Has anyone seen a chiropractor for mental illness?

Question

Any mental illness including depression, bipolar or scizo?

Chiropractors back 40 - 60 years ago treated mental illness in Davenport Ia. I was wondering if anyone still tried or had any research in the area.

For the record I know what Chiropractors do. I am trying to see if any of them work with mental illness.

Answer 1

OK, I'm going to give you an answer that most people will tend to diasgree with, but here's what I've heard.

Since the brain controls EVERY bodily function and sends its signals through the spinal cord, some DC's will argue that correction of spinal malposition can help with mental illness. If you look online, you can find TONS of case studies in which chiropractic has helped people with autism, depression, and other mental illnesses. But case studies are not "randomized, double-blind clinical trials" and don't get that much attention. The thing is, NO chiropractor is going to have a sign on his door that says "We treat mental illness here," b/c no one can make that guarantee, that's irresponsible and unethical.

One can argue that the reason chiropractic had such great success treating mental illness in the 40's-60's is b/c the population wasn't exposed to as many toxic chemicals as we are today. Some people argue that cleaning chemicals, food preservatives, vaccinations, mercury dental fillings, and other chemicals are contributing to the rise in autoimmune and mental diseases present in our society. Now, some chiropractors combine chiropractic care with other forms of treatment, like nutrition and heavy metal detoxification. Detoxification is in its early stages of development, so it'll be rather difficult to find a DC who does that (I only know of one).

A DC will not turn away a patient with a mental disorder unless they are not a candidate for chiro care. However, DC's strong in the philosophy know that everyone who has a spine should at least be checked for misalignment of the spine (called subluxation). If they are subluxated, get under chiro care, and the mental disorder wanes or goes away, then that is just a bonus (I've heard of that happening on more than one occasion), but I highly doubt that a DC will treat that person specifically for that problem.

Answer 2

No they can't. They have no qualifications related to psychology or psychiatry. For mental illness treatment you need a psychologist or psychiatrist. Chiropractic is a health care profession concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disorders of the neuromusculoskeletal system and the effects of these disorders on general health. It is generally categorized as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Although chiropractors have many attributes of primary care providers, chiropractic has more of the attributes of a medical specialty like dentistry or podiatry. The main chiropractic treatment technique involves manual therapy, including manipulation of the spine, other joints, and soft tissues; treatment also includes exercises and health and lifestyle counseling. Traditional chiropractic assumes that a vertebral subluxation interferes with the body's innate intelligence, a vitalistic notion ridiculed by the scientific and healthcare communities. A large number of chiropractors want to separate themselves from the traditional vitalistic concept of innate intelligence.

Answer 3

Chiropractors focus on the nutritional aspect of health. Some of them do treat this while some of them probably don't have a clue. I would assume that they will try to enhance the diet through vitamin and mineral supplements and it could very well be helpful. I know of 2 off the top of my head that would probably try to tackle it but it's not really something that I would suggest that you see a chiropractor for.

Answer 4

No. Chiropractors do not treat mental illnesses, they treat physical problems pertaining to the spine.

Answer 5

I personally have not. One would think a chiropractor is good for physical healings and not so much mental. Perhaps other treatments such as massage therapy could benefit those conditions.

Answer 6

i have never heard of a chiropractor being able to do anything for mental illness, if it worked then i would not have major chronic depression

Answer 7

no. a chiropractor tries to help with physical problems i would highly doubt any claim to be able to help mental illnesses and if they do, its a scam.

Answer 8

A therapist sent my daughter to a chiropractor. Pretty much she went from a quack to a crack. Still no results

Answer 9

I've never heard of that but I will ask my chiropractor next week.

Answer 10

No they don't and why would they? And if one does he should lose his license... Would you go to a foot dr for ovarian cancer?