Reno Integrative Psychiatry

Geriatric psychiatry is a medical subspecialty focused on preventing, diagnosing, and treating mental and emotional disorders in older adults. Specialists address complex issues like late-life depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, and neurocognitive conditions such as Alzheimer's and dementia, while carefully managing medication interactions and coexisting physical health issues.

The aging body processes medication differently. Changes in metabolism, liver function and kidney function can make older adults more sensitive to medications and more susceptible to side effects and dangerous drug interactions. 

When prescribing psychiatric medication safely to seniors,  we follow the principle of “start low and go slow.” Expertise is crucial in managing “polypharmacy” (the use of multiple medications at once), ensuring that a new prescription will not negatively interact with existing ones and that the treatment improves quality of life without adding a new layer of problems.

Integrative psychiatry is a holistic approach to psychiatric care. Integrated medicine can help people manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life. Integrative psychiatry can involve convenventional medicine, diagnosis, medication management, psychotherapy, and other medical treatments and can be combined with complementary approaches such as mindfulness, lifestyle support, nutrition and supplement use and are discussed carefully with the physician.

This approach recognizes that different people may benefit from different combinations of treatment.

Available Services: 

Personalized nutrition and supplement recommendations provided through the lens of mental health. 

GeneSight: personalized mental health care taking genetic information into account

Genova Dignostics:  Gut health; sleep health; hormonal balance; food allergy/celiac testing; functional nutrition and genomics. 

Women's mental health naturally evolves over time and is a vital part of overall well-being. Many women face challenges such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It's important to recognize these struggles and understand that support is available. Women don't have to face these challenges alone.

Hormonal changes during puberty, pregnancy, after childbirth, and menopause can all affect mental health. Understanding these natural changes can help women find the care and support they need. By focusing on their mental health, reaching out for support when needed, and talking openly with others, women can navigate these challenges more effectively and feel better supported. 

If any of these symptoms appear, talk with a health care provider about treatment options:

• Feeling sad or hopeless often
• Mood, energy, or appetite changes
• Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much
• Low energy or tiredness
• Worrying too much or feeling fearful
• Anger or irritability
• Headaches, body aches, or stomach problems
• Using alcohol or other drugs to cope
• Distancing from friends or family members
• Thoughts of death or self-harm

Deprescribing is the planned and supervised process of reduction or stopping of medication that might be causing harm, or no longer be of benefit. Deprescribing is part of good prescribing – backing off when doses are too high, or stopping medications that are no longer needed.

Medications that were good then, might not be the best choice now.

The use of some medication, especially as people get older or more ill, can cause more harm than good. Optimizing medication through targeted deprescribing is a vital part of managing chronic conditions, avoiding adverse effects, and improving outcomes. The goal of deprescribing is to reduce medication burden and maintain or improve quality of life.

Because stopping medications can sometimes produce withdrawal effects or worsen some conditions, deprescribing needs to be done carefully in partnership between a patient and their healthcare provider.