can blunt emotional intensity—but they don’t solve loneliness, trauma, or a toxic lifestyle. Stimulants can help you focus—but they don’t fix burnout, disorganization, or sleep deprivation.

Used wisely and sparingly, medications can help create space to do the deeper work. But used in isolation, they can mask symptoms while root causes continue to grow underground.

That’s not healing, at least not how I conceptualize healing!

Moving Beyond Labels

You are not your diagnosis. You are not a disorder.

Many people are led to believe otherwise. The moment they hear “you have anxiety,” or “you have depression,” and especially "you have ADHD," they absorb it as an identity. And from there, the system offers exactly one plan: lifelong meds and quarterly check-ins.

That’s not enough.

Mental health care should be collaborative, curious, and personalized. A diagnosis should open a conversation—not close it. And psychiatry should aim to restore agency, not dependency.

What I Believe

I believe in data—but I also believe in intuition.

I believe in science—but not blind obedience to pharma-driven guidelines.

I believe in people’s ability to heal, change, and grow—with the right support.

And I believe that we can do better than a one-size-fits-all system that over-pathologizes human emotion and over-relies on prescriptions.

If you’ve been told your diagnosis is lifelong—or that you’ll need medication forever—I encourage you to pause.

Not to reject your diagnosis. Not to shame your current treatment.

Ask: is this the full picture?

Because there’s more. There’s always more.

Final Thoughts

Mental health isn’t black and white. It’s not just “brain chemicals.” It’s the full spectrum of your human experience—physical, emotional, spiritual, and social.

And treating that full spectrum requires more than a label and a pill.

Holistic psychiatry is about restoring curiosity. About getting to the “why” behind the symptom. About supporting the brain, body, and soul with personalized, root-cause care that empowers people—not just manages them.

You deserve that kind of care.

Call to Action:

If you’re ready to approach your mental health from a deeper, more integrative perspective—let’s talk. I work with individuals who are ready to move beyond labels and explore real healing, step by step.

Whether you’re on medication, considering it, or hoping to come off it—I’m here to walk with you. Not to give you quick fixes, but to help you build a lasting foundation.