Expert: Jurriaan Plesman, Nutritional Psychotherapist - 4/6/2011

Question
My little sister has a mood disorder.  My mum has dementia and my little sister leans on mum a lot for support and advice.  My little sister has a little toddler.  I can see she is new to finding out how to look after the little toddler, and because mum has dementia, my sister is not getting the guidance she would normally get from a mother.  I feel like I need to take on that role, but because of her mood disorder she always takes what I say as a criticism.  So she doesn't do anything I say.  She isn't feeding the child or herself nutritious food, and the child is sick a lot.  I have given her vitamins though I went to her place and the bottle are still unopened. I put it down to the disorder, or the anti depressants she's taking.

Jo

Answer
HI jo,
This is a distressing situation. Most of the "mental" disorders can be treated by nutritional means and this is even more important for children than for adults.

Please familiarize yourself with the connection between nutrition and mental health by reading articles at our web site. Please read:

What is at: Hypoglycemia
http://www.hypoglycemia.asn.au/articles/what_is_hypo.html

The Serotonin Connection at:
http://www.hypoglycemia.asn.au/articles/serotonin_connection.html

Going on a Hypoglycemic Diet (search our web site) will often resolve the problem, but if it does not, please ask to be referred to a Nutritional Doctor, Clinical Nutritionist or a Nutritional Psychotherapist. Use our "Search our Web site" and in particular the INDEX for more information about terms you enter in the search engine.

_______________________________________________
Jurriaan Plesman, Nutritional Psychotherapist.
Hon. Editor of
The Hypoglycemic Health Association of Australia.
www.hypoglycemia.asn.au
Author of "Getting off the Hook"
Freely available at Google Book Search
Skype: jurplesman